Southern, soul food style collard greens seasoned to perfection and made with smoked ham hocks.
Southern collard greens are a staple in soul food homes. Collard greens, like most southern greens can be made several different ways. Sometimes I make my soul food collard greens with bacon ends. Other times, I use smoked pork neck bones, or even smoked turkey. However, this time around, I’m going to show you how I make my southern collard greens recipe with ham hocks.
So let’s talk about the actual collard greens first. Some people are new to southern cooking, so let’s start with what collard greens are!
What are collard greens? It’s large leafy vegetable that’s similar to kale. It’s usually braised when made the southern way. Collard greens are usually a side dish, and served with a main dish such as chicken or fish, along with cornbread.
To cook soul food collard greens, I start off with the meat. As mentioned, for this recipe I will use smoked ham hocks. I like to cook the ham hocks first, in my slow cooker. Although you can definitely cooked them on your stovetop. I just prefer to make them in the slow cooker, because it’s less time that I have to stand over the stove and watch something cook. Once the ham hocks are nice and tender, I remove transfer from the slow cooker to a large pot.
FYI- I prefer to use fresh collard greens. However, frozen greens cook well. Before adding my fresh collard greens into the pot with the ham hocks, I wash them really good! I make sure to remove all the dirt and grit. I also tear or cut the collard greens into small pieces.
This soul food style collard greens recipe is not spicy, because I don’t use any hot peppers or anything, but if you’d like to and some heat to your greens, feel free!
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Check out my video tutorial and print the recipe below.
These southern collard greens are made with red peppers, onions, and garlic - slow-cooked to perfection for a classic comfort food dish.
- 3 lbs collard greens washed, and cut
- 2-3 medium sized ham hocks
- 8 cups water
- 1 large red bell pepper diced
- 2 tsp seasoning salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp vinegar white or apple cider vinegar will do
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
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Start off by placing the smoked ham hocks and the 8 cups of water into a slow cooker.
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Set the slow cooker on high, and let cook for 3 hours, or until tender.
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Next, transfer the ham hocks, and the liquid to a large pot.
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Place the pot over medium high heat, and start adding in the collard greens.
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Once all of the collard greens are in the pot, add in the onions, peppers, garlic, and seasonings.
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Give everything a nice stir, then add in the vinegar.
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Reduce the heat to medium, and let the greens cook for about an hour, or until tender.
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Serve with cornbread.
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Enjoy!
I like to use smoked turkey necks.
Can I cook everything (at one time) in a slow cooker ?
You can check out my slow cooker collard greens recipe here.
Could you cook collard greens with smoked turkey. I do not eat beef or pork. Do you have any of the recipes where you can use turkey or chicken.
Sure, you can use smoked turkey.
I tried greens Monday and they was great.
I use a ham shank instead of ham hocks because they have more meat on them.
I also add a little sugar in my greens, my mom would do that when the greens were a little bitter, as well as the vinegar to tenderize them.
Now ya talking, Rosie. I love greens with ham hocks!
I cook my collards and ham hocks in a stovetop pressure cooker. I use 3 slices of chopped bacon, 1 medium onion, 3 minced cloves of garlic, chicken stock, 1 jalapeno pepper and apple cider vinegar.
Sounds good!
Looks amazing…I always use smoked turkey wings but have tried ham hocks and they’re delicious.
I like to use smoked turkey necks with my greens, but how do you stop the bones from the smoked turkey necks from getting in the greens after the meat falls off the bone?
I usually cook the turkey for a while, the shred the meat off of the bones. Then I place the meat back into the pot with the broth, and start adding the greens.
I think your collard greens recipe looks delicious, and even though my dad used to cook them the same way. I prefer smoked Turkey. I love your recipes. Its wonderful being able to go to a site to find good southern recipes.