Lemony Collard Greens Pasta
Super quick, bold and bright pasta dish tossed with thinly sliced and sautéed collard greens, lemon juice, pine nuts and spices.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on October 22, 2024
Last weekend, I stopped by Native Roots Market for some groceries, hoping to find some inspiration while I was there. Some beautiful, local collard greens from my friends at Peach Crest Farm caught my eye. It seems strange that after living in the borderline-Southern state of Oklahoma my whole life, I’d never tried collard greens. I’ve been trying to branch out and try different kinds of produce, so into the basket went the collard greens.
At home, I tore off a little piece and nibbled on it, raw. Nothing special, tasted sort of like kale. Later, I recalled some collard wraps I’ve seen in blogland and tried using blanched collard leaves as wraps for the last of my lentil curry. The taste wasn’t worth the effort.
Then I recalled my friend Matt telling me how great collard greens are when they’re sliced super thin, so I got to googling. I googled my way past all the slow-cooked, bacon-heavy Paula Deen recipes and found a tutorial for Brazilian collard greens.
The idea is to slice the greens as thin as possible, and sauté them for just a few minutes, until they’re dark green and fragrant. The technical term for this slicing technique is chiffonade. I tried cooking up one big leaf in this manner for “dessert” and hello, lover! I’m smitten with collard greens. This lively spaghetti dish came to me as I twirled my fork in those spicy, skinny greens and fortunately, it is just as good in reality as it was in my head.
I don’t know whether to call this recipe Southern due to the collard greens, or Brazilian because of the method, or Italian since it’s a pasta dish. Southern-Brazilian-Italian fusion, anyone? Never mind. Whatever you want to call this dish, it’s spicy and bright, with bold lemon flavor, and comes together in a flash! The one-to-one ratio of whole wheat spaghettini to produce is just the way I like my pasta. I hope you’ll give collard greens another chance with this lemony pasta recipe.
Lemony Collard Greens Pasta
Super quick, bold and bright pasta dish tossed with thinly sliced and sautéed collard greens, lemon juice, pine nuts and spices.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of fresh collard greens (about 8 to 10 ounces or 10 big leaves)
- 5 to 8 ounces thin spaghetti or “spaghettini” (whole wheat or gluten-free if desired)
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (the good stuff)
- 2 small cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Fine salt, as needed
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler
- ½ or more of a lemon, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to directions. Reserve about ½ cup pasta cooking water, then drain the noodles and return them to the pot.
- Cut out the center rib of each collard green. Stack a few greens at a time and roll them up into a cigar-like shape. Slice across the roll as thinly as possible (⅛ to ¼ inch). Shake up the greens and give them a few chops so the strands aren’t so long.
- Heat a heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over medium heat and toast the pine nuts until they start to turn golden and fragrant, while stirring frequently (don’t step away from the stove, as they burn quickly). Pour them out of the skillet and save for later. Let the skillet cool for a few minutes off the heat.
- Return the skillet to medium heat and pour in the olive oil. Sprinkle in a pinch of red pepper flakes and the garlic and stir. Once the oil is hot enough to shimmer, toss in all of your collard greens. Sprinkle the greens with a pinch of salt. Stirring often (try not to let them clump), sauté the greens until they’re wilted and dark green, about three minutes.
- Remove the pan from heat. Scoop the greens into the pasta pot and toss with another drizzle of olive oil, adding just a splash of pasta cooking water if necessary to loosen the mixture. Taste, and add more salt for extra flavor, plus some black pepper. Divide onto plates, top with pine nuts and Parmesan shavings and serve with two big lemon wedges per person.
Notes
- Serves two.
- Although I haven’t tried it, I think walnuts would make a fine substitute for the pine nuts.
- Vegans, you can totally skip the cheese. It’s still great without it.
- Use a cheese plane or vegetable peeler to create Parmesan shavings. I’m over grated Parmesan; shavings are the way to go!
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Hi, going to try this recipe! I’m dairy free and wondering if I could sub nutritional yeast for the cheese?
Substituted sunflower seeds for pine nuts, and it was awesome! This recipe is simple, excellent, and filling.
I made this with bok choy and walnuts because that is what we had. It was great. I will try it again with collard greens.
This was AMAZING.
Substituted walnuts because I had them on hand. Added 1/4 c white wine to the collard greens, and added a bit more Parmesan into the pasta mix before serving. I wish there was more, I’d have seconds for sure! This recipe will be repeated often.
Thank you, Cara! That’s great to hear.
Made this with Kale. Delicious, fast and easy!!
Perfect!
Can not wait to try this recipe! I recently blogged about how eating junk food makes us crave junk food. However it also works the other way around. When we eat healthy our body starts to enjoy and crave the nutrition it receives. Thank you for providing healthy recipes that are not only good for you but taste good to!
You’re welcome, Hazel!
I’ve been a long-time C+K reader (and now cookbook fanatic, too), but imagine my delight when the weekly newsletter from my CSA linked to this throwback post as recipe inspiration for the collards we’re getting in our share this week! Definitely going to have to try this out :)
That’s great, Sarah! I’m so glad they included this recipe– it’s an oldie but a goodie!
I served this along with chicken breast. My daughter thought it was a very fancy dinner.
This is now my favorite recipe for collards!
This was INCREDIBLE. I’m already planning to cook it again tomorrow – the flavours work so well.
That’s awesome! I’m happy you liked it so much. Thanks for the review.
I found out that I am not able to eat meat, and this has completely turned my world upside-down. I am still in high school and living into at home and my family is a big meat-eater family, so most nights I only eat noodles, rice, or any other type of side. These recipes look like they will help me a lot. Thank you for all your hard work and for truly following your passion, it’s really an inspiration.
It can be a transition, but this for sure will be a great resource for you! Good luck, Kassidy.
When I read this recipe, I thought it looked healthy (eye roll) but decided to try it. Oh. Ma. Ga. It is one of my absolute favorites! I had no idea I loved collard greens (my bf calls them “greens of collard”). Often I don’t even bother with the pasta.
Love it! Prepared the right way, they are delicious! Thanks for your review, Jan.
I have a beautiful bunch of very large collards in my fridge so was considering making collard wraps tonight until I found your recipe. I am Paleo/grain-free so will make with shiritaki noodles or zoodles in place of the pasta. Will serve as a side to crab-stuffed salmon w lemon butter, can hardly wait for dinner tonight!!! Thank you for sharing your hard work.
Oh wow!!! I had beautiful Swiss chart and no idea what to do with it. Luckily I have you on “speed dial “. This was so delicious and fast!! and very pretty. The chart gave the pasta a soft hew of orange. Wish I could add a picture. Thank you so much Kate.
PS Happy New Year
Thank you, Christina! To you as well. :)
Thank you for another great recipe. Made with tuscan kale and farro pasta because that is what I had on hand. Tossed in lemon rind at end. Easy and delicious
You’re welcome, Laura! Thanks for your review.
I make something very similar to this whenever I have leafy greens that need finishing off – delicious! Parmesan isn’t vegetarian though, so I use an alternative hard cheese
Some brands are actually vegetarian. You just need to look at the ingredient list. Thanks for your review, Lucy!
I tried this recipe and absolutely loved it! Quick and easy. This will be one of my go-to recipes when I want pasta.
Love to hear that!
Made this tonight…loved it! Added pancetta with the garlic…what a flavor explosion! Someone gave me collards from their garden and needed a recipe…Amazing and now a new go to recipe!
Thanks for sharing your variation, Wendy!
Mad this last night, it was so simple and delicious! No leftovers with this dish, haha. Thank you!
I’m so happy you loved it, Jess! Thanks for your review.
I made this with kale and walnuts, in place of collard greens and pine nuts. Still so delicious! Definitely will make again and might try adding tofu or white beans for an extra bit of protein.
Thank you for your feedback, Willow!
I thought this was very good, and I’m not really a lover of collard greens. Next time I’m going to try this with some spiralized zucchini and squash replacing the pasta noodles.
Hooray! I’m happy you loved it, Curtis.
I eat Paleo and sub zoodles or shiritaki noodles each time I make this dish and it works great!!
My 2 1/2 y/o Jack Russell lovess veggies and I get the Mischief Box of veggies & fruits each week from Misfits Mkt. As a fairly recent widow I am making myself new things to eat to make my 89 th year healthy and happy.
My daughter tells me via text that this is 5 star. Will have today!
I’m happy your daughter loves this recipe, I hope you do too!
OK I just was thinking “how do incorporate CG’s and pasta…i want to make them Brazilian style…” and then “I wonder if this would be good with walnuts…”!!!!?
In addition to the lemon adding flavor, i will say that as a vegetarian, my Dr told me to add lemon to my dark greens as it helps the body absorb iron. Kudos to keeping the lemon raw, as cooking it kills the enzyme that helps with absorption. Can’t wait to make this later. <3
Thanks for sharing, Kerry!
I made this recipe with walnuts instead of the pine nuts, and thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes (a friend dries them himself) instead of the red pepper flakes. Yum! I’ve also tried it with Kale, which is also good. I really want to try it with mustard greens, for an added bite. I suspect any dark leafy green would be delicious in this recipe.
I love this recipe! I’d never had collard greens before so I was a bit skeptical, but it’s absolutely delicious! I’m about to try it again but replacing the parmesan with home made vegan parmesan, and I bet it’ll also be yummy!
I’m glad you loved it, Emma! Thanks for your review.
Thank you for this awesome recipe. Even my husband who doesn’t know he likes healthy food loved it. The Lemon collard greens pasta was amazing. So much flavor. The garlic and pepper flakes with the lemon were perfect with the greens. We also were filled without feeling stuffed. I’m no sure I know where the star rating is but I give it as many star rating as is possible.
Received collard greens in my Misfit Box this week. First time with whole leaves! I Googled and found this recipe and made a half portion. It was excellent and I have another meal to eat! Thank you!! I added a few black olives and some garlic salt to my portion. My Jack Russell’s portion did not have the onions, garlic or olives and he lick his bowl clean!
Fantastic! Thank you for sharing, Patricia!
We love it!! Thank you. We use Swiss chart and olive oil pressed with lemons. It’s eye rolling into the back of your head kinda good.
My boyfriend and I have made this recipe four times. We love it! This time, I had a lemon infused olive oil which I drizzled on each bowl- delicious! Thanks for encouraging people to cook whole foods!
You’re welcome! I’m happy you enjoyed this recipe, Hannah.
Made this tonight–loved it and so did the kids. Thanks for a quick, tasty recipe for the greens I got in my produce box this week!
Made it tonight, not a fan. Too dry – seemed like it’s missing something.
The best part was the walnuts!
this turned out good – thank you!
You’re welcome, Adam!
I have never made collard greens before and all the recipes i found had ham or bacon.(which i dont eat). I found this recipe and made it for dinner tonight. It was awesome! I didnt have pine nuts so i used walnuts and i think they complimented it well. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Donna!
I came across your lemony collard greens pasta recipe. It inspired me to mine my leftovers and pantry, and I came up with this variation: leftover grilled salmon, kale, garlic, and frozen lime slices (a gift from our Florida garden), mixed with gluten-free ramen and topped with the browned pignoli and a lemon olive oil (Florida, again). A pescatarian joy! Only joy here!
I’ll preface this by saying that I really didn’t make the recipe as is but used it more as a guideline and basis for something else.
I had a lot leftover collard greens, mustard greens, and kale from another recipe and didn’t know what to do with them. I never been disappointed by anything from Cookie and Kate so I looked here. I ended up using the collard greens and mustard greens and am using the kale to make kale chips.
Instead of using spaghetti I used casarecce from Italy. In some areas of Italy it is called “casareccia.” Casarecce are short pasta noodles with curled edges and a groove down the middle. They look a bit like little rolled up scrolls. I knew that it was good quality pasta because it took about 12 minutes to become al dente and not the typical 7ish minutes. I was cooking for 4 so I used a pound of pasta. I also had more probably more than double the amount of greens that are in the recipe.
I followed the recipe by chiffonading the greens. I did add the lemon juice directly into the pasta while mixing it and since I only had half of a lemon I also added some lemon zest. I didn’t have the pine nuts on hand so I used toasted walnuts. I also grilled up 2 smoked apple sage Field Roast sausages (seitan – wheat gluten) and sliced those up into the pasta. One of my daughters is vegan so she did not add cheese. The rest of us used Romano.
This was very good as I did it and I’m sure that it would also be good as it is written and at some point I will try it as it it is supposed to be. I wasn’t intending to make this but with the ingredients I had on hand I needed something to so that they wouldn’t go to waste and this was a good find. The mustard greens added a bit of spice to the dish that did well with the red pepper flakes.
Delicious!
I love this recipe especially since I grow collard greens in my Coral Gables, south FL garden, year round. They are also great in my morning smoothies.
I think I’ll give this recipe a try tonight. I always add extra garlic in any recipe, so I plan to do that here. I think I’ll also add some roasted tomatoes and maybe a little white wine or veggie stock to have a little more sauce to coat the pasta. Can’t wait!
We made this for dinner last night. I had received collards in my “ugly” food box and didn’t really know how to cook them. We also got grape tomatoes in the box, so we sliced up a cup and threw in a handful of sliced basil from our garden. So yummy!
Note: as I prefer lower carbs, next time I will pull out my portion of cooked greens before adding the pasta and add my prepared shirataki noodles.
I had some aglio e olio leftovers and added my collards (your recipe). Absolutely delicious!
Have you tried this before with spaghetti squash rather than pasta?
Hi! I haven’t, but I would be interested to hear if you try it!
Kate – thanks for this recipe. Looks positively yummy. For years my brother and I have made lemon pasta w/garlic (we are both garlic monsters!) by pressing fresh garlic directly onto the hot, just strained pasta. And squeeze a whole lemon in, mix well. Add capers if desired. So I just love this idea of adding thin sliced sauteed collards. I’ve been trying to find a way to add collards to my diet as I like them a little better than kale. So thanks!
Another way I like collards is to chiffonade them, as you do for this recipe, but much more thinly. As thin as you can get with your knife. And add the fresh thin collards to your fresh salad. Because they are so thin they are not as tough to chew and add a heartiness to a dinner salad. I am vegan so a very large, hearty dinner salad is standard for me. I also add fresh ripe pear and marinated artichoke to salad which is heaven on earth.
Thanks!
I just made this recipe & it is delicious.I could only find large(mature) Collard green leaves which I had to cook longer.In any case I am happy to have your site brought to my attention by a relative! Will be making other vegetarian pastas that you have published.
Thank you, Kamala! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
Made it, loved it!
That’s great, Carrie! Thank you for your review.
This recipe checks off all my boxes: Nutritious, delicious, easy, and inexpensive! So yummy! Thank you for the wonderful recipe. I made it with Banza chickpea pasta, which is our new favorite, and since we eat plant-based, I served it with walnut Parmesan instead of regular Parmesan. I’ll definitely be making this again. It’s so good.
I’m happy it hits all your boxes! It is quite good. Thank you for your review, Luisa!
Have made this a few times and it is consistently delicious. 1st day of my CSA box, so when I saw the bunch of fresh collards I knew exactly what dinner would be tonight. I added some bacon at the beginning and zested a lemon over the greens at the end. Great recipe.
I love it! This would be a great use of your fresh produce. Thank you for your review, Dawn.
Got a large bunch of collards in my CSA share today so I made this recipe. I loved it! Lightly cooked collards have a bitter taste, but it was offset with lemon juice and salt and red pepper. I added nutritional yeast because I love it! I will definitely make this again, I am becoming a collard greens fan!!! Plus, all that nutrition!
I’m glad you were able to make it and enjoy what you got in your CSA! Thank you for sharing, Anne.
Can attest that the walnut topping is very very good! Loved this recipe!!
Thank you, Erika!
I made the collard greens and pasta and served it with mani-mahi fish. It was a hit with my family. Delicious.
I go much heavier on the garlic, and lighter on the cheese.
Made this last night. Fabulous!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Susan!