Collard Green Wraps [+ Multiple Fillings]

The next time you want a simple, nutritious, and delicious light lunch or dinner, ditch regular tortillas for collard green wraps! They’re fun, versatile, budget-friendly, healthy, and delicious!

Fun and Filling Collard Wraps With Potato

We love that burritos, wraps, and rolls allow us to enjoy simple meals, usually loaded with nutrients. For years, we relied on lettuce as a lighter (+ lower carb and lower calorie, paleo, keto, gluten-free, and whole30) alternative to wheat tortillas, but we think we’ve found a new favorite in fully loaded collard green wraps!

These vegan collard wraps are easy (and fun) to make and customize with any of your favorite fillings. We’ve included the recipe for a potato and chickpea filling (packed with fiber and protein!) and several other recommendations. No matter which you choose, these stuffed collard green rolls are fresh, filling, nutritious, and satisfying while remaining budget-friendly and able to prepare in as little as 10 minutes.  

They’re also meal-prep friendly and perfect for a healthy grab-and-go lunch throughout the week. You might also like our Southwestern lettuce wraps, hummus tortilla wraps, or tofu mango rice paper rolls.

What Are Collard Greens?

Collard greens (aka collards) are large, dark leafy greens from the same family as cabbage, kale, and broccoli. They have a mild, grassy, and slightly bitter flavor, similar to kale and a little like cabbage. Like other leafy greens, they’re also packed with antioxidants and nutrients, like iron, vitamins A, B6, and C, calcium, etc.

Typically, the greens are sauteed or braised as a popular Southern side dish. However, compared to other leafy greens like spinach and lettuce, collard greens are bigger, stronger, and more flexible, so you can really pack in fillings to make burrito-like wraps.

Keep reading to learn how to make collard wraps: from preparing the collard greens to filling them and rolling them to perfection.

The Ingredients

• Collard greens: You’ll need two large collard green leaves that are flat without many tears or are too irregularly shaped.
• Potato: Any potato will do. Alternatively, use butternut squash, pumpkin, or sweet potato potato.
• Beans: We used canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), but other beans like black beans or pinto beans work, too. Use reduced-sodium canned beans if preferred.
• Textured vegetable protein: We use TVP flakes. This vegan meat alternative will add tenderness and protein. You could replace it with extra beans or a grain like rice or quinoa.
• Cayenne pepper: To add spice, adjust the amount to taste. Red pepper flakes or chili powder also work.
• Salt & black pepper: Season to taste.
• Olive oil: Or another neutral cooking oil/ cooking spray to spray the potato for crispiness.

Add more flavor with extra spices like smoked paprika for smokiness and cumin for a savory, earthy flavor. You could also add sauteed veggies like onion and/or red bell pepper.

How Else To Fill Collard Green Wraps

Like burritos and other tortilla wraps, there are plenty of ways to fill these healthy vegan collard wraps. Here are just a few of our favorites.

• Collard green burrito: Use all your favorite burrito fixings, like black beans or refried beans, corn, rice, fajita vegetables, Pico de Gallo, sliced avocado or guacamole, etc.
• Mediterranean vegetable wraps: Stuff with roasted vegetables (zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes) and quinoa or rice. Vegan feta and/or a creamy sauce would work well, too.
• Hummus falafel wraps: Slather a layer of hummus followed by salad veggies (lettuce, tomato, red onion, avocado), pickles (optional), and falafels with tahini sauce.
• Hummus Tofu wraps: Combine hummus (plain or flavored like this red pepper hummus) with all your favorite fresh and crunchy veggies (shredded carrot, beets, cabbage, cucumber, lettuce, etc.), softer vegetables like sliced avocado and tomatoes, plus crispy tofu (plain or flavored like buffalo tofu or marinated tofu). This smoky tempeh also works.
• Crunchy Thai peanut wraps: Add some noodles or quinoa, crunchy peanut salad, and extra spicy peanut sauce.

How to Make Collard Green Wraps?

• 1) First, preheat the oven to 450F/230C (with the baking sheet in the oven) and peel and dice the potato into ½-inch cubes. Also, trim the tough stem from the bottom of the collard green leaves.

If the stem is very thick, trim off the bottom, then use a small paring knife to ‘shave’ the inside, so it lays flat against the leaf. This will make it easier to roll.

• 2) Then toss the potato with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place in a single row on the baking tray, then bake for 20 minutes or until crispy outside and tender in the middle.

• 3) Then, heat a small skillet over medium heat with a swirl of oil and add the chickpeas and TVP with just enough water (or vegetable stock) to coat the bottom of the pan.

• 4) Once the TVP has activated (it’ll look like taco meat), drain or cook off any excess liquid, add cayenne, salt, and pepper, and sauté for 3-5 minutes.

• 5) Meanwhile, place the collard greens in a large pan filled with an inch of water and steam, lid on, over medium heat until the collard greens for 2 minutes. Then remove them from the heat, drain, pat dry, and set them aside to cool.

Alternatively, you can blanch the leaves for 20 seconds in boiling water – just enough to make them pliable but remain crisp.

• 6) To assemble the vegan collard green wraps, divide the chickpea/tvp mixture and then the potatoes between the two wraps. Optionally top with sriracha or your favorite sauce.

• 7) Roll the collard wraps like open-top wraps, folding the bottom over the filling and one side inwards to the center, then continuing to roll to close. Enjoy it alone or with dipping sauce.

Alternatively, roll them like a burrito and cut them in half with a serrated knife.

FAQs

Recipe Notes

• Remove tough stem: It’s super fibrous, hard to eat, AND makes it harder to roll the collard wraps. Slice off the ends, then shave what’s left.
• Don’t overstuff the filling: Otherwise, you’ll struggle to roll the collard greens wraps.  
• To seal: If they struggle to stay wrapped, a toothpick will help hold them together.
• Experiment with fillings: Treat these collard green wraps like regular wheat wraps and mix and match the fillings as much as you’d like.

Storage Instructions

You can prepare the various fillings 3-5 days in advance (and cook the collard greens). Store them in separate airtight containers in the fridge.

Once assembled, leftovers will store wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

More Vegan Wraps and Rolls

Photos by Alfonso Revilla