Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

old fashioned turnip greens

Recipe by
Lynette !
Gulf Breeze, FL

This recipe comes from the heart. It is best served as a main dish with a side of crispy cornbread. My mom would just dunk her cornbread into the juices from this dish. She always topped with some of the vinegar from a jar of peppers, what she called pepper sauce. I now drive over the bridge to wait on the local growers to bring in their turnip greens with the roots attached. There is nothing like it. I've bought the ones at the grocery store and added the peeled waxed turnips, but it is somehow not quite the same.

yield 8 serving(s)
prep time 30 Min
cook time 2 Hr 30 Min
method Stove Top

Ingredients For old fashioned turnip greens

  • 5 lb
    fresh turnip greens with roots (turnips)
  • 1/2 lb
    salt pork
  • 6 c
    water
  • 2 tsp
    melted bacon drippings
  • 1 tsp
    salt (optional)
  • chopped green onions

How To Make old fashioned turnip greens

  • 1
    Remove the stems from the turnip greens. Wash the turnips well (get all the sand and dirt off!), and tear into bite-size pieces.
  • 2
    Peel the turnip roots and cube. Set the turnip greens and turnips aside.
  • 3
    Rinse the salt pork and cut into 2 inch pieces. Combine the salt pork and water in a Dutch Oven. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.
  • 4
    Add the turnip greens; cover and cook for 1 hour. Add the turnip roots, bacon drippings, and salt if desired. Cover and cook an additional hour or until the turnip greens and roots are tender. Sprinkle with green onions just before serving.
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