These easy, southern style collard greens with smoked turkey are tender and full of flavor! Everything you love about soul food greens, minus the pork! Includes step-by-step photos for cleaning and cutting the greens!
These collards go perfectly with my Thanksgiving roasted turkey breast, skillet mac and cheese and cornbread!
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🌟 Why you’ll love this recipe
- Prepared soul food style – these greens are made the Southern way – they’re flavored with smoked meat and seasonings and simmered in a savory broth (Southeners call this ‘pot likker’) until they’re super-tender.
- Pork–free: smoked turkey is an awesome alternative to pork! It’s a leaner meat with just as much flavor!
- Clear directions with step-by-step photos – no more guesswork when it comes to cleaning and prepping greens! Using pre-washed and cut greens is fine too!
📋 Ingredient notes
- Fresh collard greens – inspect the leaves to make sure they’re bright green and fresh looking. Buy them on the stem or in the bag, it really doesn’t matter!
- Smoked turkey meat – I prefer necks but you can use wings, a leg or tails. Smoked turkey is salty so hold off on adding salt until the recipe tells you to.
- Broth – you’ll need low-sodium chicken broth, seasonings, apple cider vinegar and worcestershire sauce.
- Granulated sugar – just a teaspoon to balance the flavors.
📖 Recipe substitutions
- Vegan/vegetarian – omit the smoked turkey and replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth. Use plant-based butter to sauté the onions and garlic.
- Use full-sodium chicken broth if you don’t have the low-sodium version (note: regular broth contains more salt, rarely do I have to add any extra salt at all).
- Omit the red pepper flakes if you don’t want spicy greens.
- Instead of smoked turkey use another cured meat like salt pork, ham hocks or pork neck-bones.
🔪 Cleaning and chopping collard greens
- Inspect the greens to make sure they’re bright green and fresh. Discard any yellow, brown or wilted leaves. Run each leaf under cold water and use your fingers to loosen any visible dirt.
- Cut off the part of the stem that extends past the bottom of each leaf and discard it.Roll each leaf tightly and slice thinly.
- Place the chopped greens in a large vessel. Cover the greens in cold water, add ½ cup of cider vinegar and soak the greens for 10-15 minutes. Rinse and repeat as necessary.
⏲️ Recipe instructions
Step 1: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in an 8-quart stock pot and sauté the onions, garlic and crushed red chili flakes over medium heat, until the onions are fragrant.
Step 2: Add the smoked turkey meat to the pot and brown it on all sides. Transfer to a plate.
Step 3: Add the smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and half of the chicken broth to the pot. Bring to a simmer, then add half the greens and return the smoked turkey to the pot.
Step 4: Place the remaining greens on top of the smoked turkey then add the apple cider vinegar, worcestershire sauce and sugar. Add the rest of the broth, cover the pot and simmer over low heat for an hour and a half.
Step 5: Remove the turkey and use a fork to break the meat up (skip this step if you’re using necks). Discard any bones or cartilage and return the meat to the pot. Stir and taste the greens then stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Season with salt and pepper to your liking.
Step 6: Cover the pot again and let the greens simmer for another 2 hours (3 hours for super-tender greens). Turn the burner off and let the greens rest for 20 minutes – this gives the flavors time to settle. Give the greens a final stir and serve with a few drops of hot sauce.
💭 Tips and tricks:
- Keep the flame low while cooking your greens.
- It’s ok if the broth doesn’t cover the greens at first because they’ll cook down. You don’t need a lot of liquid – just enough to keep a simmer.
- Skip the shredding part if you’re using turkey necks because they don’t contain much meat. They’re mainly used for flavor!
🥣 Serving suggestions
Here are some of my favorite dishes to serve with these turkey greens:
❓Recipe FAQ’s
Collard greens are rich in nutrients like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, folate and calcium. The broth can be high in sodium though depending on the ingredients used.
Refer to the ‘substitutions’ section further up in this post for a list of healthy alternatives.
Vinegar is used mainly for flavor but is also said to cut the bitterness of the greens. I like to also add it to the greens while they’re soaking to help lift the dirt.
Short answer – not really. You can cook the greens as long as you want but you’ll need to keep adding liquid so the greens don’t burn.
Store leftover greens in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or in a pan on the stove.
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Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey
Equipment
- 8-quart stainless steel mixing bowl for soaking the greens
Ingredients
- 3 pounds fresh collard greens see notes below for cleaning/chopping
- 1 pound smoked turkey necks, legs or wings
- 4 tablespoons salted butter divided
- 1 large white onion diced
- 2 tablespoons garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 4-5 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- hot sauce for serving
Instructions
- Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large stockpot and sauté the onions, garlic and red chili flakes over medium heat, until the onions are fragrant.
- Add the smoked turkey meat to the pot and brown it on all sides. Transfer to a plate.
- Add the smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and half of the chicken broth to the pot. Bring to a simmer, then add half the greens and return the smoked turkey to the pot.
- Place the remaining greens on top of the smoked turkey then add the apple cider vinegar, worcestershire sauce and sugar. Add the rest of the broth, cover the pot and simmer over low heat for an hour and a half.
- Remove the turkey and use a fork to break the meat up (skip this step if you're using necks). Discard any bones or cartilage and return the meat to the pot. Stir and taste the greens then stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Season with salt and pepper to your liking.
- Cover the pot again and let the greens simmer for another 2 hours (3 hours for super-tender greens). Turn the burner off and let the greens rest for 20 minutes – this gives the flavors time to settle. Give the greens a final stir and serve with a few drops of hot sauce.
Notes
- Refer to the instructions further up in the post for cleaning and chopping the greens.
- Keep the flame low while cooking your greens.
- It’s ok if the broth doesn’t cover the greens at first because they’ll cook down. You don’t need a lot of liquid – just enough to keep a simmer.
- Skip the shredding part if you’re using turkey necks because they don’t contain much meat. They’re mainly used for flavor!
Deanna J Virgil says
I’m a southern girl and loved this recipe. I did use turkey tails and extra virgin olive oil. I also added half of a red bell pepper chopped and 1/4 teaspoon of Creole season. It turned out beautifully delicious.
Monica says
Excellent loved the taste!!
Crystal DaCruz says
So glad you liked it! Thank you!
Jay says
This is my favorite collard green recipe bu far. Its a hit with everyone I make it for. I also love that its low sodium