Quick-Braised Greens and Beans With Bacon

Name: Quick-Braised Greens and Beans With Bacon
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Cuisine: american
Ingredients: 2 bunches dark and sturdy leafy greens, like collards, kale or mustard greens (about 1 pound); 4 bacon slices; 1 large red onion (about 1 pound), finely chopped; Kosher salt and black pepper; 6 garlic cloves, sliced; 1 teaspoon dried sage; 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock; 2 (15-ounce) cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained; 1 teaspoon hot sauce, plus more for serving

By Genevieve Ko

Total Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 4(286)
Notes: Read community notes

These stewed greens develop deep flavor thanks to a quick onion-garlic broth and bacon, used two ways. Sliced bacon is cooked until tender, blending in but imparting its smoky, porky essence, while crisp bacon morsels are sprinkled on top for a salty, crunchy hit. This 30-minute dish is great spooned over rice or polenta, or alongside buttery cornbread for a hearty weeknight meal, but you could also top it with an egg to bring it into brunch territory.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

2bunches dark and sturdy leafy greens, like collards, kale or mustard greens (about 1 pound)
4bacon slices
1large red onion (about 1 pound), finely chopped
Kosher salt and black pepper
6garlic cloves, sliced
1teaspoon dried sage
1cup chicken or vegetable stock
2(15-ounce) cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1teaspoon hot sauce, plus more for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Prepare the greens: Cut the tough stems out of the greens and discard. Stack the leaves, roll tightly crosswise and slice into ¾-inch-wide ribbons. Transfer to a large bowl, cover with cold water and swish to remove grit. Transfer greens to a colander, cleaning them a second time if the water remaining in the bowl is visibly dirty.
Step 2
Cook 2 bacon slices in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium heat, turning occasionally, until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Meanwhile, cut the remaining 2 bacon slices crosswise into ¼-inch-wide strips.
Step 3
Add the ¼-inch bacon strips to the hot bacon fat and cook, stirring, until the fat in the bacon strips starts to render, about 1 minute. Add the onion and a pinch each of salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until golden brown around the edges, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sage and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Step 4
Stir in the stock, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer, 5 minutes.
Step 5
Increase the heat to medium, add the greens, season with salt and pepper and stir until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Cover and cook until tender with a little bite, about 3 minutes.
Step 6
Uncover and add the beans and hot sauce. Stir until the beans are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among serving dishes and crumble the cooked bacon slices on top. Serve with more hot sauce.

Ratings

4 out of 5

286 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

Usha5 years ago

I doubled the qty of bacon because you can never have too much bacon. Collards and red beans over grits. Very good. Husband now wants it more often.

Richit5 years ago

Don't use the bacon eh, may be if you need , a savory dressing oil a portobello a soy product a splash of tamari just immunize your kids

jmee5 years ago

With a fried egg on top!

Christa5 years ago

I used lacinato kale, fresh sage, and aduki beans, because I prefer their size, and served this over polenta. I could also imagine this served over a hearty toast. Used my own turkey stock. I always love beans and greens--good wintertime meal. I wouldn't call this a 30-minute dish, however--it takes time to destem the kale, much as I love lacinato kale.

Aviva5 years ago

Used kale and kidney beans, subbed scallions for onion because I forgot to buy it at the store. This needed quite a bit more liquid to wilt all the kale (I had two large bunches) and took a bit over an hour including prep (washing and stemming the kale took at least 20 minutes). That said, it was really tasty, fairly easy, and will probably go faster if I make this enough times to become familiar. Served over rice; would try polenta next time if I can find cornmeal.

Matt3 months ago

This is a nice base for using what's in your pantry/ CSA box. I made this vegetarian by replacing the bacon with a mixture of butter and olive oil. I also used great northern beans instead of kidney beans, shallots instead of red onion, and I loaded up on the garlic. I also served it over mashed potatoes.

annie5 months ago

This turned out perfect. I didn't adjust anything (except used cannellini beans and extra bacon) and ate it over polenta. All I had was Franks Red Hot and that complemented it wonderfully. will make again!!

Anna7 months ago

I love adding to my recipe collection more ways to cook collards which are plentiful in the south. Adjusted to make this meat-less/vegetarian by using a pat of butter when sautéing the onions (gets the fat normally from bacon), added a few splashes of liquid smoke to get the smokiness of the bacon, and used “no chicken, chicken” bouillon in the broth. My wife who eats meat approved of the substitutions! (I also had some Brussel sprouts in the fridge and cut them finely and added as well! Yum!)

Mare10 months ago

I made this but used Italian pancetta as that was all we had. If we had them in the US I’d love to have used lardons —mmm. I also used black beans as we didn’t have kidney beans. It was delicious!!

Amy1 year ago

This was delicious! We had collards and mizuna from our farm share. We made polenta and topped it with a runny egg. We will be making this again

Required Display Name1 year ago

To sub bacon for a vegetarian version: 3 Tbs of butter to replace the bacon fat. Add 1/2 finely diced Chipotle pepper in at the same time as the onions and the remaining half at the end of cooking.

Megan S1 year ago

For a vegetarian option use 3 Tbs of butter and 1 diced chile in adobo sauce instead of bacon at the start of the recipe.

Chef Carlos1 year ago

Excellent recipe. Made this as a side dish for Ropa Vieja without the beans. Will. Are this again. Quick and easy.

Monica Showalter1 year ago

Memorably delicious and very low calorie and low carb. Super compatible with the Mediterranean Diet or most other diets. I used a mixture of mustard greens, kale, collards, chard, arugula, and cauliflower greens from the garden, which added a lot of dimension. Would probably work very well with cannellini beans, too.

delicious1 year ago

Not a thirty minute meal but very good. I used Crimini mushrooms instead of the beans and 1 large bunch of collards. Cooked the greens longer - more like 25 minutes. Served over polenta. Will make again!

Louise1 year ago

I took this in a Mexican direction, adding chili powder, cumin and Mexican oregano after onions. And added poached chicken (cut up) at end with beans because I had it and had poached chicken in vegetable stock to (1) cook chicken and (2) enhance stock to use in this recipe. Very, very delicious. I skipped the extra bacon on top because really who needs extra bacon here when one needs to reserve bacon quota for BLTs in early September(!) Oh, and I used runner beans which were excellent.

delicious2 years ago

I used black eyed peas instead of kidney beans and a squeeze of lemon juice before serving.

Christa2 years ago

The egg really makes this dish as there doesn't seem to be enough bacon to offset the bitterness; appreciate the bacon alternative suggestion.

Christa2 years ago

Halved the recipe and made again with collards and kale from my CSA share and aduki beans again. Served over brown rice and topped with Ali Slagle's olive oil fried duck egg from the farm stand. The bacon and egg really play of the greens nicely, and this recipe is a wonderful use for CSA greens. Deborah Madison says that beans and greens over grains is pure comfort food, and she's right. As I'm not a fan of red beans, I might make this again with black beans.

Amanda S2 years ago

This recipe has no right to be as good as it is! We served ours over homemade buttermilk biscuits and it rocked very hard.

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