Cooking collard greens in your slow cooker is the easiest way to prepare them! Just layer the ingredients and let the crock pot do the rest. Tender, flavorful collard greens every time!
Southerners love their greens! These greens are slow cooked in your crock pot with seasonings, chicken broth, and bacon until tender. This method works not only for collard greens, but for turnip and mustard greens, too.
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What are Collard Greens
Collard greens are a dark green leafy vegetable popular in Southern cuisine. They're a staple side dish but often served during the holidays like Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.
They're super comforting and often served as a side dish with other southern classics like cornbread, macaroni and cheese, and smothered cabbage!
Why You'll Love Them
Why make collard greens in the slow cooker? I can come up with several reasons besides freeing up time and space on your stovetop!
Easy to prepare. Using pre-washed and pre-shredded collard greens saves you valuable prep time! The only prep needed is to cook the bacon and chop the onion.
Slow cooked to perfection. Cooking greens in the crock pot allows them to absorb all the delicious flavors and ensures they'll be tender. You may also enjoy Crock Pot Corn Casserole - a favorite southern side dish!
Flavorful. Collard greens have their own unique flavor and can be a tad bitter if not cooked correctly. But no worries here because cooking them in chicken broth, bacon drippings, bacon pieces, and a splash of apple cider vinegar greatly cuts down on any bitterness.
Versatile. This recipe is very ingredient adaptable. It works with any type of greens (collard, turnip, mustard) and flavor enhancers such as smoked ham hocks, country ham, or smoked turkey wings or necks.
Ingredients You'll Need
Collard greens - most stores carry pre-washed, pre-shredded greens which are a convenient time saver. But if all you can find is loose leaf or you grow your own greens, see the paragraph below on how to prep them.
Chicken broth - the broth is what adds flavor and creates the flavorful "pot likker" we love to dunk our cornbread into! Use any flavor broth.
Smoked bacon - a small amount of bacon grease ensures the tenderness of the greens. Adding several slices of cooked bacon enhances the smoky flavor.
Apple cider vinegar - adds a subtle twang as it tones down any bitterness from the collards.
Ingredient Swaps
- Instead of collard greens, use mustard greens, turnip greens, kale, or spinach.
- Swap the bacon for chopped ham steak, smoked turkey, or andouille sausage.
- You can use pre-cooked bacon but you still need to add some fat to make the greens tender. So, add ½ tablespoon of melted butter to the bottom of the crock pot first.
- For a spicy kick, add 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, Cajun or creole seasoning, or smoked paprika.
How to Prep Greens
If you grow your own greens or get them from the farmer's market, you'll need to give them a good rinse in the sink to remove any dirt and debris (double or triple rinse until leaves are clean). Remove the tough center stems.
Now you can chop or tear them into bite-size pieces. One easy way to cut them is to stack several leaves on top of each other, roll them up, and slice into thin strips.
How to Make Collard Greens in the Crock Pot
Step 1. Spread a small amount of bacon grease on the bottom of the slow cooker.
Step 2. Layer all of the ingredients as follows: bacon, onion, garlic, salt, sugar, collard greens, apple cider vinegar, and chicken broth.
Step 3. Put the lid on and cook for 4 hours. Stir before serving.
Step 4. Enjoy them as is or add your favorite pepper sauce! Garnish with bacon! As pictured, serve with my rich and creamy Pimento Macaroni and Cheese.
Recipe Tips
- Don't remove the lid while the greens are cooking, unless otherwise noted in the recipe card.
- Before serving, do a quick taste test and add additional salt or seasonings if needed.
- For a tasty southern treat, eat your greens in a bowl with a chunk of cornbread and juice from the crock pot (pot likker!).
Meal Plans With Collard Greens
Greens go with all your favorite main dishes and other side dishes. I've put together a few southern style meal plans to serve with these them!
Meal Plan One. Smothered pork chops, candied sweet potatoes, and peach cobbler.
Meal Plan Two. Chicken spaghetti, cabbage casserole, sweet potato cornbread, and apple pie cinnamon rolls.
Meal Plan Three. Baked chicken, roasted potatoes, and fruit salad.
Storing and Reheating
Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave. Leftovers can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Questions You May Have
Not for this recipe! Only fresh greens or frozen greens will work.
Not really. Just leave out the meat and use vegetable broth for meatless greens. Consider adding ½ tablespoon of olive oil to replace the bacon grease.
A splash of vinegar brightens the dish, balances the bitterness, and adds that little bit of “zing” that complements the savory flavor.
The stems are edible but quite fibrous, so they’re often thrown away. However, they can be chopped and cooked longer to soften or saved for a vegetable broth. Some people pickle the collard stems!
More Southern Side Dishes
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Recipe
Crock Pot Collard Greens
Equipment
- crock pot (slow cooker)
Ingredients
- 6 slices hickory smoked bacon, cooked. Reserve ½ tablespoon bacon fat. Reserve 2 slices of the bacon for garnish.
- 1 cup sweet onion, diced small cubes
- 1 tablespoon jarred minced garlic
- 1-2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 32 oz bag of fresh chopped or shredded collard greens (should already be pre-washed)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 4 cups chicken broth
- Optional: Trappey's Hot Peppers in Vinegar
Instructions
- Spread the reserved ½ tablespoon of bacon grease onto the bottom of the crock pot. Turn the crock pot on high.
- Rough crumble 4 slices of bacon and add to the pot.
- Add the remaining ingredients in the order given. The pot will be very full but the lid should fit fine.1 cup sweet onion, diced small cubes, 1 tablespoon jarred minced garlic, 1-2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, 32 oz bag of fresh chopped or shredded collard greens (should already be pre-washed), 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 4 cups chicken broth
- Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Give the collard greens a good stir, cover, and cook another 3 hours on high. Taste test and add more salt or sugar if needed.
- Crumble the remaining 2 slices of bacon on top of the cooked collard greens and serve. Serve with your favorite pepper sauce (I like Trappey's Hot Peppers in Vinegar).
Notes
-
- Don't remove the lid while the greens are cooking, unless otherwise noted in the recipe card.
- Before serving, do a quick taste test and add additional salt or seasonings if needed.
- For a tasty southern treat, eat your greens in a bowl with a chunk of cornbread and juice from the crock pot (pot likker!).
- Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave. Leftovers can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy to my readers. I'm not a nutritionist and I don't guarantee the accuracy of this data. The data may differ according to the brands I used versus the brands you use. To calculate the data yourself using your brands, try using an online nutrition calculator or app.
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