Ethiopian Collard Greens aka Ye’abasha Gomen- Braised collard greens and kale seasoned with aromatics. Quick, easy, and tasty.
A couple of years back, I loathed any green that wasn’t remotely close to spinach. Kale, collard greens were on that list (I don’t know why).
But after some time, I gradually, consciously started playing around with more greens. I couldn’t just turn my back on these greens especially when their nutritional benefits are staggering. And of course, with age comes wisdom and we all start thinking about our health.
If you are looking for an easy, flavorful, and downright addictive way of trying out collard greens or kale then you are in luck. I have tried both greens using this method and they both work great.
If you are more focused on the nutritional content then be aware that collard greens are right up there with kale. They both provide an excellent source of vitamins A, C, K calcium and are equally tasty! Some side-by-side comparisons even give collard greens a slight edge-something to think about when you are in the supermarket.
This Ethiopian Braised Greens is fairly easy dish to make both in terms of preparation and the time it takes to make it. Especially when you have all your pantry ingredients ready to go. What sets these greens apart from the rest are the spice mix and Ethiopian Spiced butter. It makes it more enticing and flavorful.
Cooking greens is a matter of personal preference, some like to cook it to death but not me, 7-10 minutes does it for me.
Don’t let me rain on your parade – cook to your hearts desire. And for a Complete Ethiopian meal, serve it with this Ethiopian Spiced lentil stew
Injera/Angero and or this Doro Wat Ethiopian chicken Stew Enjoy!!!
Ye'abesha Gomen (Ethiopian Collard Greens)
Ingredients
- 10 ounce Collard Greens/Kale chopped
- 3 or more tablespoons Niter Ethiopian Spiced Butter or cooking oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 large white onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon smoke paprika
- ½ teaspoon cardamom spice
- 1 teaspoon coriander/Cumin
- 1-2 Fresh Chili pepper or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper or more
- 1 fresh lemon
Instructions
- In a large skillet, add oil, spiced butter, garlic, ginger, chili pepper, cumin, cardamom, paprika, sauté for about 30 seconds or more, be careful not to let the ingredients burn.
- Then add onions, mix with the spices. Sauté for about 3-5
- Throw in chopped collards, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, Continue cooking for another 7-10 minutes until flavors have blend and greens are cooked, according to preference. Adjust seasonings –Salt and pepper, turn off the heat.
- Remove from the heat and let it cool. SERVE WITH DORO WAT
Nutrition Information:
Marie says
It was tasty and I plan to make it again, with less ginger and lemon. I substituted gram masal because I had no cardamom (next time not) and Smart Balance margarine rather than the suggested butter. This is a healthier alternative to traditional southern collards.
Ida says
So tasty. I added bits of cooked beef strip steak. Yummy.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Ida! That was awesome! I’d like to try that too! 🙂
Lucille Legge says
I ate lunch at an Ethiopian cafe, Merkaba in Ballarat Victoria the other day. I was so impressed that I photographed the menu so that I could research the food recipes. Your recipe is perfect and tasted very close to the Merkaba one. We ate it very quickly and now must make another batch soon, Thank you so much!
Immaculate Bites says
Wow! Thank you for sharing, Lucille 🙂
MONA L WILLIAMS says
I made Gomen last night for the first time and I loved it. I’ll be using this recipe regularly. Next I’m making Ethiopian Lentil stew tonight, I’ll give you my feedback. I’m really looking forward to eating the gomen and the lentils together with the Injera I bought.
Thank you.
Meg says
I made this tonight after making my own spiced butter yesterday. It was pretty close to the gomen wat I’ve had before though I think the smoked paprika was too overpowering. If I make it again, I will just do a sprinkle or two. I also used a quarter lemon and could’ve used more I think. Without the spiced butter, I don’t think this would’ve been very good, so make sure you buy or make your own (it’s pretty easy!).
Linda says
I loved these Ethiopian collard greens! Thank you.
Christy says
Hi! I’m confused about the cumin/coriander – which one? Or both? They are very different!
ImmaculateBites says
Cumin or coriander would work just fine here.
Jennifer says
Yes! This recipe is the truth. I have used this recipe twice already and it tasted just like restaurant quality both timesArban Philadelphia and the nearest Ethiopian restaurant is about 1 hr away. Now I can have this dish whenever I want. Yay!
Tip: Add the ginger at the end using garlic press after all of the other ingredients have cooked.
imma africanbites says
Yaaay! Glad you can now easily enjoy this whenever you want. And thank you for sharing that tip, Jennifer.
Jessica Laub says
Just made this and it is amazing!!! I almost ate the whole bowl myself in one sitting!! Yummy!!!
Thank you for sharing the receipe!
ImmaculateBites says
My pleasure! So happy to hear you enjoyed it Jessica. It’s really flavorful.
Joe Harris says
Hi. What do you think about substituting berbere for the cayenne? Or paprika? I’d think the cayane si a closer match. Thank you for the recipe and any thoughts.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Joe, I would add both. Cayenne adds some heat to it while the paprika adds flavor . If you can find it use smoked paprika
Juli says
DO you use the juice of the whole lemon?
ImmaculateBites says
I don’t . Adjust to taste buds.
Elise Yuan says
I just made this recipe for the first time today and let me say, it was DIVINE! It was gone so fast I will have to make it again soon. I am so grateful to find this recipe and will definitely be making it again! Thank you so much for sharing such an incredible recipe! 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
I’m so happy to hear that Elise! Thanks for taking time out to let me know. 🙂 It’s definitely a favorite around here.
Scot McKay says
I add some turmeric to mine, also. It’s healthy and gives the dish a beautiful glow.
ImmaculateBites says
Great addition! Thanks for sharing.
lee says
can spiced butter be frozen for future use – in making one pound i have a lot left over after making doro wat
and i don’t want it to go to waste. thanks
imma africanbites says
Hi, Lee. Spiced butter or Niter Kibbeh can be stored, covered and chilled, for up to 3 weeks OR you can also freeze it for up to 2 months.
Katherine says
This was fantastic! I served it with injera, Yemisir Wat, Tikil Gomen and Yekik Alicha. The collard greens were popular among the dishes. Very lovely mix of spices and great texture. Thank you for the recipe!
Roni says
OMG this is delicious! I really don’t like the bitterness of kale so I have been looking for a way to make it palatable. Bingo… This is it! I not only mix collards but cabbage as well. Thank you so, so much!
Adeana says
Wow! My new go-to recipe for collards. This is divine. The lentil recipe that goes with this is great, too. Thank you.
ImmaculateBites says
Great ! Thanks for the feedback!
Heather says
Hello! I am new to your website and I am SO excited to try out a few recipes! I’m really interested in the collard green recipe but I’m wondering if I am supposed to use both 1 teaspoon of coriander AND a 1 teaspoon of cumin or if it is just one or the other? Thanks so much!
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Heather! Glad to have you here, It’s either one or the other . Thanks !
Laura says
Thank you for this recipe – the spices are so delicious and it smells amazing! I cooked with ghee (clarified butter since I didn’t have niter). I added a little berbere to the ghee since the spices are so similar. Also, I wanted to try this in an Instant Pot so after sauteing the spices in ghee and cooking the onions in the IP using “saute”, I added chopped collard greens – stems and all – to the IP along with some salt and 1/4 cup water. Cooked at high pressure 30 minutes and then quick release. Stirred in lemon juice at the end and tasted for more salt. Excellent! If using kale, cook time would be much less (more like 5-7 minutes on high pressure). Thanks again. This will be in regular rotation!
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Thanks for the detailed feedback . So glad to hear it worked out well for you.
Lily says
“With age comes wisdom-” SO TRUE, LOL. Thanks for this tasty dish. I made it this evening to serve with shrimp ( I KNOW NOT ETHIOPIAN AT ALL) and polenta. I can’t wait to try the lentil stew. 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
I do it all the time , with my food pairing. As long as it tastes good who cares? Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
Alex says
I made this last night and it was delicious (and smelled amazing the whole time)! But I do have a question. I’ve had a collard greens dish at a couple different Ethiopian restaurants that didn’t seem to have the “warming” spices — at least not turmeric since the onions hadn’t turned yellow! But rather tart (maybe vinegar, or just more lemon?) and a little bitter, whereas your recipe didn’t turn out bitter at all. This other dish was *something* gomen, but I don’t remember what. Any idea what it might be and what the differences are?
ImmaculateBites says
More lemon and/or vinegar would make it definitely tart. And I think the other gomen is siga be gomen. Which is most often made with collard greens and beef.
Christine says
Thanks for the lovely recipe. It was a great way to use up all of the greens in my refrigerator. I used two kinds of kale and some chard. This is one of the tastiest recipes for greens that I have ever had. My kids and husband gobbled it up. I served it with a “cheater” version of Ethiopian chicken. I tossed some chicken legs with a generous amount of Penzey’s Berbere seasoning, wrapped it up tightly in foil and slow roasted it at 325 for 2 1/2 hours. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes.
ImmaculateBites says
AWESOME!!! Super excited to hear the kids enjoyed it too! Love your cheater version of Ethiopian chicken.
Nullacia says
Hi Imma! Just tried this recipe this evening……. no surprise it was super easy and delicious of course 🙂 I will pair it with some baked salmon for a healthy, no carb meal. Thanks for another awesome recipe 🙂
Susan says
I just made Ye’abesha Gomen. It is snowing here today and I wanted some lovely spicy Ethiopian food. Delicious. Thank you for this website. I will become one of your avid followers.
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Thanks for giving it a go. Glad you are here.
Chan says
I just wanted to say thank you for your recipes. I have tried a few and just tried a few more. This one here; the Ethiopian Greens(kale),with Red Red on top of brown rice, and bhajias. All was so delicious together. My family was very pleased!!!
Thank you again!!!
ImmaculateBites says
WOW GIRL! That is one heck of a combo!!! Count me in
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says
My Oh and I used to go to this African restaurant on London where we would spend hours just eating lovely eats like these. It would be fab to recreate this at home
Becky T says
OK.. Gotta ask cause I can not find anything that makes sense.
What is Niter?
ImmaculateBites says
Niter is Ethiopian Spiced Butter. I have a recipe for it right http://africanbites.com/ethiopian-spiced-butter-niter-kibbeh/
Caasandra says
Imma,
After reading you post yesterday about the lentil dish, I wondered if you would post a recipe for the greens. Apparently, you are one step ahead of me!! I look forward to trying both dishes!!!!
ImmaculateBites says
SO happy to hear this Cassandra. And can’t wait to hear the feed back. Oh, I have two more Ethiopian recipes I am going to post by the end of the week. They all pair beautifully together.