Easy Smoked Turkey Collard Greens

These smoked turkey collard greens are tender and full of flavor. They have everything you love about Southern-style greens, minus the pork! This recipe is perfect for beginners and seasoned cooks alike. Smoked turkey necks are the perfect pork-alternative!

Collard greens have a dangerous reputation for being complicated and cumbersome to make. I’m telling you to please throw this misinformation out the window!

Yes, collard greens do require prepping, cleaning, and a few hours of cooking time. Once the greens are in the pot though, they are very hands-off. The prepping and cleaning is nothing you can’t handle, I promise. If the thought of cleaning and cutting scares you that much, you can always buy bagged greens that are washed and cut.

What you’ll need to make Southern-style collard greens:

• 2 big bunches of collard greens – I buy mine on the stem, but you can opt for the bagged kind. Just make sure they are fresh. Also inspect the leaves to make sure they are bright green with no holes or brown spots.
• 1 smoked turkey wings, neck or leg- I personally like necks because they have no skin and they usually stay in-tact while cooking. If you’re looking to add a little more turkey meat to your greens, I recommend smoked turkey legs. Turkey tails are shown in the photos because I couldn’t find necks or legs in the market last year. Turkey tails are also good.
• 4-5 cups of chicken broth – full-sodium chicken broth is fine, but low-sodium is better, so that you can control the salt.
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 tablespoons of salted butter, divided
• 2 tablespoons of crushed garlic – I buy my garlic already crushed, but you can always crush or mince a few cloves of garlic yourself
• Seasonings: a teaspoon each of smoked paprika, a garlic powder, onion powder and ½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. Plus salt and black pepper to taste.
• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of sugar – just to balance the flavors
• Large stainless steel mixing bowl for soaking the greens – if you don’t have one a clean sink works fine.
• Large stockpot with a lid – 8 quarts or larger

How to chop and clean collard greens:

This part is super important, and probably the step that intimidates most people. Believe me when I say, chopping and cleaning greens is not that hard. Follow the recipe instructions and you’ll be just fine. Even for pre-washed and chopped greens, I still clean and chop them up smaller.

The first thing you’ll want to do is remove the stems and chop the greens. I actually don’t mind some of the stems in my greens, but this is a personal preference. I cut off any part of the stem that extends past the bottom of the leaf and discard it.

Once you’ve removed the stems, roll up each leaf tightly and slice the greens as thin as you would like. Use the photo below if you want to reference what I do.

Once you’ve finished chopping the greens, the next step is to soak them in cold water. This is a crucial step because greens have a lot of dirt in them. A large stainless steel mixing bowl is perfect for the job, but if you don’t have one, thoroughly wash out your kitchen sink and soak them in there.

You’ll want to let the greens soak for about 10-15 minutes and then drain the water and rinse them. Repeat as necessary.

How to prepare smoked turkey collard greens:

Once you get the cleaning and chopping part out of the way, the actual step of preparing these smoked turkey collard greens recipe is super easy!

Step 1: Sauté the aromatics and brown the meat

In your large stockpot, melt the butter and add the crushed garlic, chopped onions and crushed red pepper flakes. Sauté them until the onions are translucent.

Add the turkey wings (I used tails here because my local store was all out of wings) and brown them on all sides.

Step 2: Add the seasonings, broth and greens

I like to add my seasonings after I brown the smoked meat, but right before I add the broth and greens. After you add the seasonings to the pot (paprika, garlic, and onion powder), add half of the chicken broth and stir in the apple cider vinegar and sugar.

I hold off on adding salt until later in the cooking process because cured meat usually contains a lot of salt that’s released while cooking. What you don’t want to do is over-salt your greens, because that is sure to ruin them. I’m only speaking from experience.

Add the greens and pour the rest of the broth over them. Don’t worry about completely covering the greens with broth (unless you want to, then in that case you may need to add more broth than the recipe calls for). The greens will cook down after you cover the pot with the lid, and there will be plenty of liquid to cook them in.

Once you’ve added the greens, turn your flame all the way down and simmer them for an hour and a half.

Step 3: Shred the meat

This step is optional, but I prefer to shred my turkey meat and discard the bones along with any fatty pieces. Again, you don’t have to do this if you prefer not to. If you’re using necks, you can skip this part, because there really isn’t much meat to remove in the first place!

By this time, your meat should be pretty tender and all you’ll need to do is break it up with a fork, and then remove the meat back to the pot.

Step 4: Add the meat back to the pan, adjust seasoning and simmer.

Once you add the meat back to the pan, give it a stir and taste the greens. Make sure you’re also tasting the broth. Add salt (if needed) and season with black pepper to your liking, then return the lid to the pot and let it simmer over low heat for another half hour to forty-five minutes.

If you want to cook the collard greens longer you can, it just depends on the texture you’re aiming for. I generally let my greens cook for about 3 hours, but you can go as long as 4. A longer cook time will just yield more tender greens. If you go longer than 3 hours just make sure to watch the level of liquid in the pot closely.

Serving smoked turkey collard greens:

Depending on how fancy you want to get, you can plate the greens right out of the pan or transfer them to a serving dish.

Southern-style collard greens are typically served as a side, as part of a large meal. A few drops of hot sauce will further enhance the flavor!

Here’s a lovely close-up!

Serve these delicious, Smoked Turkey Collard Greens with:

• Creamy Brie and Cheddar Baked Macaroni and Cheese
• Easy Sweet and Savory Cornbread Stuffing Recipe
• Lemon-Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Sage

Did you enjoy this easy Southern collard greens recipe? Leave a comment below!

Easy Smoked Turkey Collard Greens

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Crystal
• Total Time: 20 minute
• Yield: 6–8 servings 1x

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Description

These smoked turkey collard greens are tender and full of flavor. They have everything you love about Southern-style greens, minus the pork!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 pounds of collard greens, thoroughly rinsed and chopped
• 1 smoked turkey neck, leg or wings(or another cured meat of your choice)
• 4 tablespoons of salted butter, divided
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons of crushed garlic
• ½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of onion powder
• 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar
• 4–5 cups of chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

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Instructions

1. Clean and chop your collard greens if you have not already. I give detailed instructions for how to do this within the body of this post.
2. In an 8-quart (or larger) stock pot, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and saute the onions, garlic and crushed red chili flakes over medium heat, until the onions become translucent. 
3. Add the smoked turkey neck (or leg) to the pot and brown on all sides.
4. Add the smoked paprika, garlic powder and onion powder and add half of the chicken broth to the pot.
5. Stir in the apple cider vinegar and sugar, and bring the pot to a simmer.
6. Turn the flame down low, and add the greens to the pot. Pour the rest of the chicken broth over the greens. Cover the pot and let it simmer over low heat for an hour and a half.
7. Once the greens have simmered for an hour and a half, remove the turkey leg or wing and use a fork to break the meat up. Disregard this step if you’re using a turkey neck. Discard of any bones and fatty pieces and return the meat to the pot. Stir the pot and taste the greens. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and season with salt and pepper to your liking. 
8. Cover the pot with a lid, and let the greens continue to simmer for another 1-2 hours, depending on how soft you want your greens to be.
9. Once the greens are done, turn the flame off and let them sit for 10-20 minutes to let the flavors settle. Give them a final stir and serve!

• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 3-4 hours
• Category: Sides

Keywords: greens, turkey, smoked turkey, southern, easy recipe, collard greens, vegetables, sides