This smoked turkey collard greens recipe I’m about to reveal to you guys today is honestly so delicious. I’ve experimented with collard greens many times, but incorporating it in smoked turkey was one that I never actually thought of until quite recently. And I must say, I am truly glad I gave the idea a shot.
If it isn’t already obvious by now, I am a lover of smoked turkey. Most of the meat recipes on my website and Pinterest contain smoked turkey. And to be real with you, I am not giving it up anytime soon.
What is Smoked Turkey and How is it made?
You may be reading this and wondering, what is smoked turkey is all about? Well, it’s a tasty twist on your usual turkey, cooked not in an oven, but in a smoker.
Smoked turkey can jazz up anything from your everyday sandwich to a fancy salad, making it a star in all sorts of dishes.
One big plus? This smoked method for making it keeps the turkey nice and moist, which means no more dry meat like you sometimes get with oven-roasting.
If you aren’t a lover of smokey turkey or you just happen to be vegan, then you should definitely check out my vegan collard greens recipe. It is quite similar to this recipe, but without the smoked turkey.
I have prepared this smoked turkey collard greens several times over the past three weeks and even gave some to visitors who came by. Therefore, I’m pretty sure you would enjoy this dish as I’m quite obsessed with it myself.
Ingredients For Smoked Turkey Collard Greens
- Smoked turkey tails, chopped: I prefer to use smoked turkey tails, which is often hard to come by in many grocery stores, but I promise it’s the best part of the turkey to use in this dish.
- Collard greens (fresh bunch or canned): I used canned for this recipe, but fresh collard green will work just fine.
- Vegetable oil: For sautéing.
- Red onion
- Scallions: I love the taste of scallions in this dish, but feel free to skip this.
- Garlic: preferably minced garlic
- Habanero pepper: Feel free to adjust to your own taste.
- Allspice: I love allspice in my meats. It pulls out the flavors in this dish.
- Salt: To taste
- Oregano: For that extra earthy flavor
- Ground ginger
- Nutmeg: You don’t need a lot of it, but it pulls out more flavor in the meat. I know many people use nutmeg just for baking, but it’s really nice in meats as well.
- Brown sugar: This is optional, but since we’re using tomato sauce, the brown sugar helps to balance out the sour tomato taste.
- Freshly squeezed lime juice
- Soy sauce
- Tomato sauce: I used canned tomato sauce.
- Vegetable broth
How to Prepare Smoked Turkey Collard Greens
To prepare your smoked turkey collard greens, follow these steps.
Step 1: Heat the Oil and Sauté the Onions and Garlic
Start by heating oil in a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add your chopped onion, scallions, and garlic. You’ll want to fry these until the onion’s vibrant redness begins to mellow down, signaling they’re ready for the next step.
Step 2: Add the Seasonings
Now it’s time for some flavor magic. Add your allspice, salt, oregano, ginger, nutmeg, brown sugar, lime juice, and soy sauce to the mix. Stir everything well to ensure the ingredients are fully combined and evenly distributed, infusing the base of your dish with rich, aromatic flavors.
Step 3: Incorporate Main Ingredients
Next up, introduce your tomato sauce, smoked turkey, collard greens, and vegetable broth to the pot. Give it a good stir to combine everything.
Step 4: Cook the Greens
Patience is key – let your concoction cook on medium heat for 35 minutes. This slow cooking is crucial; it allows all those incredible flavors to meld beautifully and the turkey to become tender.
Step 5: Serve Your Smoked Turkey Collard Greens
Finally, the best part: Once cooked, serve up your delicious creation and savor the flavors.
I chose to enjoy this dish with white rice. However, you can eat it with whatever you prefer. I would suggest fried plantains, sweet potatoes or even quinoa as an alternative to white rice. Either way, you can be sure that it will turn out amazing!
To be honest with you, the reason why I prefer collard greens in my cooking as compared to other greens like spinach is the fact that collard greens tends to soak up most of the spices I use in my cooking. I find that spinach and other greens tend to be a bit bitter, unless if cooked for longer periods of time which I honestly find exhausting. That being said, if you don’t have access to collard greens, then use what you prefer.
Let me know in the comments if you give this smoked turkey collard greens a try.
Smoked Turkey Collard Greens Recipe
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs turkey - (smoked turkey tails) chopped
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 red onion - chopped
- ⅔ cup scallions - diced
- 1 clove garlic - chopped
- 1 medium habanero pepper - chopped
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp oregano
- ½ tsp ginger - ground
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 lime juice - freshly squeezed
- 2 tbsps soy sauce
- 14.5 oz tomato sauce
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 bunch collard greens - OR two 14.5 oz can collard greens
Instructions
- Heat up oil in a medium sized pot on medium heat
- Throw in chopped onion, scallions and garlic. Fry until onion redness starts to slowly fade
- Add in allspice, salt, oregano, ginger, nutmeg, brown sugar, lime juice and soy sauce. Mix until fully combined
- Add in tomato sauce, smoked turkey, collard greens and vegetable broth. Combine and leave to cook on medium heat for 35 mins.
- Serve and Enjoy!
