Collard Green Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette is a salad that explodes with flavor. This simple collard greens salad is perfectly balanced, the bitter green collards are married with sharp red onion, sweet carrots and salty feta cheese, before being dressed in the most delicious bacon salad dressing.
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Full Recipe Ingredients/Instructions are available in the
recipe card at the bottom of the post.
You can find important tips/tricks in the
blog post.
I love the flavor of collard greens and wanted to create a raw collard greens recipe. The bitter flavor of collards means they are good at taking on strong flavors, like the salty feta cheese and the warm bacon vinaigrette I dress the salad with.
Collard greens are a tasty and nutritious leafy green vegetable. Packed with fiber, rich in vitamins A, C and K, as well and minerals, including potassium and magnesium. Collards also contain more iron and calcium than either kale or spinach.
If you love a fresh-tasting salad, then try my Southern Cucumber Salad, Creamy Dill Potato Salad, Fresh Corn Salad, Black-Eyed Pea Salad, or my Creamy Broccoli Cauliflower Salad.
Ingredients
Here's what you will need to make the best collard green salad recipe:
Salad:
- Collard greens - I use roughly 10-12 thinly sliced leaves.
- Carrot
- Red onion
- Feta cheese - has a great sharp flavor and crumbles really well. If you don't have feta use another similar crumbly cheese.
Bacon dressing:
- Bacon - use thick-cut bacon, chopped into 1-inch pieces.
- Shallot - has a great mild flavor.
- Garlic
- Apple cider vinegar
- Dijon mustard
- Maple syrup
- Salt - the amount you need to add will depend on the saltiness of the bacon, so add to taste.
- Black pepper
How to make collard green salad
Add sliced collard greens, shredded carrots, sliced red onion, and feta cheese to a large bowl. Set aside.
Prepare the bacon vinaigrette by cooking the bacon slices in a large skillet over medium heat. Flip occasionally until they are brown and crispy. This should take around 8-10 minutes.
Remove the bacon from the skillet and let it cool on a paper towel-lined plate.
Add the finely chopped shallot and garlic to the skillet and sauté over medium heat until they become soft. This should take about 1 minute.
Add the apple cider vinegar to the pan to deglaze it. Use a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
Remove the pan from heat, stir in the Dijon mustard, maple syrup, and season with salt and pepper.
Add 2-4 tablespoons of the dressing to the large mixing bowl with the collards and toss the salad gently until all the ingredients are well mixed and evenly coated with the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Top the salad with the cooled bacon bits. Serve and enjoy.
Expert Tips
These tips will help you make the best collard green salad you've ever tried.
- This recipe uses raw collard greens, which have a slightly bitter taste. If you prefer a milder flavor, blanch the collard greens in boiling water for a minute or two before slicing and adding to the salad.
- The salad can be served immediately, but letting it sit for a few hours in the refrigerator will allow the flavors to meld together, creating a more flavorful dish.
- Store any leftover bacon vinaigrette in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to 5 days. When ready to use, warm the dressing up to melt the bacon fat.
Flavor variations!
- I've used collard greens in this salad, but this salad would work equally well with kale, black kale, mustard greens, or turnip greens.
- You can swap the red onion for a shallot, which also has a lovely mild flavor.
- Stir some sun-dried tomatoes through the salad.
- Add in any other shredded veggies that you enjoy eating.
- When making the bacon dressing, I use apple cider vinegar, but white wine vinegar would work in this salad dressing too.
- Dijon mustard is ideal in the dressing as it has a milder flavor. Wholegrain mustard would be a suitable swap, but don't be tempted to use yellow mustard as it is too overpowering.
- Swap maple syrup for runny honey or agave syrup in the bacon dressing.
How to serve collard green salad
Thanks to the bacon vinaigrette, this salad is packed with flavor. It makes a great addition to any meal, and also cookouts, potlucks and BBQ's. It also travels well, so is ideal to take on a picnic.
Collard greens have a lovely strong flavor, which works well with all kinds of meat, fish and seafood based dishes. Try it with my Air Fried Spatchcock Chicken, Air Fryer Steak with Garlic Herb Butter, Sous Vide Pork Chops, Crispy Air Fryer Fish, or my Lemon Garlic Shrimp.
The leftover salad makes a quick and easy lunch the next day. I sometimes add a handful of raw walnuts for a little extra protein.
How to store
To refrigerate: This delicious salad can be served immediately, but if time allows I recommend letting it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours so that the flavors have time to become well incorporated. This will result in an even tastier salad, with real depth of flavor.
FAQs
Yes, absolutely. Collard greens have a bitter taste, so if you want to mellow them a little, just blanch them in a little hot water, before slicing.
Whilst they are both bitter greens, from the same plant family, collard greens and kale are different plants.
Collard greens are a leafy green vegetable from the brassica plant family, which also includes mustard greens, turnips, chard, kale, broccoli and cabbage.
If you have tried this collard green salad recipe, or any other recipe on my blog, please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Collard Green Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bunch collard greens (roughly 10-12 leaves) rinsed, dried, stems removes and thinly sliced
- 2 medium carrots shredded
- 1 small red onion halved and sliced
- ⅓ cup feta cheese crumbled
For bacon dressing:
- 2 slices thick-cut bacon
- 1 tablespoon shallot finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- 3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ tablespoon maple syrup
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add sliced collard greens, shredded carrots, sliced red onion, and feta cheese to a large bowl. Set aside.
- Prepare the bacon vinaigrette by cooking the bacon slices in a large skillet over medium heat. Flip occasionally until they are brown and crispy. This should take around 8-10 minutes.
- Remove the bacon from the skillet and let it cool on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Add the finely chopped shallot and garlic to the skillet and sauté over medium heat until they become soft. This should take about 1 minute.
- Add the apple cider vinegar to the pan to deglaze it. Use a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Remove the pan from heat, stir in the Dijon mustard, maple syrup, and season with salt and pepper.
- Add 2-4 tablespoons of the dressing to the large mixing bowl with the collards and toss the salad gently until all the ingredients are well mixed and evenly coated with the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Top the salad with the cooled bacon bits. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
- This recipe uses raw collard greens, which have a slightly bitter taste. If you prefer a milder flavor, blanch the collard greens in boiling water for a minute or two before slicing and adding to the salad.
- The salad can be served immediately, but letting it sit for a few hours in the refrigerator will allow the flavors to meld together, creating a more flavorful dish.
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