Southern Braised Collard Greens with Bacon: American Comfort Food At It’s Best!

Southern slow-cooked collard greens are the perfect accompaniment to fried chicken or catfish, smoked meats, stewed black eye peas, and pure and simple grits. These salty, porky, sweet, spicy collard greens are melt-in-your-mouth tender. The nutritious “potlikker”, the flavorful savory cooking liquid, is worth sipping on its own and sopping up with your cornbread. This is American comfort food at its best. And it’s worth noting here that, like many of the South’s most iconic dishes (gumbo, okra, sorghum, watermelon, and black-eye peas…), collard greens were first introduced by African slaves and their place in American Southern cuisine represents the melting pot of our cultural and culinary food heritage.

I’m a big fan of bitter greens. Quick and easy-sauteed swiss chard and kale is one of my go-to dinner sides. I put escarole in chicken soup. Grilled endive drizzled with an anchovy-lemon-garlic dressing makes me really happy. I know that these bitter cruciferous and chicory greens are an acquired taste. And I believe if you haven’t already acquired it, it’s worth putting in the effort to appreciate these ingredients. Collard greens, like many of these vegetables, are rich in vitamins A, K, B-6, C, calcium, iron and magnesium. They also contain a significant amount of protein (rare for vegetables) and fiber, making them a great choice for vegetarians (though this recipe is not vegetarian). Of all the greens, collards fall on the bitter end of the spectrum. They are also tougher than most. This opens up the door to slow braising, a technique that wouldn’t be appropriate for more tender greens like swiss chard or spinach.

The slow gentle heat used to braise collards leaches out the bitterness of the greens into the potlikker and transforms this cooking liquid into a nutritious, sweet, and earthy broth over the duration of the cooking time. Bacon adds porky goodness and salt which balances everything out and makes your kitchen smell amazing. I use my Dry-Cured Bacon for this, an ingredient that makes everything better and one that I try to keep consistently stocked in my freezer. You can certainly use store-bought bacon or substitute ham hocks or a leftover ham bone.

You cannot really overcook braised collard greens. You can however undercook them. This recipe here is a relatively quick preparation, 45 minute boiling time. You could easily throw this together in a crock pot and let it go all day. It may be tempting to stop cooking them 5-10 minutes in, when they are still a beautiful bright green color, but trust me, to experience this dish you want to let it go.

Foods that Compliment Braised Collard Greens

• Pure and Simple Grits
• Cheesy Grits
• Fried chicken
• Fried Catfish
• Smoked Pork, Ham, Bacon, Sausage
• “Hoppin John” or Southern Black Eyed Peas
• Cornbread
• Red beans and rice
• Barbecue and smoked meats like Smoked Pork Ribs

Another way to use collard greens

Braising collard greens is one way to mitigate their bitter flavor. Another way to combat the bitterness is to slice them very very thinly (“chiffonade” in culinary-speak), and quickly sauté with salt, olive oil, and lots of garlic. By thinly slicing the greens you are drastically increasing the surface area available to coat with other flavors. Cooking in this manner allows you to retain most of the nutrients of the greens, it is also vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free and makes for a very quick side dish, assuming you have the knife skills needed to slice it thinly. This method is popular in Brazil and was my first introduction to collard greens as a college student. Brazilian Collard Greens (Couve á Mineira) are typically served with Feijoada or Brazilian Rice and Black Beans.

Southern Braised Collard Greens with Bacon

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• Author: Kara Taylor- Home Cooks Guide
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
• Category: Side Dish
• Method: Braise
• Cuisine: Southern
• Diet: Gluten Free

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Description

These braised collard greens are American comfort food at its best.  Salty, porky, sweet and spicy.  Even the kids will be going back for seconds.

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Ingredients

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1 standard bunch collard greens (about .75 lbs on the stem), stem removed, and torn into 1-2 inch pieces

1/3 cup bacon, diced

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 Tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 pinch red pepper flakes (or more if you like it spicy)

1–1 1/2 Tablespoons Honey

1 1/2 cups water or broth 

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Instructions

Melt the butter in the braising pot, sauté the bacon until it renders out most of its fat.  Add the onion and sauté until transparent.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Cover and simmer over very low heat for 45 minutes or longer.

Remove from the heat and serve with the braising liquid.

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