How to make Trisha Yearwood's collard-stuffed wontons on the menu at new Nashville bar

The collard greens are the star of this fried appetizer.

March 7, 2024, 6:26 AM

As country music superstars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood open the doors to their brand new Nashville bar and honky tonk, Friends in Low Places, the culinary mind of the family dished up her take on a beloved fried appetizer: wontons.

Yearwood joined "Good Morning America" on Thursday to share one of her recipes featured on the new menu, collard greens-stuffed wontons with hot honey pimento sauce.

Scroll below to check it out.

Trisha Yearwood's Collard Stuffed Wontons

A plate of Trisha Yearwood's collard green stuffed wontons with dipping sauce.
Ben Fink

"Anybody who knows me knows that collards are my favorite greens. I'm always looking for ways to serve them. Other than my traditional childhood method of spooning over fresh cornbread (yum), I have used them in very nontraditional ways, in place of grape leaves for Mediterranean dolmas, sweetened with brown sugar for a crispy side, and even mixed into a grits casserole! I use Instant Pot-braised collards for these wontons. If you don't do spicy, just use regular honey in the sweet dipping sauce. You can substitute a different leafy green in these wontons, but I promise you've never tasted a collard green like this!"

Serves: 6 to 8

Ingredients

Hot Honey Pimento Sauce
1/4 cup hot honey
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons pureed pimentos
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Wontons
1 quart vegetable oil, for frying
1 cup Instant Pot Collard Greens (recipe below), drained and roughly chopped
8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
32 square wonton wrappers

Directions

For the Instant Pot collard greens: Cook the collard greens according to Yearwood's full recipe below.

To make the sauce: In a small saucepan, mix together the honey, vinegar and pimentos over low heat. In a small bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon water and the cornstarch until the cornstarch dissolves, creating a slurry. Add the slurry to the honey mixture, stir and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Set aside. As the sauce cools, it will thicken even more.

To make the wontons: Pour the oil into a heavy- bottomed medium Dutch oven (it should come about 1 1/2 inches up the sides). Clip a deep-fry thermometer to its side and heat the oil over high heat to 350 F. Fit a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet and set it nearby.

While the oil is heating up, in a medium bowl, combine the collards, cream cheese and pepper, and whip using a hand mixer until combined, about 1 minute.

Fill a small bowl with a few tablespoons of water and lay out half the wonton wrappers on a clean surface. Add about 3/4 tablespoon of the cream cheese filling to just the side of the center of each wrapper. Dip your fingertip in the water and wet the edges of one wrapper all the way around, then fold over into a triangle and press the edges together. Set aside and repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

Working in batches of about 6, fry the wontons in the hot oil for 1 to 2 minutes, until they are a light golden brown, using a slotted spoon to flip them to cook both sides. Transfer the wontons with the slotted spoon to the rack to drain and cool slightly. Repeat to fry the remaining wontons.

Serve the wontons with the hot honey pimento sauce for dipping.

Trisha Yearwood's Instant Pot Collard Greens

"My dad planted rows and rows of collards in our garden when I was a kid. We had so much yield that he would invite friends and neighbors to drive up and help themselves to what they wanted. Most kids had to be coaxed into eating their greens, but not me! I could eat collards every day and be a happy camper. The only thing I never liked about greens is how long they took to cook down, and how they smelled up the house. This Instant Pot magic gets rid of both issues!"

Ingredients
1/4 pound bacon, cut into half-inch pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large sweet onion (I like Vidalia), halved and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 bunches collard greens, ribs removed and leaves cut into 2-inch-wide strips
3/4 cup chicken stock

Directions
In an Instant Pot set to Sauté, combine the bacon, salt, and black pepper and sauté for 6 minutes. Add the onion and sauté for 4 minutes more. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the vinegar and deglaze the pot, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon, then let the liquid reduce for about 2 minutes. Stir in the honey and red pepper flakes.
Add the collard greens and chicken stock and stir. Secure the lid on the Instant Pot, select Manual, and set to cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 20 minutes, then manually release the remaining pressure.

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