My Grandma's Southern Collard Greens Recipe with Smoked Turkey

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Some of my favorite memories are from my Grandma Reid's kitchen, tearing collard leaves off their stems, and honey, she's still out there growing them in her garden today. This is her recipe: smoked turkey simmered in seasoned broth until it's falling off the bone, then the greens cooked down low in that pot likker until they're tender and soaked through with all that smoky flavor. I keep hearing that 'greens are an acquired taste', but not mine! I've gotten my picky eater baby and my husband who never had greens to fall in love with them.

Now, I like my greens savory, so the only sweetness in my pot is a little brown sugar to round out the vinegar and hot sauce. If y'all like yours on the sweeter side, no judgment! The recipe card tells you how much more sugar to add.

Ingredients for a Good Pot of Greens

• Collard greens - fresh bunches, stemmed and chopped. This method works with mustard and turnip greens, too.
• Smoked turkey - the smoked meat is what makes good greens, flavoring the leaves and the broth all the way through. I use a leg and a wing, but I love smoked turkey necks in here too. If you're not pig-shy, smoked ham hocks are the traditional way.
• Low-sodium chicken broth - smoked meat is already salty, so low-sodium broth lets you control the salt.
• Apple cider vinegar - my grandma adds it with the greens to help rid them of bitterness.
• Brown sugar - just enough to round out all that bright, salty, acidic flavor.
• Hot sauce - use your favorite. I use Frank's. Skip sriracha, it has a totally different flavor profile than what we're looking for.

Stemming and Washing the Greens

Strip the leaves off those thick, tough stems, then chop the greens into bite-size pieces. Collards are waxy, and grit loves to cling to them, so even when they look clean, they aren't clean enough. You'll feel that grit on your hands as you strip them. I wash mine the way my mama and grandma do, with a vinegar wash, a soak, and a good rinse, and I walk you through it step by step in my post on how to cut and wash collard greens.

Cooking Collard Greens, Step by Step

Step 1

Build the pot likker.

Cook the onions with a little salt until they're golden, then add the garlic and red pepper flakes until fragrant. Add the smoked turkey, broth, brown sugar, and hot sauce, cover, and let it simmer until the turkey is tender enough to shred.

Step 2

Clean and prep the greens.

While the pot likker simmers, strip, wash, and chop your greens.

Step 3

Shred the turkey meat.

Pull the meat from the leg and wing and throw out the bones. Some folks toss the fattier skin and gristle too, but I'm a greedy girl, so I want it all!

Step 4

Start cookin' the greens.

Put the meat back in the pot with the greens and vinegar, stir, and cover. Let them simmer low for another 1 ½ to 2 hours, that long simmer is what takes the bitter edge off the greens, stirring now and then so nothing sticks. Add a splash more broth if the pot reduces too much.

Step 5

Taste, season, + serve.

They're done when the leaves are wilted, deep olive green, and tender.Taste the greens and pot likker together, then adjust with more hot sauce, salt, and pepper.

Where Soul Food Collard Greens Come From

Collard greens have been on Black Southern tables since Black Southerners , and the most widely held view, the one the Heirloom Collard Project stands behind, is that enslaved Africans brought them here. Enslaved people grew collards in their own garden patches, and one of the earliest records of the name "collerds" comes from an enslaved community in Hanover County, Virginia. They cooked them the way greens were cooked back home in West Africa, low and slow with whatever smoked or salted meat they had, ham hocks and salt pork being the go to in the U.S.

That long simmer is what gives you pot likker, and nobody let it go to waste. Folks sop it up with cornbread or drink it straight from the bowl, a habit rooted in West Africa. That's why a good pot of greens always come with plenty of pot likker and a piece of cornbread, just like my grandma's recipe.

Leftovers, Freezing, and Making Them Ahead

Keep leftover greens in an airtight container with their pot likker in the fridge for up to 4 days, according to the USDA's leftovers guidelines.

• Freeze: cool the greens, then pack them into freezer-safe zip-top bags with a little pot likker. Lay the bags flat so they freeze and thaw faster, keep them up to 3 months, and thaw overnight in the fridge.
• Reheat: warm them on the stove over medium-low (my preferred way) or in the microwave.
• Make ahead: if your stove is spoken for on the holiday, cook these greens a day or two ahead and reheat on the stove. The 4-day fridge clock starts when you cook them.

If you'd rather make your greens in the slow cooker on a busy holiday, try Britney's slow cooker collard greens!

Southern Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey

By: Eden Westbrook

5 from 18 votes

If you want Southern collard greens that taste like they came off your grandma's stove, this is the pot: smoked turkey simmered low, greens cooked down tender, and pot likker you'll want to sop up to the last drop.

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 3 hours hrs

Total Time: 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

8 servings

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Ingredients 

• ▢ 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ▢ ½ cup yellow onion, medium diced
• ▢ 5 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 1 smoked turkey leg
• ▢ 1 smoked turkey wing
• ▢ 8 cups chicken stock or broth, low sodium
• ▢ 1 tablespoon hot sauce, more or less, if you like
• ▢ 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• ▢ 2 teaspoon brown sugar
• ▢ 2 lbs collard greens, washed, stemmed, chopped
• ▢ Kosher Salt and Pepper, to taste

Instructions 

Make the Pot Likker

• Saute the yellow onions in the vegetable oil over medium heat for 3 minutes, until we have a golden color on them. Season them with the kosher salt.
  1 tablespoon vegetable oil, ½ cup yellow onion, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• Add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for just a minute, stirring frequently.
  5 cloves garlic, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Add the turkey leg and wing to the pot, then pour in the chicken broth, hot sauce, and brown sugar. Stir and put the lid on. Let the pot simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours, or until the turkey is shreddable and tender.
  1 smoked turkey leg, 1 smoked turkey wing, 8 cups chicken stock or broth, 1 tablespoon hot sauce, 2 teaspoon brown sugar
• Remove the turkey from the pot likker and shred the meat from the bones. Add the meat back to the pot and discard the bones.

Cook the Greens

• Put the collard greens into the pot with the apple cider vinegar. Stir thoroughly and place the lid back on the pot. Simmer for 1.5 hours up to 2 hours, until the collards are wilty, a deep olive green color, and taste tender and savory.
  1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 2 lbs collard greens
• Taste the greens and pot likker and season with more hot sauce, salt, and pepper as needed. Serve the greens with cornbread and other southern dishes!
  Kosher Salt and Pepper

Last step!Be sure to snap a pic and share on Instagram #sweetteaandthyme and tag me at @sweet_tea_thyme so we can all see!

Recipe Notes

Tasting Notes: I know some people like sweeter greens (I don't, I like mine very savory). Add more brown sugar, up to 2 tablespoons, if you like your greens sweet. I also like mine with some spice, so if you don't, use about 1 teaspoon of hot sauce.

Storage, Freezing, and Reheating

Keep your leftover collard greens in an airtight container with the pot liquor in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Freeze: Cool the greens down, then place them into freezer-safe zip top bags with a bit of pot liquor. Flatten the bags as much as possible so that they thaw quicker and are easier to store in the freezer. Keep in the freezer for three months and when ready, thaw in the fridge overnight.

Reheat: on the stove top in a saucepan on medium low until warmed through or heat it up in the microwave (stove top is my preferred way).

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1cup, Calories: 265kcal (13%), Carbohydrates: 12g (4%), Protein: 29g (58%), Fat: 12g (18%), Saturated Fat: 3g (19%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 75mg (25%), Sodium: 356mg (15%), Potassium: 757mg (22%), Fiber: 5g (21%), Sugar: 2g (2%), Vitamin A: 5736IU (115%), Vitamin C: 43mg (52%), Calcium: 297mg (30%), Iron: 3mg (17%)