Delicious Cracker Barrel turnip greens copycat recipe that you will love. Very easy to make and can be served as a side to many dishes. Make it in pressure cooker or on the stove in a nice heavy bottom pot. Either way it will be yummy.

How to make Cracker Barrel turnip greens

Start with washing turnip greens. They can get very dirty so make sure you rinse every single leaf. Use cold running water to wash leaves. After this is done, cut the stem out of each leaf and slice greens together in about 2 inch pieces.

Chop onions and garlic and saute in the pot for a few minutes, until soft and fragrant. Add washed and chopped turnip greens and a ham hock. Sprinkle with some salt, pepper and sugar. Yes, sugar is important in the recipe and adds just a touch of sweetness to balance out the smokiness and saltiness of the ham hock.

Add water and cook on medium-low for 40-50 minutes. Stir and check if the greens are soft enough to your liking. Take out the ham hock and carefully chop all the meat that was attached to the bone. Mix with turnip greens in the same pot and serve!

What to use instead of ham hock

Don't have ham hock? Not a problem. You can successfully substitute hock to bacon. Chop it and cook with turnip greens for the same 40-50 minutes. If you don't like to eat pork, try to substitute ham hocks to smoked turkey legs or smoked turkey necks. It will also be fork tender and you will be able to chop the meat and mix with turnip greens.

Can you make turnip greens in pressure cooker

Saute onions and garlic with oil in the pressure cooker inner pot. You can use Instant pot, Ninja Foodi or any other pressure cooker. Add trimmed turnip greens and smoked ham hock. Add water and spices and cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 10 minutes. Naturally release the pressure for 5 minutes and than quick release. Carefully open the lid.

Pull out ham hock and chop all the meat off the bone. Add chopped ham to greens and stir.

What is the difference between collard greens and turnip greens

The main difference is that turnip greens have a bit sweeter taste while collard greens have bitter notes. At early stages of growth, both greens look the same. Only after they are getting bigger and more developed, you can see the visual differences.

Turnip greens are also very high in Vitamin K. The dish you are making is not just delicious, its healthy too!

Where to buy turnip greens

You can buy turnip greens in most grocery stores. Walmart has them too. Usually they are sold in batches, we need 2 of them in the recipe. Turnip greens are also sold in big plastic bags, already chopped.

If you have farmers markets in your area, its a great idea to check for turnip greens there. Probably the freshest greens you can find!

Expert tips

• Wash greens thoroughly. There is usually some dirt between the leaves that you will want to clean.
• Use smoked turkey necks, wings, pork bacon instead of ham hock if you want. Salted pork will work well too.
• Pressure cook for 10 minutes or cook on the stove for 45 minutes.
• Use collard greens instead if you don't have turnip greens. The flavor and texture will be similar.
• This is not a Cracker Barrel collard greens original recipe. This is a copycat recipe and i tried to make sure it tastes almost the same.

What to serve it with

Just like at the Cracker Barrel, you can serve homemade turnip greens with meatloaf, turkey, roast beef, shrimp or grilled rainbow trout. To recreate full restaurant experience.

Otherwise you can serve greens with about anything you like! I like to have it with grilled chicken breast and i also add a scoop of garlic mashed potatoes to the plate. Yum!

What to do with leftovers

You can easily store leftovers in the the fridge for up to 6 days. Place Cracker Barrel turnip greens leftovers in to the plastic or glass container. You can freeze cooked turnip greens leftovers and enjoy them later. Freeze in a freezer safe container and use withing 3-4 months. If using a vacuum sealing mashing, you can enjoy greens all year around!

You may also like

I don't have any other Cracker Barrel copycat recipes (yet), but i can offer you many other delicious recipes! Try these appetizers and sides:

• KFC coleslaw recipe without buttermilk
• Bologna gravy
• Spicy maple aioli
• Ninja foodi green beans
• Ninja foodi potato salad
• Mashed zucchini
• Crab pico de gallo recipe
• Ninja Foodi mashed potatoes

Hope you will love this smokey Cracker Barrel turnip greens recipe as much as we did! Please rate the recipe if you made it and leave a comment below if you have any questions or suggestions!