When I met my husband, one of his favorite foods to eat around the holiday time were collard greens. I tasted them and I thought they were so good and I defiantly needed to learn how to make them. It took me quite a few times to make them to really perfect them and make them a family favorite. I make them every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I might make them one or two times during the year, but they are a time consuming recipe.
A few years ago, we had a ton of family come over for Thanksgiving and they devoured my collard greens. There are different ways of making greens, but what everyone that day loved about mine were that I put smoked turkey legs in them. It usually does take me about three hours to make mine and really you can let them simmer longer to get more flavors if you want. I let the smoked turkey legs cook in chicken broth and seasons for about 1 hour. It makes it easier to cut the turkey off of the bone. You will see that some people will just leave the smoked turkey legs whole in the greens and just cut pieces off when they serve. I like to de-bone the turkey and cut it into small pieces. It also gets more flavor that way too.
Collard Greens Recipe
Items needed:
- 4 bundles of collards
- 1 pack of smoked turkey legs (two legs comes in a pack)
- 2 boxes of chicken broth
- Minced garlic
- Red pepper flakes
- Salt & Pepper
- Big Pot (I have put a link of the one I use)
Directions:
Cook time: 3 Hours Prep Time: 1 hour Serving: 6-8 people
- Place your smoked turkey legs into the pot with 1 box of chicken broth, 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes (only add as much as you desire, we like our greens spicy), and 1 tablespoon of minced garlic. Let simmer on medium heat for one hour.
- Clean collard greens while your smoked turkey legs are simmering. Once you have cleaned your collard greens really well, you will start to cut them up.I cut about 1″ off the ends. Then, I take 2-3 leaves and roll them up and slice them. Set them aside in a bowl until your turkey legs have finished simmering.
- Once your turkey legs are finished simmering for an hour, take them out and set them on a cutting board to cool. Place the collards into the same pot you simmered your turkey legs in. Place lid on top. Simmer on medium heat for about an hour.
- Once you have let your turkey legs cool (usually takes anywhere from 30 mins – 1 hr) start to cut the meat up. I take all the little cartilage pieces out too. Makes eating it more enjoyable. Once you have sliced all the meat up I place it in the pot with the collards. Add more chicken broth if needed.
- Add 1 Tbsp salt, 1 Tbsp pepper, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, and 1 tsp minced garlic. Simmer for 1 hour.
Questions
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. It took me a few times to actually perfect this recipe. Yes, it does take some time to cook them, but they do taste amazing!
This is an awesome KETO recipe as well.