These Garlic Butter Collard Greens are a staple of Southern consolation meals. The recipe options collard greens slowly cooked with butter, garlic, onions, and a touch of brown sugar for an ideal stability of flavors. Completed with a topping of crispy bacon, this dish is a hearty and flavorful aspect dish.
If anybody does consolation meals proper, it’s the South. My buttery collard greens, paying homage to my final journey to South Carolina, are sautéed with onion and garlic, sweetened up with brown sugar, and spiced up with purple pepper flakes. Every thing will get slow-braised multi function pot, then topped with smoky bacon.
Why I Love These Collard Greens
- Straightforward: With a preparation time of simply 10 minutes, as soon as the easy prep work is finished, the remainder of the time is simply letting the greens simmer low and gradual with out requiring fixed consideration.
- Flavorful: The dish is filled with wealthy flavors, from garlic and onion to brown sugar and crispy bacon.
- Nice for Any Event: Whether or not it’s a vacation feast like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or a comfortable household dinner, these greens are versatile sufficient to suit into any meal.
What Are Collard Greens?
Collard greens are the leafy a part of collards, a veggie in the identical household as cabbages. The uncooked leaves have powerful stems that get eliminated earlier than you eat them, a bit like kale or spinach. These leafy greens are a staple in Southern cooking, and in case you’ve by no means tried them, you undoubtedly wish to give this recipe a go!
Elements
- Butter: I like to recommend utilizing room temperature butter.
- Onion: A small diced yellow onion will do.
- Crimson Pepper Flakes: For a bit warmth.Â
- Shallots: A few shallots, minced.
- Garlic: I extremely advocate freshly minced garlic for one of the best taste.
- Collard Greens: Be sure that to take away the stems and chop the leaves up beforehand.
- Rooster Broth: For the braising liquid. You may as well use vegetable broth.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Crimson wine or white wine vinegar is okay to make use of.
- Brown Sugar: For the proper quantity of richness and caramelized taste.
- Salt & Pepper
- Bacon: Cube up thick-cut bacon and prepare dinner it to a crisp.
Tips on how to Make Garlic Butter Collard Greens
- Sauté: First, sauté the onion in a big pot with melted butter. Add the purple pepper flakes and shallots, stirring alongside the best way. Lastly, add the minced garlic and prepare dinner for about 15 seconds, till aromatic.
- Add Collards and Cook dinner: Add the collards to the pot together with the rooster broth, vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Give every thing a stir and convey the pot to a simmer, then cowl and go away the greens to prepare dinner on low for an hour or so.
- Put together the Bacon: Whereas your greens are simmering, fry up the diced bacon in a skillet. I like to recommend eradicating the cooked bacon from the pan utilizing a slotted spoon. Set the bacon apart for now.
- Serve: When the collard greens are tender and able to serve, sprinkle the bacon over high. Lastly, season with salt and pepper to style, then dig in!
Recipe Ideas
- Cook dinner low and gradual. Sautéeing adopted by gradual braising with broth and vinegar is the important thing to collard greens that prepare dinner up good and tender, with none bitterness.
- Including apple cider vinegar enhances the flavors of the collard greens, and, extra importantly, helps reduce the bitterness.
- Many supermarkets carry uncooked collard greens within the produce part subsequent to related leafy greens like Swiss chard and kale. Be sure that to take away the stems and chop the leaves up beforehand.
- Watch out to not overcook. Actual cooking occasions can range relying on the toughness of your leaves. Collard greens will flip vivid inexperienced once they’re finished cooking.
Serving Strategies
I really like serving these greens as a aspect to Smothered Pork Chops or Air Fryer Fried Rooster. They’re additionally nice to serve with my Sheet Pan Shrimp Boil and this Mild Skillet Cornbread. Through the holidays, place them subsequent to Garlic Rosemary Mashed Potatoes or these Immediate Pot Mac and Cheese goodies! Over New Yr’s, collard greens are a standard aspect dish to get pleasure from alongside a Hoppin’ John Skillet.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
Leftover cooked collards ought to be transferred to an hermetic container and refrigerated for 3 to 4 days or frozen for as much as 4 months. I prefer to reheat mine in a skillet with the juices for a number of minutes till heat.
Straightforward Vegetable Aspect Dishes
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Soften the butter in a big stockpot or Dutch oven set over medium-high warmth.
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Add the onion to the melted butter and prepare dinner for 3 minutes. Stir within the pepper flakes and shallots; prepare dinner for two extra minutes. Stir steadily. Stir within the garlic and prepare dinner for 15 seconds.
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Add the collards and prepare dinner for 3 minutes; stir within the rooster broth, vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper, and convey to a simmer. Flip warmth all the way down to low, cowl, and simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours or till very tender.
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Within the meantime, prepare dinner the bacon in a skillet set over medium warmth; prepare dinner for 4 to five minutes or to a desired crispness. Take away from warmth and spoon the bacon out with a slotted spoon.
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When able to serve the collard greens, high them with the cooked bacon.
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Style for salt and pepper, and modify accordingly.
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Serve.
- Collard Greens: If you happen to get common recent greens, you need to first soak and clear them to eradicate filth and grit. Nonetheless, in case you get a bag of pre-chopped and pre-washed collard greens, you may bypass this step, though a fast rinse in a colander as a precaution continues to be advisable.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Incorporating apple cider vinegar boosts the style of the collard greens and reduces their bitterness.
- Braising: Start with sautéing, then transition to a gradual braise, which is important for attaining tender collard greens.
- Cooking Time: The exact cooking period may differ only a bit primarily based on the toughness of the greens. You’ll know the collard greens are completely cooked when tender and never powerful.
- Storage: Switch leftovers to an hermetic container and refrigerate for as much as 4 days or freeze for 3 to 4 months.
Energy: 251 kcal | Carbohydrates: 13 g | Protein: 8 g | Fats: 20 g | Saturated Fats: 10 g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 2 g | Monounsaturated Fats: 6 g | Trans Fats: 0.5 g | Ldl cholesterol: 42 mg | Sodium: 171 mg | Potassium: 410 mg | Fiber: 5 g | Sugar: 4 g | Vitamin A: 6090 IU | Vitamin C: 42 mg | Calcium: 282 mg | Iron: 1 mg
Dietary information is an estimate and offered as courtesy. Values might range in line with the components and instruments used. Please use your most well-liked dietary calculator for extra detailed information.
