Tiana Walters These are seriously the Best Collard Greens Ever. The bacon, onion, and tasso give these greens a deep and peppery flavor. Everything simmers together in a pot for an hour on the stove in my Homemade Instant Pot Chicken Broth.
I was never a big collard green fan as a kid. They looked slimy and had bits and pieces of unwanted meat in there. Not blaming my mom, she tried. But when my boyfriend David got obsessed with Sean Brock and reinventing southern cuisine, he went full dive into southern dishes. And that includes collards, of course. We in Georgia, girl!
What’s in it?
He mixes his fresh collards with green cabbage, which adds a different texture and more color.
Using fat from smoked or cured pork is a more traditional method of flavoring collard greens. The recipe calls for half bacon, half tasso.
What’s Tasso?
Tasso ham is fantastic! Salty, fatty, and flavorful. A highly spiced, cured, and smoked pork. Perfect for flavoring collards. It hails from Louisiana and is used in Cajun and Creole dishes. Tasso adds a deep flavor and a vibrant peppery kick to the earthy collard greens.
Substitutions:
The recipe calls for 1lb of pork. However, you can find it. I would lean towards fatty cuts that have been smoked and cured for deeper flavors. Pork tenderloin cooked in here would not do any justice to the collards. So alternatively you can add bacon, smoked ends, smoked sausages etc.
Storing:
David will make a large batch, and we will eat what we can and save the rest in the freezer. These are one of those recipes I think gets better the next day. Once cooled, pop them in a ziplock and freeze flat. When ready to use, put them under some hot water for a minute or two and throw them in a pot to reheat.
Serve Collards with:
These Collard Greens pair well with my Nashville Hot Cauliflower Wings, Instant Pot Whole Chicken (which is a two-fer you get Chicken & Broth), or soon to come to Easy Pork Tenderloin.
If you make this recipe please be sure to tag me on IG @love.your.taste.buds and rate my recipe below as this helps my food get into other peoples hands. Thank you, enjoy!
Best Collard Greens Ever
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 large yellow onion diced
- 1/2 lb bacon cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 lb tasso cut into bite sized pieces, see note
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 32 oz Homemade Chicken Broth see note
- 1 bunch (about 2 lbs) Collards cut into 2 inch pieces
- 1/3 head green cabbage sliced
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
- In large stock pot set to med cook bacon and tasso down, letting it get crispy Remove bacon and tasso from pot, leaving the fat. Add onions, and cook till soft. Then add garlic, and cook till fragrant.
- Next add collard greens, seasonings, vinegar, chicken broth, and bacon and tasso. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 35 minutes. Next add cabbage, and cook for 10 minutes, or until greens are tender & cabbage has some bite to it.
