Collard Greens Pasta
Oi Gente!
This simple collard greens pasta recipe tastes as good as it looks. It’s full of collard greens and red onions, brightened up by a splash of lemon and topped with a burrata ball and loads of olive oil. This yummy pasta with greens and grilled lemons is a fantastic quick dinner idea, I’m sure your familia will love!
Why I love this recipe
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again and again, meus amigos, my love for collard greens runs deep, especially sautéed collard greens. It just checks all the boxes for me, you know. So, this little lemony pasta dish, is just another expression of my love for one of my favorite greens, plus it’s a great way to eat your veggies!
I love to top my bowl of pasta with collard greens with a nice creamy piece of burrata cheese, and some drizzles of olive oil. It adds a nice creaminess this sauce-less pasta dish needs, and when combined with the lemon flavors, everything just jumps straight up to a whole other level!
It’s so good, y’all.
More Collard Greens Recipes: Sautéed Collard Greens with bacon / Caldo Verde – Portuguese Green Soup / Rosemary Pork Loin with warm lentil collard greens salad
Brazilian Kitchen Abroad is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
What you need to make this pasta with collard greens Recipe
Here are the basic ingredients for this collard greens recipe:
- Collard greens – You can also use kale, mustard greens, broccoli leaves, or any other tougher-ish greens you like.
- Pasta – I used Casarecce pasta, but any other pasta will do, even spaghetti!
- Red onion – I like using red onions because they have a more mild flavor than yellow onions, but they’d work too.
- Fresh lemons – zested, juiced, and grilled!
- Garlic, or you know, Brazilian sofrito.
- Bacon – You can also use pancetta, or even a smoked sausage!!
- Burrata balls – If you can’t get burrata easily, you can substitute with a scoop of fresh ricotta on top.
- Olive oil
The Secret for making delicious collard greens pasta
The only tricky part in this recipe is on how to handle the collard greens to make sure they don’t turn out mushy and bitter.
Fist, wash them well.
Then, the big secret is to dry them one by one with a paper towel.
The reason why we do this is because we don’t want there to be any water left in the greens. If the greens are wet, the water in them will “steam” them, making them bitter and preventing them from from having that delicious crispier bite.
After the greens are nice and dry, just stem and cut them into slices not too thick, not too thin.
Then they’re ready for the recipe!
This easy pasta with greens recipe has become one of our favorite mid-week meals, and the leftovers are delicious too!
Bom Apetite!
Other Collard greens recipes you’ll love
Brazilian Style Collard Greens
Caldo Verde – Portuguese Green Soup
Rosemary Pork Loin with warm lentil collard greens salad
More pasta recipes with veggies
BE SURE TO FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, AND INSTAGRAM FOR MORE RECIPES, TIPS AND INSPIRATION!
Collard Greens Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 oz of uncooked pasta I used Casarecce
- 3 whole lemons
- 3-5 slices of bacon, diced
- Olive oil to taste
- 1 red onion, peeled and sliced
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced or 1 Tbsp of Brazilian Sofrito
- 1-2 bunches of collard greens, stemmed and sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 burrata balls
Instructions
- Prepare the pasta acording to package intructions.
- Meanwhlile, slice 2 of the lemons in half, then zest and juice the remaining lemon, and set aside. You should have approximately 1/2 a tsp of zest, and 1 tbsp of juice.
- In a large skillet, over medium heat, grill the lemon halves until browned. Approximately 2-3 minutes. Then, remove the lemons from the skillet and set them aside.
- Using the same skillet, brown the bacon.
- Add about a tbsp of olive oil to the pan with the browned bacon, and add the onions.
- Let the onions saute until they are transparent, about a minute or two.
- Add the minced garlic, and saute until it's golden.
- Add the lemon juice to the pan and let it cook until it's nearly evaporated – about a minute.
- Add the collard greens and season with salt and pepper. Give everything a couple of quick stirs just to wilt the greens, then turn off the heat.
- Add the lemon zest and the cooked pasta, stir to combine.
- Serve it in bowls with half of a burrata ball on top. Drizzle with some more olive oil if desired.
My kids love pasta and I think this will be an excellent way to sneak some veggies into their diet. Thanks for sharing!
haha Yes!! That’s a great idea!
Holy Cow, this was sooooo good! You can never go wrong with collard greens and bacon!
haha! Riiiight? So happy you liked it, Wendy!
This so warm and comforting! Perfect for chilly fall days!
There are never enough veggies and pasta in my life. Such an easy recipe to make and so full of flavor. The family really enjoyed it.
Same here!! haha So happy you and your family enjoyed it! Yay!
I have been looking at ways to add more veggies into our mealtimes. This recipe makes it so easy and the pasta helps my kids not complain!!
So happy this recipe worked of you and your family! 🙂
If the saying, “You eat first with your eyes,” has any truth to it, I just devoured this Collard Greens Pasta. It looks so good!!
haha thanks, Marta! I hope you devour it in real life too cos it’s soooooo yummy! xx
This pasta dish looks amazing and like a great fall dish. I will be trying this soon!
Awesome!! I hope you try it soon!!
Now this is a spin on collard greens that I haven’t seen before. This dish looks and sounds very tasty. My kids would dig in!
Yea! I get a lot of feedback that kids love this dish, which is sooo cool – apparently, they like playing with the burrata ball and forget to complain about the greens ahahaha I hope your family loves it!
Great way to add extra vegetables to pasta! Love it. Going to try this idea sans bacon.
This looks oh so beautiful and scrumptious! I think that if I make this for my toddler I can sneak the greens in! Thank you for this!
You’re most welcome, Calysta!! I hope your toddler loves it!! 🙂
My family loves both pasta AND collards! Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome, Adri!! xx
I saw this on Parade and had to make it! Sooooooo good! Loved the burrata, it was a great addition.
Hey Eden!! That’s amazing!! So happy you loved it – thanks for letting me know xx
I love collards too and this is the best of both worlds Pasta and Collards!! 😍
Isn’t it!!!?? This became such a fave in my house – we have it all the time!
I love LOVE collard greens, but never thought to add them in a pasta! Looks great!
You should definitely try it!! I bet you’ll love collards this way as well!! xx
Perfect for a weeknight and pasta leftovers are the BEST!
True that, Kenya!!
Your pictures are perfect–so appetizing!
Thanks, Jazz. Tastes as good as it looks!! 🙂