Collard Greens are a flavorful, traditional Southern side dish slowly cooked until tender and amazing. This collard green recipe is perfect for New Year’s Day and as a delicious everyday side dish!

How to Cook the Best Southern Collard Greens

There are so many ways to cook collard greens, but this is the recipe that my family has loved for generations. Follow my step-by-step instructions for the best collard greens I think you’ll ever taste!

Ingredients

For my family’s recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Collard greens: Also simply called “collards.” Fresh, washed, and cut greens are the best in my opinion. However, you can also use frozen if you’d like. I’ve used it many times when fresh collard greens were not in season or available.

Bacon: Adds a deep, smokey flavor to the cooked greens and provides the fat for cooking them.

Onion: This is an optional ingredient but adds incredible flavor.

Chicken stock: Adds a rich flavor. I prefer to use my homemade chicken stock, but I also love a great organic store-bought. You can also use chicken broth if you prefer.

Apple cider vinegar: Collards can be notoriously bitter. The vinegar balances the flavor and removes the bitterness.

Stone House Seasoning: My favorite house blend seasoning of garlic, salt, and pepper.

Sugar: A little bit helps remove any bitterness from the collard greens while giving a slightly sweet flavor. I also love to use maple syrup. You can omit if preferred.

Hot sauce: If you like spicy collard greens, you can add them to the pot as they cook or serve the hot sauce alongside the greens when you serve them. I prefer to serve them alongside since some people love them spicy while others do not.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Cook bacon and onion. Cook bacon and onion (if using) in a large stockpot or Dutch oven until the bacon is crispy.

Add chicken stock. Pour in the chicken stock and stir to combine.

Add vinegar and other seasonings. Pour in the apple cider vinegar, sugar, and Stone House Seasoning.

Add collard greens. Add collards and cover them with a lid to the stockpot. If all of the greens will not fit at the beginning of cooking the greens, add as many as will fit, stir and cover the stockpot. Then, add the remaining greens once those have cooked down. They wilt rather quickly, so you should be able to add them in just a minute or so.

​What to Serve with Collard Greens

New Year’s Meal. They are delicious served for special occasions like as part of the traditional Southern New Year’s meal. Collards are said to represent prosperity and money in the new year. In that meal, they are served with black eyed peas, mashed potatoes, cornbread or cornbread muffins, and some type of pork such as ham, pork roast, or even pork tenderloin.

Everyday meal. We also love them as part of an everyday meal. Then, I love to have them with roast beef and mashed potatoes. They are also delicious with our smoked turkey and red beans and rice!

How to Store and Freeze Collard Greens

To store. Cool the greens and then transfer them to an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

To freeze. Cool the greens completely. Transfer to an airtight, freezer-safe container or zip-top freezer bag. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. To serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat on the stovetop or microwave until heated throughout.

Variations

Vegan Collard Greens: Substitute 2 tablespoons olive oil for the bacon and bacon drippings. Substitute vegetable broth for the chicken stock used.

Sugar-Free Collard Greens: Omit the sugar (or maple syrup) used. Note that the collard greens will have a bit of bitterness.

Slow Cooker Collard Greens: This provides a relatively hands-off solution for cooking these greens. Add the cooked bacon and onion to the slow cooker along with all of the remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Here’s my Collard Greens Recipe. I hope you love them as much as we do.

Enjoy!
Robyn xo