The BEST Instant Pot Collard Greens Recipe

Instant pot collard greens are flavor-packed and insanely delicious thanks to the mix of greens, bacon, onion, and a touch of hot sauce!

Serves: 6 Time: 40 minutes Cookbook: Southern Living

When we first moved to the south, we looked forward to trying each and every classic southern recipe we could. It took up a while, but we finally got around to trying southern greens, namely cooked-down fresh collard greens. One bite had us asking, what took us so long??

This southern-inspired side dish is often served alongside other southern cooking favorites like fried chicken, mac and cheese, and cornbread. And we can’t get enough of it! The deeply savory flavors of bacon and onion pair perfectly with the earthy flavor of collards creating a unique, one-of-a-kind dish, unlike anything you’ve ever had.

Around here, you’ll see this served on every occasion from New Year’s Day to backyard grill sessions and potlucks. It’ll show up in the deep south and every other southern state the south can claim, too. Today, we’ve got a quick, simple, and amazingly delicious instant pot collard greens recipe brought to us by southern culture authority, Southern Living. Let’s get cooking!

Jump Ahead:

• ❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• 🥬 Ingredients Needed to Make Instant Pot Collard Greens
• 🍴 Equipment You’ll Need in the Kitchen
• 🥄 How to Make Instant Pot Collard Greens
• ♾️ Variations on Instant Pot Collard Greens
• ❓ Instant Pot Collard Greens: Tips, Tricks, and FAQs

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Healthy: Collard greens are an excellent source of vitamins. Like other green vegetables, it contains higher amounts of vitamin K and vitamin C. The health benefits of collard greens speak for themselves. The amount of bacon you add is what will determine how healthy this recipe truly is and that, of course, is up to you.

Easy: If you’re looking for easy recipes to make for a family dinner or a get-together, you’ve found it. The instant pot does most of the work for you and cleanup is a breeze. By using this kitchen gadget, you’ll free up your stovetop for other dishes you need to make at the same time.

Party-Favorite: Make this dish and watch it disappear alongside that smoked turkey leg, the mashed potatoes, and the mac and cheese. It will be a happy new year, indeed, with this favorite side dish.

Ingredients Needed to Make Instant Pot Collard Greens

• Bacon: You can use any type of bacon for this, from regular to thick cut. If you don’t have bacon on hand, some works-in-a-pinch alternatives for flavor include a ham hock, salt pork, or country ham.
• Yellow Onion: A yellow onion is ideal for the flavor it provides. A white onion will also work, here, since it gets cooked down.
• Fresh Collards: Collard greens are the start of this show and can be found in most grocery stores. If you can find pre-cut, bagged collard greens that will save you some time. And if you have turnip greens, mustard greens, or similar leafy greens in your fridge, feel free to throw those in, as well.
• Chicken Broth: Chicken stock or vegetable broth will both work for this recipe, so use whatever you have on hand.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: ACV will lend a bit of sweet tartness that pairs perfectly with the fatty bacon in this dish. If you only have white vinegar, that will also work in a pinch.
• Brown Sugar: Dark or light brown sugar will work for this recipe, just bear in mind that dark brown will give more of a molasses flavor to the finished dish
• Hot Sauce: What is southern cooking without a splash or two of hot sauce? Choose your favorite brand, here.
• Salt: Go with kosher salt or sea salt.
• Black Pepper: Ideally, fresh cracked pepper is the choice due to the flavor it provides. If you only have pre-ground pepper on hand, that will work, too.
• Olive Oil: Entirely optional, feel free to add a drizzle of olive oil when the onion and bacon cook, or over top to finish the dish.

Equipment Needed In the Kitchen

Instant Pot

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Tongs

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• Electric Pressure Cooker: Instant pots, or electric pressure cookers, are wonders in the kitchen. We have an 8-quart Yedi, the one featured here, and love it for all it can do. Other excellent brands we like are Ninja Foodi, and, of course, InstantPot. Whichever brand you have, we recommend buying one with a large pot so you’re not limited by size.
• Tongs: A good pair of tongs will help when transferring the greens from the pot to your serving bowl.

How to Make Instant Pot Collard Greens

Collard greens are a delicious southern side dish and one that is super simple to make thanks to the wonders of this instant pot recipe!

Prep and saute

First up, chop your collard greens, cut the bacon into 1/2-inch pieces, and chop the onion.

Then, plug in your electric pressure cooker and press the sauté setting. Let your unit preheat for 5 minutes until the bottom of the pot is hot and ready to go. If you have the option, sauté on high.

When hot, add the bacon and onion to the pot and stir from time to time for about 12 minutes of cooking time. During this time the bacon should start getting crispy and the onion will become soft and translucent.

Now, add the collards and broth. Scrape the bottom of the pot and the cooking liquid will release all the browned bits off the bottom. Cook for 2 minutes until the collards start to wilt.

Finally, add the apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, hot sauce, salt, and pepper, and stir.

Pressure cook

Press the saute button or cancel button, whichever will cancel the saute function on your unit.

Set the lid in place and lock it, then set the steam release valve to sealing.

Select pressure cook on high pressure for 15 minutes of cook time.

Finish and serve

Once the timer finishes, gently turn the valve to venting to release pressure. When the pressure is fully released, the metal valve will drop into its hole. Carefully use the quick release function. Go slow and pause from time to time if too much moisture starts wicking through the vent.

When the pressure is fully released, remove the lid and dish out those cruciferous vegetables!

Serve your pressure cooker collard greens with extra hot sauce on the side. And don’t throw out that delicious cooking liquid on the bottom! This is called pot liquor or pot likker and here in the south it gets used as the base for soups, stews, or just for plain old dipping cornbread in!

Variations on Instant Pot Collard Greens

We love classic southern-style collard greens, but we also have fun switching things up! Here are a few variations we enjoy.

Spicy Collard Greens: Add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes with the onion and bacon while they cook to kick up the spice factor a notch or two.

Vegetarian Collard Greens: To make this vegetarian-approved, swap out the chicken stock for vegetable stock, and use plant-based bacon instead of the meat-based product.

Instant Pot Collard Greens: Tips, Tricks, and FAQs

More Southern-Style Recipes

Love southern food? We do, too! Here are some of our favorites.

• Brenda Gantt Biscuits: Perfect, hot, steaming, fluffy homemade biscuits baked in a cast iron pan.
• Southern Ham and Bean Soup: A delicious, savory, hearty soup to warm the soul on a cold fall or winter day.
• Sweet Peach Tea: The perfect peach tea on a warm day for any time of the year.
• Perfect Peach Cobbler: Need we say more? Peach cobbler with a perfect crust and delicious filling cooked in a cast iron pan.

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