In a large stock pot, I saute until just browned one sweet onion (rough chopped) in a little olive oil. Remove them from the pot. Then in the same pot, I simmer two smoked hamhocks and two garlic cloves in about 1 1/2 cup of beef stock for about 45 mins, adding liquid as needed. Then I turn up the heat, add the chopped and cleaned collards, cook until wilted and no longer tough (time depends on how old the collards are). Add beef stock periodically if needed to keep the pot from drying, or if you like pot liquor. Add the onions back to the pan with a little cider vinegar (to taste).

Very yummy and always a hit even with people who don't normally like collards.

Just another way, Use smoked pork kneckbone and a little water, boil till meat starts to get tender, a little salt [be careful] about half cup of sugar cook till colards are tender. Works just as good with turnip greens.

I've never added vinegar directly to greens like this, but it sounds interesting. I'll have to give it a try. For my greens, I add a piece of smoked meat (ham hock, smoked turkey leg, etc...) that I remove and shred at the end. Once shredded, I add the meat back to the pot. Serve with cornbread that I usually crumble in to a bowl with the greens. Helps soak up all the pot liquor (cooking liquid). Mmmmmm.... I'm making greens this week. Thanks, Elise!

Can the bacon be omitted without compromising the taste? I am trying to avoid meat.

Hi Fina, You could try using some smoked tofu. Or some barbecue sauce. ~Elise

My basic way of cooking collards (kale, etc) involves tossing a smoked turkey leg, hamhock or some such, into a pot of chopped up greens with water or stock. Oh, and a bit of sugar helps too.

For wide, 'floppy' greens, folding the leaf in half & removing the stem/spine works really well too.

I am a southern girl so I love collards and turnip greens but do not like mustard greens. My favorite way is to use ham hocks. They are yummy! The only thing I hate is cleaning them. LOL.

Sounds delicious! Thanks Elise...I visit your site every day!

We eat collards a LOT. Fill a large stockpot about 2/3 of the way with water and toss in a small smoked ham hock. Wash thoroughly and chop a large bunch of collards (or two small bunches, or if absolutely necessary, a bag of frozen collards). Add to simmering ham water. Barely simmer for an hour. Add 3/4 cup of raw rice, simmer 20 minutes. Remove ham hock, shred meat and add meat to soup. Add two cans black-eyed peas. Add one can diced tomatoes with green chiles. Simmer another 15 minutes or so. That's it!

This soup is VERY forgiving, so you can simmer longer if you want. You can use leftover cooked rice if you wish, or used dried beans if you prefer (soak dried beans overnight first!) When serving, we offer salt, pepper, hot sauce and vinegar at the table...but most of the time, we just eat this as-is, with a chunk of corn bread!

I have made it with half collards and half turnip greens, and when I do that, I often chop and add a turnip root or two. This is our "go to" New Year's soup, as it has rice for luck, and black-eyed peas and collards for good fortune in the new year.

I don't think I've ever had collard greens before. But I will try almost anything with bacon. :)

These look delicious—I love these greens with bacon and vinegar...

I'm a fan of sweet and salty greens so i like to add a little dijon mustard and subsitute dark borwn sugar for the white sugar.

I wash my collards in cold water. Then I wash each leaf to make sure they are clean. I roll up about 7 or 8 leaves and slice long way while holding onto the roll. I turn it and cut down a couple more times. (Now I live in North Carolina so this is a southern thing). Then I start chopping them up from the ends of the rolls. I throw the chopped up pieces into a huge pot. I chop up the stalks too as long as they are small. They taste good. I add a little water not much because these greens make their own liquid. Salt to taste. I slice off about 4 or 5 pieces of fat back and press them down near the bottom into the water. Put the lid on bring to boil. Turn the heat down and let them boil gently for the next 45 minutes to an hour. Stir occasionally. I only put while vinegar on mine and I make genuine southern corn bread (not Jiffy Mix) to go with them. On New Year's this is what I fix, Collards, pork chops, black-eyes peas, cornbread. Don't need dessert. (remove the pieces of fat back so it don't gross anybody out or scare them to death)

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I'm living in Europe and have never heard of Collard Greens (or Kale or chard). Are these just different names for spinach or silver beet?

Hi Sharla, according to the Wikipedia, what you call silverbeet, we call chard. Kale is a form of cabbage without the head. Collard greens are related to cabbage and broccoli. Spinach is a completely different plant. ~Elise

Hmmm, while growning up in Massachusetts I honestly can never remember a collard green hitting the dinner plates! LOL

As a result, this is something I never even think to cook, but your recipe and all of the other comments and suggestions make it sound wonderful!

I've never had collard greens before, but have always wanted to try them. This recipe looks great, I think I'm going to have to give it a try.

We live near Mount Airy (the real Mayberry) in NC and there are two festivals each fall: Mayberry Days and Autumn Leaves Festival. I make a point to go but just for one food vendor: The women serving Collard Green Sandwiches!

This year I was really saddened to see a line with no end! I didn't get my treat, no one would wait for me. :-(

These women take a big square of cornbread split and filled with collard greens and a thin slice of country ham... it is to die for! and unfortunately, why the line was so long! The greens are very spicy and chopped fine and cooked soft. It can't be too hard to duplicate but I suspect there is a secret ingredient LOL.

Hi Elise,
How many minutes (hours?) of simmering does it take to "cook until the greens are completely wilted and have lost their brightness".
Thanks,
Mary

Hi Mary, we cooked these at least 15 minutes, though depending on how tough you particular greens are, it could take a bit longer than that. ~Elise

Thanks for this recipe. I'll print it out straight away. We love collard greens and enjoy them whenever we go out to eat at cracker barrel. Now we can enjoy them at home!

Wow, so many comments! I love collard greens, kale, chard, mustard greens. I actually enjoy the slight bitterness myself. I usually just saute with some garlic and red pepper flakes. I don't mind if it is a little firm. But I also love the results of long cooking as it's prepared at soul food restaurants with the yummy pot liquor.

Two ways: in salads (tossed with bacon bits, and a dressing made with olive oil, a little red wine and garlic); and the Italian way - sauteed with olive oil and garlic (lots of it) just until wilted. Yummy.

This summer we frequently received collards in our CSA box. The first bunch eventually got thrown out because I didn't know what to do with it. The second bunch was added with kale into croquettes (an excellent way to prepare dark leafy greens). Then one of the other shareholders told me that she just prepares collards like spinach -- sautéed quickly in a bit of bacon fat with garlic, onions, salt and pepper with crumbled bacon on top. It's fabulous! Truthfully, though, I've decided that just about anything tastes good when it's mixed with bacon.

Elise, how do you store leftover bacon fat? In the refrigerator?

We keep ours on the counter or in the refrigerator. Depends on how fast we go through it. Here's a post on rendering bacon fat, btw. ~Elise

Try adding 2 tbsp soy sauce and replace the chicken broth and vinegar with 1 1/2 cups of dry white wine. I also don't add the sugar, but that probably wouldn't make a lot of difference. I live in SC and we always have collards for New Years Day and I am always asked to make the collards.

This sounds like the recipe for me to try or maybe re-try as I have not checked my greens file yet. I love the idea of hot sauce and vinegar. The bagged grocery store collards does not really have a good recipe on the back of the bag. This will be tried this weekend with some corn bread.
Thanks!

I have always loved greens and cooked it quite a bit as my children were growing up (my son called them leaves). I normally use bacon or bacon grease along with onions, garlic, salt and pepper. I have been known to use hamhocks every now and then, but usually reserve those for my beans.

I have never used vinegar or sugar, so I will have to try that out. Try putting in a tomato or two, just enough to notice that they are there. My kids swear the tomatoes make them even better.

We add vinegar after the greens are cooked with smoked meat and chopped onions. Use a little cruet for the vinegar and poke a hot pepper or two down in it. Those long skinny red ones are perfect. After ladling the greens in your bowl, pour a little of the flavored vinegar over them.

Did you know the vinegar boosts the calcium in greens?

I love collard greens and I make them in two main ways:

1. I love collards with a coconut curry sauce. I believe the recipe comes from "Feeding the Whole Family" and contains coconut milk and cashew butter. It is simply delicious over rice.

2. I blanch the collards and then submerge them in ice water. Then i fry up some pancetta and garlic and chop the collards relatively finely and add them to the crispy pancetta and garlic. Cook until they are sort of crispy around the edges. Delicious!!

I use a recipe somewhat similar. I use smoked ham instead of bacon; the flavor and smell of this is amazing. Instead of the cider vinegar I use balsamic; the different flavor gives a taste that you will go bananas for.

I am from the South and have a tip for getting the bitter taste out of the greens. Bring collards (or mustard, turnip) greens to a boil. Then discard the water. Next add new water, along with smoked ham or turkey, salt, and pepper and boil until tender and flavors have combined.

The first boil eliminates the bitter. You literally throw it out with the water and there is no need to add sugar.

This was my first time making collard greens. I fell in love with it a long time ago when someone made it with ham hock for a pot luck dinner. Here are the changes that I made to your recipe. I used 8 - 9 pieces of the thick bacon (I bet it's great with smoked ham too!), and left every drop of delicious bacon grease in there, although surprisingly it was not overwhelmingly greasy. I only had red onion (instead of yellow; I've been trying to use red onion more often anyway because it gives a more spicy flavor), and used about 3 - 4 cloves garlic. I did not have chicken stock, so I used 2 cups water and 3 small chicken bouillon cubes. I used white vinegar, but I'm sure apple cider vinegar is better if I had it available. I also added 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and about 1/4 - 1/2 c. sherry (from the liquor store, not cooking sherry (I've heard too many chefs say to avoid cooking sherry because it contains salt which changes the flavor)). Usually I do not like to cook my greens very long. However, for this dish, it required simmering on low heat for at least 45 min - 1 h to get rid of the bitterness. I served it with rice, and oh how good it is!

To get the umami and great tasting braised greens without the meat or animal fat, try using a combination of sesame oil and butter (well, OK, some animal fat) to saute onion and garlic, add some smoked paprika and hot pepper flakes, then pre-washed greens chopped up however you like, and for liquid use at least a cup of dry white wine, either with additional wine, vegetable broth or water to have enough liquid for a good simmer until tender. Though I suppose if you don't want or have wine, water with a tablespoon of vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar would have a similar effect.