Honey Cider Collard Greens

Make these easy honey cider collard greens for your New Year's Day dinner! These greens combine apple cider vinegar, honey, and garlic for a deliciously sweet and savory side dish.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1

Servings

Calories 69kcal

Author Marisa Moore

Ingredients

1 1 small bunch fresh collard greens
2-4 slices thick sliced, center cut bacon
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1- 1½ cup broth (or more)
dash hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Thoroughly clean the greens and remove the tough stems. Roll several collard leaves together into a tight bundle and slice into uniform strips. Uniformity is essential for even cooking.
In a medium saucepan or pot with a lid, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the slices and any excess rendered bacon fat from the pan. Chop the bacon and set aside.
In the same pan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion. Saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute just until fragrant.
Add the greens, apple cider vinegar, honey, half the broth, and hot sauce. Cover and simmer until the greens are tender, at least 45 minutes or longer depending on how thick you sliced the collard greens.
Check the greens periodically. Stir and add more broth as necessary to the desired level of pot liquor. When the greens reach the desired tenderness (just taste some to see if they are tender), add the bacon back to the pot. Now, add your salt or pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Notes

Tips for Success:

Choose a flavorful broth
I used a reduced sodium chicken broth for this recipe. Remember that your broth will add saltiness and flavor. Add salt to taste after the greens are done. Better yet, if you have ham broth, use that!

What’s a "bunch" of collard greens?
For this recipe, I used a small bunch of collard greens. When cleaned and cut, it was about 8 cups raw.
If you have a huge bunch of greens, you’ll need more broth and more oil. Adjust as needed.

Cooking the bacon:
Cook the bacon slowly to avoid burning it. You can absolutely use the rendered bacon fat instead of olive oil. You can also use fatback in place of the bacon. I do think the bacon adds more smoky flavor though.

This recipe was inspired by the honey cider greens at my favorite southwestern eatery, Agave Restaurant, here in Atlanta.

Nutrition