Instant Pot greens! Perfectly cooked turnip or collard greens in Ninja Foodi or pressure cooker in just minutes. If you love our Instant Pot spinach with some bacon or diced salt pork inside this will be a hit as a healthy side dish with dinner.
Instant Pot greens are great for you and tasty too! If you’ve wondered the best way to cook turnip greens, it is here! This might become your new favorite side dish on our list of easy Instant Pot recipes. (affiliate links present)
Instant Pot Collard Greens
You can make this as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe or Crockpot Express dish as well, doesn’t matter what brand of pot you might have. I have all of them and so long as they cook at high pressure it will work just the same.
I have all different types of green vegetables you can cook right now. If you are here you are likely looking for Southern collard greens or maybe how to cook turnip greens the best way. This only takes about 15 minutes compared to a lot longer on the stovetop so it is my preference.
If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.
Ninja Foodi Collard Greens
If you grew up in the South I don’t have to explain anything to you. I’m sure you already have your Grandma’s recipe that you can now make a lot faster with this pressure cooker method and timing. New to this but trying to eat healthier? You can certainly omit the bacon and lower the fat and calories.
Want pure Southern comfort? Use butter (oh yes) with our slow cooker collard greens recipe. Throw those in in the morning and a perfect side dish erupts for dinner later.
What are the benefits of eating greens?
One cup raw provides over the daily limit of vitamin K and also provides one of the highest calcium contents per gram of any other fruit or vegetable. They also contain vitamin A and magnesium which helps to promote bone health. It is an inexpensive vegetable to buy, and it’s benefits far outweigh many other green vegetables out there.
What are the best greens to cook?
Dark leafy greens such as chard, our Ninja Foodi kale, mustard, beet, collards, and turnip greens are better known as cooking greens. All of them provide valuable nutrients along with great flavor and color to your table. The darker the better y’all, that is the general rule of thumb. It makes sense that the deeper the color the more nutrients are going to be in each bite for you.
Keep that in mind when you are choosing yours. Darker means tougher too though so keep that in mind too. Another unusual but yummy one is Instant Pot bok choy!
How to cook frozen collard greens in Instant Pot
Believe it or not it doesn’t matter whether yours are straight out of the freezer or fresh. Like other foods there isn’t a difference in cook times. Once again it depends more on your personal preferences on how wilted you want them to become. If you lift the lid and want softer just set to saute for a few minutes more.
Ingredients
- Pressure cooker, Crockpot express and other brands all work the same. I recommend getting a non stick pot unless you have a Ninja Foodi with it already
- Fresh turnip or collard greens leaves chopped
- Chicken broth or make homemade stock beforehand
- Bacon could be skipped if you are looking for lower fat but the taste won’t be the same at all
- Salt and pepper are basic seasonings
- Olive oil
- Sweetener – a bit of sugar works
- Red pepper flakes to make spicy
How do you get the bitter taste out of greens?
Using salt (or bacon in this case) on your collard or turnip greens is key. Salt eases the bitterness, and helps to retain a crispness to this vegetable. Just a dash is typically enough to do the trick. If you are using bacon you don’t need any additional sodium. If you’re using turnip greens in an Asian dish, use soy sauce to take out some bitterness. Some prefer apple cider vinegar. My choices are below in the recipe card.
How long does it take to cook collard greens in the Ninja Foodi?
How long to take collard greens this way is just 10 minutes. Of course the timing may be adjusted depending on how soft you want them to become. Most prefer a bit of texture but quite tender with enough time to soak up the butter and / or bacon grease it’s cooked in to get rid of the bitter flavor.
How to Cook Collard Greens in Instant Pot
- The first thing you’ll do is set your machine to the saute function.
- Add you olive oil and bacon, or diced country leftover ham is good too.
- Cook until browned.
- Then deglaze pot with broth to remove all stuck on food. Add seasonings.
- Set to high pressure cook for 10 minutes followed by a quick release.
- After releasing the pressure, sprinkle with salt and pepper and enjoy!
What’s the difference between collard greens and turnip greens?
Cooked collard greens and turnip greens are both in the cabbage family. The former is said to be somewhat more bitter than turnip greens, which tend to be sweeter. They’re also smaller and more tender than their cousin. The timing and instructions would work the same for either one, so choose your favorite. Both should be wilted and tender when served.
Some like it more so and others prefer a bit more texture. Use what is listed. If you want it softer then once the lid is lifted set to saute and cook it down a bit more.
- Speaking of simple cabbage recipes, we are kinda’ obsessed with those too!
- I don’t know what it is about getting older and loving this overlooked veggie but it’s super versatile.
- Once you fall in love with this easy side dish you should try a few others on The Typical Mom blog too. 😉
If you are from the south this will remind you of your childhood, but much easier to make than on the stovetop.
Ninja Foodi Turnip Greens
This is not the only green vegetable you can make in a pressure cooker though! There are tons of others that even my kids love. We love throwing in mixed Instant Pot steamed vegetables so they’re all done at the same time.
Like I said if you want it more tender set to saute at the end and allow it to cook down even more. Season with salt and pepper or a little Lawry’s seasoned salt and enjoy.
What vegetables are used in collard greens?
Collard greens are a staple vegetable in the South. Usually prepared with other similar green leaf vegetables; spinach, kale, turnip greens, and mustard greens is usually called “mixed greens”. Note: you can use the same timing for turnip or Instant Pot collard greens as shared below.
What do you eat with greens?
- Instant Pot black eyed peas and ham with ham hocks or leftovers rocks
- potato salad
- pinto beans and Instant Pot corn bread
- meat loaf and macaroni and cheese
- we love fried catfish for sure
Looking for more Instant Pot vegetable recipes? Wondering how long to cook each one. You can find a printable sheet like you see here below in the link above.
How to save leftover cooked collard greens
They actually save rather well and reheat well the next day. I wouldn’t push it beyond 24 hours “old” but could be kept for up to 2 days. Wait until it is cooled and at room temperature first off. Then move to a sealable container and keep in the fridge.
When you are ready to reheat them pour into a microwave safe bowl. I like to add a fresh pat of butter to the top and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir contents and then heat again for another 30 seconds or so until it is as hot as you’d like it to be. Serve with some chicken or as a quick vegetarian snack.
Instant Pot Greens
Equipment
- 1 pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 32 oz collard greens, or turnip greens, fresh, trimmed, chopped
- 1/2 lb bacon
- 2 c chicken broth, or vegetable
- 2 tbsp sweetener, optional, sugar or sugar substitute
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- salt, to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Set pot to saute, add olive oil and bacon. Cook until browned.
- Turn pot off and add broth. Use a wooden spoon to deglaze pot – scrape all stuck on meat off bottom of the pot.
- Add turnip greens with seasonings to the top.
- Cover and close steam valve. Set to pressure cook high for 10 minutes.
- Quick release steam and serve. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
