A pot of delicious greens starts with well washed and cut collards. This post takes you step by step on how to prepare them properly and thoroughly clean this leafy vegetable so you always have the perfect side dish come Thanksgiving.
My first memory of my mama's food is of her eating a bowl of greens while on the landline phone talking to my godmother. And my toddler self silently begged for a forkful of whatever she was eating, because of course, do toddlers ever know what you're eating? No, but they want some anyway.
And my mama obliged with a big fat forkful of collards with ham hock meat. And it was goodt.
Collards (and mustard greens!) have always been a part of my life. My grandma grows massive greens with leaves about the size of elephant ears, so cleaning and prepping them for Thanksgiving and Christmas was a family affair alongside snapping the green beans.
Look, you can't eat just anyone's greens. You gotta know how to clean collard greens, love on them, and make them tender! And you're in luck because I'm about to teach you exactly that.
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Jump to:
- Southern Collard Greens: Soul Food for Centuries
- Why Do Collards Need to be Washed?
- How to Pick Fresh Collard Green Leaves
- What You'll Need to Properly Wash Collard Greens
- How to Wash a Mess of Greens
- How to Cut Collard Greens
- Pro Tips and Tricks to Cleaning Greens
- Equipment Needed
- FAQs
- Southern Recipes for You to Try
- Cleaning Collard Greens: How to Wash and Cut Collards!
Southern Collard Greens: Soul Food for Centuries
Cooking collards and other greens has been a part of Southern history since, a mainstay in Black and Southern gardens thanks to its ability to adapt, and it's a must-have side dish during the holidays.
Collards are a cabbage with very big, waxy leaves and honestly, they taste terrible raw. But in southern cuisine we cook them down for a long time until they are tender and tasty.
The greens themselves didn't originate with enslaved Africans, but their seeds were brought over to the U.S. via them on the ships. Collards are native to the Mediterranean area and were brought to Africa from travel and trade.
They're sturdy greens that grow well in almost any climate, and were one of the few things that the kidnapped Africans were allowed to grow and eat for themselves along with what many consider weeds like young poke shoots, dandelions, and lamb's quarters.
Traditional greens: collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, and kale, were cooked down in liquid with bits of fat back and salted pork for flavor, resulting in the beloved pot likker. This nourishing, vitamin-filled liquid would keep bellies full when there wasn't anything left to eat. You can see why it's such a sentimental dish.
Nowadays, the flavor of the greens take on the ham hocks or smoked turkey it's stewed in broth with, adding in spices like red pepper flakes, aromatics like minced garlic and onions and cook 'em down until tender and savory.
Why Do Collards Need to be Washed?
Greens are notoriously dirty. The leaves are big and waxy and even the tiniest grains of dirt or sand love to cling on for dear life. You won't even see them but boy, can you feel them. If you want to enjoy your greens, you must wash them thoroughly.
How to Pick Fresh Collard Green Leaves
At the grocery store or farmers' market, you're looking for big, healthy bunch of dark green leaves. No wilting, no brown edges, no crispy edges either!
They should be thick leaves with a little give and they put that 'cabbage-y' smell on your hands when you touch them.
What You'll Need to Properly Wash Collard Greens
- A kitchen sink full of cool water
- Distilled White Vinegar - some people wash their greens in salt water, but vinegar tenderizes the greens! I let my greens soak in it to begin the process and clean them.
- Produce Wash - okay, this is optional and just a personal preference but I do add some to my greens when I do my first wash.
- A Mess of Greens! - This just means a lot of greens! A lot of 'em!
How to Wash a Mess of Greens
Follow these steps for cleaning collard greens before cooking them and you'll have the best pot of greens. It's not at all hard, it just requires a little know how.
Step 1 | Remove the stems. The tough stem in the middle not only holds a serious amount of dirt, but also is the main reason for bitter greens. Use your sharp knife to cut away the main stem in the center from the leaves.
Step 2 | Give the first wash with the vinegar and produce wash. I call this 'the washing machine method'. Fill the sink with water, then you'll use your hands to really swish them around with the vinegar and produce wash. You're going to feel up those greens, shake 'em around a bit, loosen that dirt up, then rinse well under cool running water.
Step 3 | Let them soak for half an hour. Submerge the collard greens in cold water and add a little vinegar. Let the greens soak for 30 minutes. Drain the water, then fill the sink up once again.
Step 4 | Give a final scrub and rinse. This will remove any dirt left over on the collard leaves. Use that 'washing machine method' again in the clean water, swishing around, rub the leaves (especially around the veins) to check for dirt, just one last warsh, you know? Then rinse the collard greens really well with running water, pat them dry with paper towels, and you're ready to cut them!
How to Cut Collard Greens
There are two options: tearing by hand and rolling up the collards and cutting them up with a sharp knife.
I personally tear them apart by hand and suggest you do it, too. Why? It makes for the best greens; those bigger, tougher veins hold bitterness in them and you'll be able to feel the leaves for any residual dirt as well.
You'll find that the leaves will want to tear away from those tougher veins when you pull it apart by hand, so you don't have to guess at it. Super, super easy.
Pro Tips and Tricks to Cleaning Greens
- Can't wash them in your kitchen sink? Use a large pot (like a stock pot) and a colander like I did in the photos. The colander is easy to pull out of the water in the pot and pour the water out.
- I am a fresh collard snob. I do not suggest buying bagged greens that are 'chopped, washed, and ready to eat!', they almost always have their stems attached. I can spot a pot of bagged greens from a mile away!
Equipment Needed
- A Sharp Knife
- A Kitchen Sink or a Big Bowl and Colander
FAQs
For as long as it takes to get the dirt to loosen up! Some people do it for only ten, I like to do it for half an hour.
Yes, the vinegar helps to break down the waxiness on the collard leaves, which in turn helps loosen up the dirt that clings to that waxiness.
Washing the greens with a sink full of water and a splash of vinegar will quickly loosen the dirt, so all you need to do is swish around to agitate the dirt and feel if the leaves have become clean.
Southern Recipes for You to Try
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Cleaning Collard Greens: How to Wash and Cut Collards!
Ingredients
- 1 mess collard greens, a mess could be any amount
- cool water
- ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
- capful of produce wash, optional
Instructions
Wash Collard Greens
- Use a sharp knife to cut the leaves from the middle stem of each collard leaf.1 mess collard greens
- Fill your kitchen sink with cool water, then add in a capful of the vinegar and the produce wash. Use clean hands to agitate the leaves in the water for a couple of minutes, shaking loose some of the dirt and sand. Drain the sink and rinse the sink and greens.cool water
- Refill the sink with cool water with the greens in it. Add in the rest of the vinegar and swish around to mix the vinegar into the water. Let the greens soak for about 30 minutes to get the dirt to let go of those leaves.
- After the 30 minutes is up, drain the sink and rinse both the sink and the leaves well with cool running water. Once clear, refill the sink with clean water and the soaked greens.¼ cup distilled white vinegar
- This is the last rinse to feel for any residual dirt. Swish your hand in the water with the greens, feeling the leaves for grittiness. If there's no grittiness on the leaves, your collards are clean! If there's still dirt, soak in more vinegar-water for another 10 minutes and repeat Steps 4 and 5.
- Drain the sink, rinse the leaves well with running water, and pat them dry with paper towels. They are now ready to cut.
Cut Collard Greens
- Option One: Use clean hands to tear apart the leaves into many smaller pieces. The leaves will naturally tear away from the tougher veins, resulting in more tender and less bitter greens.
- Option Two: Roll the leaves up, then use a sharp knife to cut the rolled leaves into slivers. This is the faster and easier option.
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