Listen, when you need to learn how to make Southern greens, you come straight to Grandbaby Cakes; my Mississippi mama’s turnip greens recipe will seal the deal for ya. The flavor is off the chain. She takes fresh turnip greens, lets them simmer low and slow getting them all tender and cozy in a flavorful pot likker loaded with smoked turkey leg, onions, bell pepper, garlic and spices. I swear just one spoon full will get your whole life together ya dig? Sure you can make turnip greens anyway you want but down in the South, this is straight up gospel. Low and slow with lot of love is how we get down boos.
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Learning how to make greens is a right of passage. That’s why I feel like I can truly walk you through this process in a relaxing and endearing way. I’m here to hold your hand as I take you through how to cook turnip greens the real deal way. You just need a little patience and a lot of love. Whether you want to make these, collard greens or mustard greens, I’ve got you covered. Let’s get into it!
The Lowdown of The Best Turnip Greens Recipe
Cuisine Inspiration: Southern y’all
Primary Cooking Method: Simmering (low and slow is the name of the game)
Dietary Info: Not gonna work for vegan or vegetarian diets (smoked meat is used)
Key Flavor: Savory, smoky, acidic, and aromatic with a touch of heat
Skill Level: Beginner with a few intermediate skillz mixed in
Ain’t no thang
Making greens seems to intimidate folks but it’s pretty easy y’all. I break down basically everything you need to know from the washing of your turnip greens to the final cooking and developing of flavor.
Flavors on Flavors
We build rich smoky flavor in every single bite And let me just say, that pot likker is something else!! We pack it with aromatics and spices that truly build to a flavor explosion.
Family Roots
This recipe comes straight from my mama who was born and raised in Mississippi. She learned how to make greens from her mother, my big mama, who was born and raised in Mississippi. I’m giving you authentic Southern flavor, not some imposter recipe online from someone who don’t know what they talking about. Trust in ya girl!
Great Leftovers
I love serving these up a day or two after I’ve made them. If you can believe it, the flavors intensify making it taste even better!
Ingredients You’ll Need for Cooking Turnip Greens
- Chicken Stock: This, along with water, is gonna give us that nice rich, savory base to get our pot likker going strong.
- Smoked Turkey Leg: Listen, smoked meat is gonna really add some deep, smoky flavor. Grab a meaty fleshy leg so you can get bites of meat in each bowl too! Don’t just grab a regular ole turkey leg either. Smoked is key!
- Yellow onion and green bell pepper: Finely chop so it melts into the base! These will give a nice balance of sweetness and help build our aromatic base.
- Turnip: This is giving us some authentic texture and earthy flavor.
- Turnip Greens: When grabbing some fresh turnip greens, we want to look for some nice vibrant green leaves with no holes and tears. Avoid anything yellowy or with wilted leaves. We want those leaves to feel crisp too boos. Go for the smaller to medium sized bunches so they won’t be too tough and bitter and take too long to cook down. They are usually in season in the fall and winter but you can find them year round.
- Garlic: I can’t get enough of this aromatic goodness added to my greens. It kicks those flavors into gear.
- Oil: This will help soften our veggies right on up.
- Seasoning Salt: Instead of having to add in a ton of different spices, seasoning salt cuts the work because it’s already popping with a ton of different flavors.
- Paprika: It adds a bit of color and if you used smoked, it really gives some depth.
- Worcestershire sauce: We started tossing in this bomb ingredient much later but let me tell you something, it makes a big impact with its umani flavor complexity.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: It really brightens everything up and adds a nice welcomed tang too!
- Brown sugar: Just a touch is needed to balance the bitterness of the greens.
- Red pepper flakes: I love just a little to kick up some spice.
How to Prepare Turnip Greens for Cooking – Let’s Get Cleaning!
Aight fam, so here is how to clean turnip greens like a BOSS. Turnip greens can carry a ton of dirt and grit, and nothing kills the vibe like biting into some crunchy dirt. I have literally watched my big mama and mama spend hours cleaning greens to ensure not even one speck of dirt enters the pot. It takes some time but that extra TLC makes all the difference.
First up, fill your sink with lukewarm water so we can loosen up any stubborn grit. Dunk the turnip greens into the water and let the leaves spread apart. Let them sit for a sec. Then start swishing them around and giving them a gentle scrub with your hands. This will help loosen the dirt from the leaves.
Once you think you’ve scrubbed them pretty well, lift the turnips out of the water, drain the dirty water, rinse the sink real quick, fill back up with fresh lukewarm water and repeat the process. We wanna keep going until these babies are spotless.
How to Cook Turnip Greens
How to Serve this Southern Turnip Greens Recipe
- Cornbread: If you know anything about soul food turnip greens, you know they go hand in hand with some good ole fashioned cornbread. Serve these up with a piece of some fried cornbread, honey cornbread, or hot water cornbread so you can get that pot likker soaked all the way up!
- Southern Classics: These Southern turnip greens get down to business as a side with smothered chicken, fried catfish, fried pork chops, or any Southern comfort food you can dream up.
- Southern Sides Galore: Now you know you can’t just throw up some turnip greens and cornbread without making some blacked eyed peas and Southern baked mac and cheese?
- Finish With Southern Dessert: We gotta conclude this meal just right with a serving of egg pie, sweet potato cobbler, or a slice of cream cheese pound cake.
Recipe Substitutions
- Chicken Stock: Vegetable stock is cool to use here and so is chicken broth. You can also just use water along with a chicken bouillon cube to get that flavor on point.
- Smoked Turkey Leg: Grab some turkey wings or even a ham hock to keep that smoky flavor intact!
- Oil: Legit any neutral oil like vegetable oil or canola can be used. Also bacon grease is what my mama loves to use. It’s the Southern way y’all.
- Worcestershire Sauce: If ya ain’t got Worcestershire around, soy sauce is a great substitute.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Vinegars are good to add that acidic brightening to the mix but lemon juice or even white vinegar can be used as well.
Recipe Variations
- Use Bacon: Using smoky bacon is always a good move! Cut it into bite-sized pieces and render them down until they’re just crispy. Make sure you throw in the grease too for that rich salty smoky vibe.
- Spice it Up: While I usually leave the hot sauce for dressing up at the end, some can go right in the pot too ya dig? You can also toss in a bit of cayenne too!
- Add Caramelized Onions: Now this is new aged so I don’t want the old schoolers coming for my neck but you can add caramelized onions to soul food turnip greens for a richer sweeter flavor and some additional light texture.
- Cream it Up: Just a touch of coconut milk or heavy cream can really silken up the texture even more.
- Create a Greens Mix: Don’t use use turnips, try adding some collard greens and mustard greens too! You will get a range of textures and flavors goin on.
Expert Tips for Cooking Soul Food Turnip Greens
- Clean Those Babies!: Don’t rush the cleaning process. Put in some elbow grease and get those turnip greens super clean.
- Watch the Pot: You don’t want your turnip greens turning into complete mush. You want some texture left so don’t leave them on too too long or they will literally fall apart, and not in a good way!
- Remove The Stems: I know this is a personal preference but I prefer to remove them because they can be too tough. I leave them out but it’s your world boos. Do you!
- Add Liquid if Necessary: Keep checking your pot to make sure your pot likker is staying in tact. If you see the pot drying up, add more water or broth so the greens braise properly.
- Exercise Patience: I know you wanna speed this up so you can get to eating but just wait boos. This process is gonna take a few hours so buckle in.
- Don’t Take the Smoked Turkey Out: You gotta keep that good ole tender meaty goodness in the pot. Once those greens are tender, take a fork and let that meat fall apart in the greens and mix the meat right into the pot so you get some in every serving.
- Grab the Right Pot: I like using a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven to make my greens because it distributes heat evenly so it doesn’t burn them but lets them simmer away perfectly.
How to Store
- Fridge: Simply transfer your leftovers to an airtight container or ziptop bag and pop in the fridge along with that delish pot likker. They will last for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: We love to freeze greens around these parts. I package them along with the pot liquor in freezer bags, allowing all air to escape, then freeze. They will keep for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Use either the stovetop or the microwave. For the stovetop, just pour your leftover turnip greens and some pot likker into a pot and warm them over medium heat until heated through. For the microwave, place the greens in a microwave-safe dish, cover, and heat in short bursts, stirring occasionally, until they’re warmed through.
Frequently Asked Questions
You certainly can boos! I like to make way ahead in fact and freeze until a craving strikes. They will last in the freezer properly packaged in a ziptop bag or freezer safe container for up to 3 months. You can also pop in the fridge for up to 5 days if you plan to eat earlier than that.
Bitter turnip greens ain’t it y’all. You can try to balance the flavors by adding in some more sugar or vinegar to get that bitterness to calm down some. Make sure you also cook the recommended time too!
I personally recommend that you do. They can be super tough and thick which can take away from the tender taste and texture of the finished greens.
Fave Southern Side Dishes
Turnip Greens
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 smoked turkey leg
- 1 medium yellow onion finely diced
- 1 green bell pepper finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 3 lbs turnip greens 6 small to medium bunches
- 1/3 cup neutral oil
- 1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- In a large pot with a tight-fitting lid, add 2 cups of water and chicken stock. Add turkey leg and heat over medium heat and cook for 30 minutes until the liquid is a golden color and has been imparted with the turkey leg’s flavor.
- Meanwhile, thoroughly clean greens in a sink full of warm water. Pull the leaves from the stems. Combine the leaves in small stacks, then roll them like a cigar and cut the crosswise into 1 inch wide pieces, leaving you with strips of leaves. Discard the stems.
- To the pot, add the diced onion, bell pepper, turnip, half of the greens and all the oil. Cover with lid and allow first batch to cook down for ten minutes. The greens will reduce down by half.
- Stir in seasoning salt, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, red pepper flakes and remaining greens.
- Stir consistently, making sure to break up any packed greens and turn the lighter, less cooked greens to the bottom. Cook until greens are slick and tender, about 50-55 minutes. You may need to add more water to the cooking liquid; you want the greens to braise, not fry (this will help create a delicious pot likker).
- Most of the meat will have fallen off the bone, but shred any remaining large pieces and stir back into the greens and serve.
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I’m a transplant to the South from further north, and though I’ve eaten turnip greens, I’ve never made them. I knew I could count on your recipe and I wasn’t wrong! My husband and I practically licked the plates!
Wow I’m so so glad you enjoyed this recipe!