Braised Collard Greens

F&W Test Kitchen chef Elizabeth Mervosh’s favorite way to make collard greens employs a method inspired by the way New Orleans chef Donald Link braises greens with sugar and vinegar — a method that is the opposite of most traditional recipes, in which vinegar is sprinkled on after cooking. Mervosh bathes the greens with sweet, tangy heat from Creole seasoning along with apple cider vinegar and aromatic vegetables, cooking until the greens are tender but never so mushy that they don’t retain some of their texture. You can prepare this recipe for greens with less stock — as little as one cup. You won’t have as much potlikker (the delectably savory cooking broth, also called pot liquor), but that liquid will be especially concentrated and flavorful, and the flavor of the greens will be more prominent.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I cook other greens this way?

  Yes. You’ll have equal success cooking kale or mustard greens as you will with collards with this recipe, although the cooking times are slightly different, and the greens themselves will impart their particular flavor profile to the potlikker.

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

For a pot of kale greens, substitute two pounds lacinato kale for the collard greens and reduce the cooking time in step 2 to 45 minutes. 

For a pot of mustard greens, substitute two pounds mustard greens for the collard greens and increase the brown sugar to 1/4 cup. (This will help to offset the added bitterness that mustard greens can bring.) Reduce the cooking time in step 2 to 45 minutes.

Make ahead

Greens can be washed, stemmed, and chopped up to three days in advance. Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to three days in advance.