Instant Pot collard greens are a Southern-inspired side dish made much quicker in an electric pressure cooker. These Southern greens have a ton of flavor from bacon and ham, and you'll want to drizzle the cooking liquid on everything!
Now I don't like to keep secrets from you, but I've been playing with an Instant Pot for awhile now behind the blog scenes. I'm not an 'early adopter' by nature, so it took months of seeing Instant Pot recipe after Instant Pot recipe on social media before I worked up the courage to dive on in myself.
After studying the user manual and the work process flow chart (not super helpful) and watching a few YouTube set-up tutorials (much more helpful!), I crossed my fingers and pressure cooked for the first time ever.
Succ-ess. Remind me again what I was nervous about? Though it obviously didn't come as a surprise, I was still wowed at how quickly a big chuck roast became perfectly shreddable. Just an hour of cooking time! While my slow cooker is definitely not going anywhere, the same chuck roast I use in this slow cooker shredded beef takes eight-ish hours on high heat in the slow cooker. Hello, time saver Instant Pot.
Saving the day when you forget to start cooking dinner at breakfast and still want to eat dinner that night. 🙂
With this idea in mind, I wanted to see about adapting other longer cooking favorites, starting with this Southern Instant Pot collard greens.
Now I'm probably taking advantage of how prevalent Southern greens are on the menu at restaurants all over Nashville and Asheville (another city we visit frequently). I certainly didn't eat them when I lived up north or out west. But they're my favorite side dish to order alongside hot chicken, BBQ, or any other Southern-inspired dish.
Tender collard or turnip greens are cooked with a bit of meat, sometimes bacon and/or country ham (more on country ham later), in an AMAZING savory cooking liquid. This cooking liquid is called 'pot liquor', which sounds intimidating but is actually a combination of water/broth, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and spices.
I'm willing to bet that even the leafy green vegetable haters in your life wouldn't be able to pass up these Southern Instant Pot collard greens.
This recipe is adapted from the Southern greens side dish at The Loveless Cafe, which were probably the first Southern greens I'd ever eaten. It was to my surprise when I went on their website in the hopes of learning if they use collard or turnip greens that, upon clicking their picture, the full recipe appeared.
I made a few changes, notably using the Instant Pot for five minutes of cooking time instead of simmering on the stovetop for hours. I also used much less liquid, and went with collard greens instead of turnip greens. Either would work, however collard greens are easier to find in the grocery store (at least in my experience).
Southern Instant Pot collard greens recipe notes:
- What's country ham? Believe me, I had to Google because I had no clue. It's a salt-cured ham that I found uncooked, cut into small slices, and vacuum-sealed. Once removed from the package, I roughly chopped it as I did with the uncooked bacon slices. The chopped country ham should be relatively similar in thickness to the bacon, so I cooked them together on the saute function.
- I got my country ham at my usual grocery store, though that may be because I live in country ham territory. If you can't find it, double the bacon and omit the country ham.
- You can use turnip greens if you prefer, or even kale (
though I haven't tested it with kaleupdate: it works great with kale).
And a few Instant Pot notes...
- This Southern Instant Pot collard greens recipe was made and tested with the 6-quart Instant Pot (affiliate link).
- Be sure to deglaze the pan with a bit of the broth after sautéing the bacon/country ham/onion mixture, as written in the recipe below. The stuck on bits will come up from the bottom of the pot very easily. This helps to prevent the "burn" message you might have read about, which displays when the food at the bottom of the pot is too hot/overcooked.
Southern Instant Pot Collard Greens
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 slices uncooked bacon chopped
- 4 oz country ham sliced and chopped
- 1 small onion chopped
- ¾ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
- â…“ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 16 oz collard greens roughly chopped
Instructions
- Rinse collard greens very well. Remove the thick center stem and roughly chop them into large bite-sized pieces.
- Add olive oil to the Instant Pot. Press the "Saute" button, leaving the lid off.
- Once the oil has heated, add the chopped bacon and country ham. Saute for 4-5 minutes, and then add the chopped onion. Stir everything around periodically (there still may be sticking to the bottom of the pot).
- Once the bacon and country ham has cooked and the onion has become golden, deglaze the pot with about one-third cup of the chicken broth (amount doesn't need to be precise). Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the stuck-on bits from the bottom of the pot and stir.
- Add the rest of the chicken broth, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and crushed red pepper flakes and stir to combine.
- Add the chopped collard greens to the Instant Pot and pack them in well. Press the "Keep Warm/Cancel" button to shut off the Saute function. You want to allow for adequate space in the Instant Pot before cooking with pressure, so I paused for a minute or two at this point to allow for some of the collard greens to reduce in size before proceeding. Packed in, aim for the Instant Pot to be about two-thirds full.
- Close and lock lid. Ensure the pressure release valve is set to "sealing".
- Press the "Manual" button. Then using the down button, reduce the cooking time to 5 minutes.
- The Instant Pot will take a few minutes to pressurize, during which you may hear a little hissing noise once it's almost there. Then "5" minutes will appear on the display, which will count down until it's done.
- At this point you can allow the Instant Pot to naturally pressure release, or do the quick release. Do whichever one you're comfortable with. Natural pressure release for this recipe took about 20 minutes for me, and I didn't find the greens to be mushy or overdone at all.
- Once the pressure is released, carefully remove the lid and stir everything up. Serve while warm.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
Food Safety and Nutrition Disclaimer
lebonnie says
Country ham is also called salt pork. You can find it in most supermarkets.
O says
Country ham and salt pork are two separate items. Country ham is extremely salty with ham meat and salt pork is all white fat meat.
Erinn A. says
These greens hit the spot! They were a little tangier than we are used to from the vinegar, but that’s an easy fix for next time! I’m so happy to have found a great recipe for fresh greens instead of the frozen I usually cook. Well done!
Alyssa says
So glad you liked them and can tweak them even more for next time, Erinn! 🙂
Lori says
I really wanted to like these more but they turned out so bland and needed a bit more cooking. I added garlic and onion powder, about a half cup of additional chicken stock and two more slices of bacon. It’s pressure cooking for 5 more minutes so We shall see.
Alyssa says
Sorry these weren't more to your liking, Lori, but hopefully your adjustments did the trick. Thank you for sharing your review!
caycee says
I have two bags of frozen turnip greens, 14oz each. how would I go about making this recipe? would I double the recipe and would I have to thaw the greens first?
Alyssa says
Hi Caycee, so sorry for my delayed reply. You could thaw the greens but I think they'd work fine right from frozen, as well. You could possibly increase the pressure cook time by a minute or so? But they probably would work just as well with the normal five minutes as they have plenty of time to quickly thaw while the Instant Pot is coming up to pressure. I don't think you would need to double the other ingredients. As long as all the greens fit in the IP I think you'd be fine to add them all. Hope that's helpful.
Olga Smith says
We don't eat pork, but will be making this tonight with smoked turkey legs. Excited to try colored greens in my instapot for the first time. Thanks for sharing your recepe.
Alyssa says
You're very welcome, Olga! Several readers have used smoked turkey products to great results. Hope you enjoyed!
Tamboliya says
What can you use as a substitute if you don't have any uncooked bacon nor ham? I think I have fully cooked frozen pork and maybe a frozen lamb chop...or a little bit of fully smoked bacon bits in a vacuum-sealed pouch...
Alyssa says
Hi Tamboliya, I think the pork or smoked bacon bits would be a nice substitution! I'm not sure how lamb would be, but readers have also mentioned enjoying smoked turkey cuts. Please let me know if you give it a try! 🙂
Tamboliya says
I used frozen pork that I fried and broke up into pieces or shredded and then wilted greens on top of the pork. Turned out great. 🙂 Hope that helps.
Alyssa says
Yum! So glad you liked it!
Tracy says
Made this tonight as directed
And it was a hit. I think lots of variations could work and will be making this allot. I will say it is a strong vinegar taste that I liked but a few said maybe use less next time.
Alyssa says
I'm so happy you like this recipe, Tracy! Thanks for letting me know how it went.
Robyn says
These greens were bomb! I used 24 oz of frozen, chopped collards (fresh are hard to find in rural WI.) I also added 1 tsp of garlic powder, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. They turned out perfect! Even my hubby who originally stuck his nose up at greens, loved them!
Alyssa says
So glad you love them, Robyn! 🙂
Meesh says
I just made this recipe and it came out so good! I only used bacon so I increased that. I think with extra bacon the olive oil can be omitted. I added 2 cloves of garlic minced also but followed the recipe. The only thing I personally needed more of is salt. That can be added later I guess, but it would be nice if it could have cooked with that.
Alyssa says
So glad you liked it!! 🙂
Karen says
Not using the ham will definitely make the dish less salty because it's the ingredient that supplies the salt in the recipe.
Sheena says
This was delicious! Thank you.
Alyssa says
Happy you liked it! 🙂
Lee says
Made these greens for lunch and they were delicious. I had some chicken bones and skin in the freezer and was wondering what to make with some fresh IP stock so I'm glad I found this recipe. I served the collards along with some fresh baked artisan sour dough and some mixed beans I cooked in the IP with the extra country ham, stock and aromatics.
Alyssa says
I'm so glad you liked them, Lee! That sounds like a wonderful meal.
KCJ says
Delicious collards. I am a New Englander that loves southern food. These greens rock. I follow the recipe to the letter every time with perfect results. I have to confess tonight I replaced the bacon and ham with the meat from a smoked ham hock. It worked perfect. My southern friends agreed. Sometimes you use what you have. Thank you for sharing the recipe
Carol O says
Do you cook the ham hock first, for how long and with how much liquid?
Cheryl cicioni says
Ham hocks shouldn’t need to cook first as they are usually smoked. They would add. flavor. I would just throw in the ham hock along with the collards and other ingredients and maybe increase the cooking time a bit. I use ham hocks all the time to make my pasta fajoli and it is delicious.
Hilliary says
I made these last new year for the first time after I got my instant pot for Christmas. Fast forward a year and after making them a few times these are by far my favorite (even better than mom's).
Alyssa says
Oh man that's big praise! 🙂 So glad you like them!!
Kathleen says
This Georgia girl approves. Made these for a New Year’s Day luncheon and everyone raved. My Japanese sister in law asked for the recipe as did my neighbor from New Jersey! So good- and relatively healthy (minus the bacon and brown sugar, but hey!). Collards have more fiber than most greens, and tons of vitamins too. I will try the recipe with other greens as well. Maybe for a regular side I’ll halve the sugar and use only ham or sub smoked turkey leg. I’m sure it will still be wonderful. Thanks!
Alyssa says
You're very welcome, Kathleen! So glad you like them. 🙂 I keep meaning to try these with smoked turkey as it's been mentioned by a few other readers, too. I bet it's delicious.
Susan says
I’ve been making New Years Day collards for decades and these are the best ever! I added 1/2 of a 3 lb. cooked ham to the pot, and it’s amazing. This is my new go to recipe from now on. What a great start to 2020. Many thanks.
Alyssa says
You're very welcome, Susan! So glad you liked them. Cheers to 2020. 🙂