Are Collard Greens Good for You?
This veggie is a southern staple that packs plenty of nutrition
Collard greens may not be a staple in your kitchen, but the dark leafy green is closely related to several more popular vegetables, such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale. They all belong to the cruciferous family, which contain substances that may help protect against cancer. They are also packed with many other health benefits and once prepared in the right way, they can be enjoyed in a variety of dishes.
Collard Greens Nutrition
As a cruciferous vegetable, collard greens contain glucosinolates, substances that your body can convert into various cancer-fighting compounds. Research has shown that eating cruciferous vegetables may help reduce the risk of certain types of cancers, including bladder, colorectal, lung, and prostate.
As a dark leafy green, collards pack an amazing amount of important nutrients and have a number of health benefits. One cup of cooked collard greens contains about 5.5 grams of fiber—about 20 percent of the daily value. Fiber is essential for maintaining a healthy digestive system, and diets higher in fiber have also been linked to lower cholesterol levels and reduced risk of colorectal cancer, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
How to Cook Collard Greens
Collard greens have a slightly bitter flavor similar to kale, but the bitterness is mellowed by cooking. There are many delicious ways to cook them, but however you use them, careful preparation is key. “Collard greens can be sandy,” says Jocelyn Delk Adams, a chef and author of "Everyday Grand: Soulful Recipes for Celebrating Life’s Big and Small Moments" (Clarkson Potter, 2023). “Washing them in a bowl of cold water with a little salt provides a bit of abrasiveness to help you easily remove the grit from the leaves.”
Once you’ve gently scrubbed off the dirt, rinse the leaves in clean water. Whether or not you choose to remove the center stems is a personal preference, but Adams says that they can have a slightly tougher texture than the leaves. With or without removing the stems, Adams suggests rolling each leaf and cutting it into thin strips for the most tender results. After you chop collard greens, let them sit for a while before cooking—this helps preserve their cancer-fighting compounds.
Traditional southern collard greens are simmered for hours with a ham hock, allowing the greens to tenderize and soak up flavor. “I can’t remember a Sunday dinner that didn’t include them, and you could taste the love that went into that preparation,” says Adams.
Normally, cooking greens for so long would mean losing many of the beneficial vitamins. But the liquid (called potlikker) that results from simmering the greens and ham hocks is traditionally saved and used in other dishes or as a drink. “It’s the original green juice,” says Feller. “And it contains many of the nutrients that cooked off while the greens simmered.”
Cooking greens for less time—by steaming or sautéeing—may help preserve more of those water soluble vitamins. If you do cook your greens with pieces of salted ham, know that it can add a significant amount of sodium. Feller suggests soaking or boiling the ham hocks (and tossing that liquid) before simmering them with the collard greens to reduce the sodium while maintaining the flavor and protein from the ham. Another option: Skip the ham (making the dish vegan) and use spices like smoked paprika to help mimic the traditional flavor.
Collard greens can also be used in myriad ways beyond the typical southern recipe. “Be creative and use collard greens in any of the ways you might use other greens,” says Adams. She loves to quickly blanch the leaves, then use them as a filling for enchiladas or drizzle them with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar and roast them. “Adding some acid—like a vinegar or citrus—really helps bring out the flavor of the greens,” Adams says.
You can eat collard greens raw, but the uncooked leaves tend to be slightly bitter and a bit tough. If you want to try them raw in a salad or smoothie, Feller recommends mixing just a few collard leaves in with a majority of milder greens, like spinach.
A Brief History of Collard Greens
The American South is the culinary home to collard greens, but the plant actually originated in the Mediterranean.
Collards thrive in warmer climates, growing year-round in some southern states, and a single plant produces a steady supply of edible leaves. The greens were a staple in the diets of enslaved Africans who’d been taken to the southern colonies, many of whom came from West Africa where they ate similar leafy greens.
“Enslaved Africans who were in charge of cooking on large southern plantations used collard greens to re-create tastes of home,” says Feller. “Collard greens were readily available to all Southerners, and the food became synonymous with Southern American cooking,” she says.
The greens are still part of the cuisine because of their history, availability, and nutrition, and they’re part of many celebratory meals, such as New Year’s Day—when they’re eaten with black-eyed peas to represent luck and money—Thanksgiving, and Juneteenth. Collard greens are so important in the South that in 2011 they became the official state vegetable of South Carolina.
