Looking for a quick and delicious way to up your cabbage game? This Easy Fried Cabbage with bacon-infused flavor is ready in less than 30 minutes! That’s right, we cook our cabbage and onion directly in the bacon fat to make sure this cabbage has all the flavor. Whether you serve it as a complete meal or a savory side dish, it’s sure to be devoured.
If you are looking for other sides, you may like these easy honey glazed carrots or these jalapeno garlic mashed potatoes.
Why Our Recipe
- Cabbage with bacon-infused flavor that’s ready in less than 30 minutes!
- Serve it as a complete meal or use it as a side dish.
- A little brown sugar adds a touch of sweetness to make sure there’s never any bitterness.
We like to keep the spices very simple and only use salt, pepper, and a bit of smoked paprika to add a smoky flavor. The optional brown sugar adds just the right touch of sweetness, ensuring no bitterness from the cabbage.
Ingredient Notes
- Thick-cut bacon: Thick-cut bacon works best in this recipe so you end up with nice chunks of bacon. You can use regular-cut bacon, it’ll just end up being more like crumbled bacon and cabbage rather than chunks. You’ll want to dice it before cooking either way.
- Yellow onion: A humble yellow onion is great for this recipe. You can also use white or even sweet onions.
- Green Cabbage: Be sure to remove the tough core before chopping or shredding. Keep in mind that the cabbage will cook down quite a bit, so don’t be afraid of having an entire pile. Keep an eye on the cabbage to avoid overcooking it. You want it tender with a bit of bite, not mushy. The sweet spot is usually around 7-10 minutes.
- Brown Sugar: For those worried about bitter cabbage, brown sugar is the perfect addition. If you prefer your cabbage more on the savory side, feel free to leave it out.
- Smoked Paprika: This adds a subtle smoky flavor. Regular paprika will work as a substitute, but you won’t get the smoky element.
Variations
Spice it up: If you like a little heat, sprinkle in some red pepper flakes or drizzle a bit of hot sauce for a fiery kick.
Garlic lovers: Add up to 1 tablespoon of minced garlic when sautéing the onions for all the garlicky flavor.
Sausage: Instead of bacon, you can also use sausage or use a combination of both sausage and bacon. Use a nice fatty ground pork sausage so there is plenty of grease to use for frying the cabbage.
Serving Suggestions
Serve it as a meal on its own, or serve it with rice, quinoa, or mashed potatoes for a more filling option. You could even top it with a fried egg. This is the perfect side dish for roasted chicken, pork chops, or even a baked potato. It also goes really well with barbecue meats or bratwurst.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Reheat in a skillet on the stove over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until warmed through.
Reheat in the microwave on a microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high in 30-second increments, stirring between, until hot.
This was so good! I did add some turkey kielbasa and some balsamic vinegar and a few red pepper flakes. My Husband loved it.
This is really good ! Thank you.
Simple, Quick, tasty, healthy – what more can you really ask for ?
To make it a light meal in its own right : At the end of the cooking I make a depression in the top of the cabbage and crack in an egg (or three), put the lid back on, and let the residual heat poach the eggs for about 3 minutes. Balsamic vinegar, Dark Soy Sauce, or Cider Vinegar gives it all an extra punch
Really good.. I have cooked cabbage for years, never added brown sugar but it does add just a little sweetness to the dish. I have always cut up
Half an apple in mine..
This recipe was very easy to make and quite tasty 😋!!! This Is now my go to fried cabbage recipe.
I just love this dish, I forgot I didn’t have thawed bacon so I used leftover honey ham and some salted butter and olive oil. Yum
I use Chinese sausage and a little soy sauce, lots of black pepper, and a little peanut oil with the butter. Asian twist on an Irish dish!
I grew up eating Cabbage and Noodles awesome it’s been a comfort food for my family and all my cousins up in OHIO! Grandma Teleha is the Saint of All my Family members who came to the US from Hungary as you can tell we are part Hungarian, Checkoslovakian and a few other ethnicity’s that I am not exactly 💯 sure of!!! If you have ever eaten Perogies you are eating one of the BEST COMFORT FOODS EVER AND MY GRANDMA USED TO GET TOGETHER WITH THE LADIES FROM HER Church and make these extremely special delicacies to sell to the parishioners from the church who Loved these but didn’t have the recipe, time & patience to make them from SCRATCH!!!
First time ever I wasn’t the only one eating cabbage. My husband said “this is the best cabbage I’ve ever eaten”. My oldest “ this is really good can you make it again.” My younger….still working on him 🤣. Thanks for awesome recipe … headed to store to get more cabbage.
Honestly, Holy F! This is so freaking delicious! I made this and could barely stop myself from eating! This instantly became a favorite dish! Make this! Like now! Stop reading reviews! Make this!
Thanks I made this and my family really liked it