Pot Likker Soup Recipe (2024)

Pot Likker Soup makes a delicious and filling meal. Made of pot likker (or pot liquor), the cooking liquid from collards or turnip greens, along with other vegetables and ham. This soup is Southern comfort all the way!

Pot Likker Soup Recipe (1)

Okay, the name of this recipe may have thrown you off just a touch, but please stay with me.

This Pot Likker Soup Recipe is really, really one you should give a try. It makes a great soup recipe to throw together on the stove with any leftovers from your New Year’s Day meal of baked ham, turnip, mustard or collard greens, and just a few more additions to the soup pot.

And just to tell you, we love Pot Likker Soup so much that we don’t even wait for New Year’s to enjoy it.

Pot Likker Soup Recipe

If you’ve never heard the term pot likker before, it is the liquid left over after you’ve cooked collard, turnip or mustard greens. Sometimes it is spelled as pot liquor soup, potlikker, or – the way I spell it – pot likker. Pot Likker is packed with iron and vitamins C and K and is one of the most revered liquids in Southern cooking around my house.

Pot Likker Soup Recipe (2)

I probably get my affiinity for a big pot of greens with pot likker from my Grandmother who would have had a fit at the thought of pouring out the liquid from cooking her greens.

Since she cooked greens regularly, the left over liquid would become a meal in and of itself.

Sometimes, it was as simple as warming a piping hot bowl of pot likker on the stove and making a fresh skillet of corn bread to go along with it for a simple and warm lunch during the cool winter months.

Pot Likker Soup Recipe (3)

Now, I add a few more ingredients turning that simple broth from the greens into a hearty soup.

My Pot Likker Soup recipe included below gives you instructions for cooking the collard, mustard, or turnip greens along with leftover ham.

If you don’t have a leftover ham, you can always substitute slices of salt pork or thick-sliced bacon.

Also, if you happen to have leftover collard, mustard, or turnip greens, you’ll reduce the cooking time to about 15 minutes total.

You’ll want to add more water to any pot likker that you have from your leftover greens to make it equal about 6 cups total.

You can play with the broths to find the flavor profile you prefer, you may prefer to use 1/2 chicken broth and 1/2 vegetable broth, either will work well.

Here’s my Pot Likker Soup recipe.

Pot Likker Soup Recipe (4)

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Pot Likker Soup Recipe

Robyn Stone

4.91 from 11 votes

Pot Likker Soup makes a delicious, hearty soup using the broth of collard, mustard, or turnip greens and additional vegetables.

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 5 slices baked ham, chopped (about 1-1/2 pounds)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 3 medium carrots, chopped
  • 2 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 cups chicken stock or broth
  • 2 cups collard greens, mustard, or turnip greens, washed with hard stems removed
  • 8 cups water
  • pinch red pepper flakes, optional

Instructions

  • Add chopped ham to a Dutch oven over medium heat. Heat for about 2-3 minutes and then add olive oil, onion and carrots. Saute until becomes tender, about 2 more minutes. Then add in garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Pour in chicken broth and cook until has reduced by about ½.

  • Add greens and water. Boil over medium heat for about 45 minutes until greens are extremely tender.

Nutrition

Calories: 79kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 453mg | Potassium: 209mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 4275IU | Vitamin C: 9.9mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 0.4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Enjoy!
Robyn xo

Pot Likker Soup Recipe (5)

From the Add a Pinch recipe archives. Originally published 2012.

Categorized as:All Recipes, By Special Diets, Cooking, Dinner Recipes, Egg-Free Recipes, Holiday and Occasion Recipes, Lunch, New Year Recipes, One Dish Meal Recipes, Pork Recipes, Recipes, , Soup and Stew Recipes, Southern Favorites

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Robyn Stone is a cookbook author, wife, mom, and passionate home cook. Her tested and trusted recipes give readers the confidence to cook recipes the whole family will love. Robyn has been featured on Food Network, People, Southern Living, and more.

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Pot Likker Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What do you do with pot likker? ›

The biggest benefit of making potlikker is the obvious one: It's a flavorful base for soups, gravies, and stews. That's not the only benefit, however. Potlikker maintains much of the nutrients of the greens including iron and vitamins A, C, and K.

What does pot likker mean? ›

Pot liquor, sometimes spelled potlikker or pot likker, is the liquid that is left behind after boiling greens (collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens) or beans. It is sometimes seasoned with salt and pepper, smoked pork or smoked turkey.

How to make a potlicker? ›

directions
  1. Bring collard greens and water to cover to a boil in a large Dutch Oven. Remove from heat; drain. ...
  2. Toss together the ham and hot sauce; cook in hot oil in the Dutch Oven over medium-high heat 8 to 10 minutes or until browned (while the collards are draining). ...
  3. Stir in greens, potato, and remaining ingredients.

Is collard green broth good for you? ›

From kale to collards to turnips, we've learned to embrace their nutrient-packed bitterness. So here's a tip: When you're cooking up a big pot of greens, don't toss out what may be the most nutritious part — the brothy water that's left in the pot. Lots of the beneficial nutrients cook out of the greens.

Can you freeze pot likker? ›

Yes. They freeze nicely. I always make a bunch just so I will be able to freeze some for the time when they aren't available at the produce stand. I freeze pot likker and all.

What is Southern Pot Licker? ›

Potlikker (or “pot liquor”) is simple enough to describe—it's the brothy liquid gold left behind after boiling greens and beans—and its roots in Southern culinary traditions and heritage run deep.

What does likker mean in english? ›

lik•ker (lik′ər), n. [Eye Dialect.] liquor.

Can you drink collard green water? ›

Don't toss that broth! Potlikker — the liquid left behind after boiling collards — is loaded with vitamins and minerals. Plus, it's delicious.

What is the name of collard green broth? ›

Pot Liquor, also known as Pot Likker and Potlikker, is the tasty broth left behind from a pot of cooked greens (usually collard, turnip or mustard greens) and meat.

What does collard greens do for your liver? ›

Benefits. Because of their sulfur-containing compounds, collard greens are natural liver cleansers. The vitamin C in collard greens has antioxidant properties that help fight damage. Collard greens cover up to 100 percent of the daily recommended value of vitamin K.

Does boiling collard greens destroy nutrients? ›

The green leaves turn dark green during this long cooking process, and the cooking water will be greatly reduced. Unfortunately, nutrients are leached out into the cooking liquid that many people pour down the drain. This cooking liquid or "pot likker," as it is called in southern states, is full on valuable nutrients.

Do collard greens detox your body? ›

Collard greens are rich in sulfur-containing compounds that support your body's detoxification process.

What to do with collard green water? ›

Don't toss that broth! Potlikker — the liquid left behind after boiling collards — is loaded with vitamins and minerals. Plus, it's delicious.

What is the history of potlikker? ›

It was a staple food eaten by enslaved people in the South, often eaten along with baked or fried cornbread either dipped or crumbled into the potlikker. By the early 1850s, potlikker was a mainstay in Southern diets.

Where did the saying "pot licker" come from? ›

original usage for word\name derived from logging camps in the mid 1800's; kitchen helper at the logging camp who got what was left over in the "pots" after feeding the crew. a worthless or disgusting person. Potlicker (idiom): little person, small competitor; originally a dog or other pet.

What is pot liquor fat? ›

“Uncle Caldwell” is a person Aunt Chloe knew; “pot liquor fat” is grease mixed with water left in in a pan after stewing something.

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