These Southern Style Pressure Cooker Collard Greens are flavorful, tender, and cooked in half the time than the stove top method. Now you can enjoy collard greens any day of the week!
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If you live in the South, then you know all about the amazing way collard greens are cooked down here. For me, southern style collard greens are like a dream come true. In fact, it’s a must item I have to have on my Thanksgiving plate. I avoided making it at home for the longest time because of how long the process was of making the greens.
First, it took so much time to do the soaking and washing. Then, it took hours of cooking it on the stove to make sure they were tender. Then, there’s the smell…that good ol’ stinky collard greens smell. Yea, these were the reasons why I avoided cooking collards at home for the longest.
But the Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker came to the rescue and now I can make collards in less than an hour! I’m sharing my one pot collard green recipe that can be made with little to no effort while you prepare the rest of your dinner. Lookout Thanksgiving, my collards are going to be the easiest thing you make.
Why you should eat more Collard Greens
Collard greens are full of many essential vitamins and they’ve been noted as one of the vegetables that can aid in the prevention of cancer. You can read more about all the great health benefits of here.
Also, collard greens are delicious when prepared right and are a great way to introduce kids to vegetables. My 10 year old loves these southern style collard greens so I make them quite often.
Fresh or bagged Collards, which to use?
I’ve made this recipe with both fresh collard greens (the ones that require all that soaking and washing) and the collard greens you find in a bag in the store. Guess what the difference was? Absolutely nothing…except the price and convenience. The bag was about 2 dollars more than what I spend on the fresh collards but it was so much more convenient. No longer will I take hours and hours to wash my collard greens.
If you want to use fresh collards, you can read more about cleaning them here. Or you can be like me and BUY THE BAG.
What makes these pressure cooker Collard Greens so Flavorful?
That good ol’ turkey leg. I like to add a fully cooked smoked turkey leg to the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. You can find these in any grocery store. It brings so much flavor to the collards. I don’t even add salt when I prepare this recipe. It’s just not needed.
How long to cook collard greens in the Pressure Cooker
I prepared this recipe in my 6qt Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. The pressure cook time for this recipe as written is 35 minutes. That is the perfect amount of time to allow the turkey leg meat to fall off the bone and to have the collards soften without turning to mush. If preparing this recipe without the turkey leg, adjust the pressure cook time to 25 minutes.
Cooking collard greens in your pressure cooker is so easy it should be done more often.
Looking for more Side Dishes? Try these out:
- Instant Pot Cabbage
- Instant Pot Green Beans and Potatoes
- Instant Pot Corn on the Cob (Cheddar and Sour Cream Flavored)
- Instant Pot White Cheddar Pasta
- Corn Soufflé
- Creamy Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes
Southern Style Pressure Cooker Collard Greens
Ingredients
- 1 smoked turkey leg fully cooked
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 lb bag collard greens
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Instructions
- Add smoked turkey leg, onion, garlic cloves, red pepper flakes, chicken broth into Pressure Cooker. Then add collard greens on top, pushing down so that the greens are not sticking out the pressure cooker.
- Place lid on pressure cooker, making sure the valve is set to “Sealing.”
- Pressure cook on high pressure for 35 minutes.
- Once time is up, do a quick release by switching the valve to “Venting.”
- Open lid and remove turkey leg from pressure cooker. Use forks to shred the meat off the bone, returning the meat to the pressure cooker.
- Add Apple cider vinegar to the collards and stir.
- Enjoy 🙂
Video
Notes
Notes on Southern Style Pressure Cooker Collard Greens
- To make this dish vegetarian, use vegetable broth and adjust the pressure cook time to 25 minutes.
- This recipe was prepared in a 6qt Instant Pot. Please adjust accordingly for 3qt and 8qt models.
Suggested Tools for Southern Style Pressure Cooker Collard Greens
Instant Pot Electric Pressure CookerNutrition
Step by Step Photos of Southern Style Pressure Cooker Collard Greens
Jill P
Saturday 20th of June 2020
This is fantastic, and so easy! I had a ton of radish and turnip greens that I harvested before the plants were spent (as they had bolted in the heat). I used those (~ 1.5 lbs) and smoked turkey wings instead of leg, as that's what was at the store. So incredibly easy (apart from having to clean the greens!) and delicious. I was surprised that there was no salt in the recipe, but there isn't any need to add any. It's perfect! Thank you for this recipe :)
Tanya
Monday 22nd of June 2020
Thank you Jill P. Yep, the smoked turkey and broth generally has enough salt on it's own. So glad you liked the recipe :)
N Fresh
Sunday 14th of June 2020
I have made these twice in my ninja foodie. They are WONDERFUL! So many collard recipes are loaded with sugar but not this one! THANK YOU!
JR
Thursday 4th of June 2020
Hey Tanya, I love collard greens, unfortunately about a year ago our favorite bbq place closed down, they made some great collard greens. I purchased an Instant pot a month & made these last night, they were great. I didn't have smoked turkey, but used ham..Will cooked bacon taste good in this recipe?
Tanya
Thursday 4th of June 2020
Thanks JR! I think bacon would taste great in this recipe.
THOMAS HAMPTON
Tuesday 12th of May 2020
Thankyou very much i just purchased INTANT POT 10 QT. IM IN LOVE WITH THIS MACHINE...
Kat
Sunday 10th of May 2020
Maaaaaan this recipe produced greens so good that I realized I had never actually had good collard greens before. Now, I didnt have a smoked turkey let, so I used diced ham (but plan to try the smoked turkey leg at least once) I also didnt have red pepper flakes or apple cider vinegar, so I used 1/4 tsp of ground red pepper and distilled white vinegar. UH-MAY-ZING!!!!!!!! Such an easy recipe especially using the prebagged collards. Damn near 2 min of prep time and not one bitter bite or tough green. Thank you so much for sharing :) This recipe is a keeper for this girl!