Fried cabbage is an easy side dish made with only 3 ingredients and simply seasoned with salt and pepper. This tasty combination of cabbage, leeks, and bacon is done in about 30 minutes. This side dish is cooked by sauteing bacon and vegetables together until bacon is crispy and cabbage is soft and a somewhat caramelized.
There are a few other easy side dishes I have for you to try. You can never be disappointed with Roasted Cauliflower, sauteed Green Beans and Bacon, and Creamy Mushroom Julienne.
FRIED CABBAGE
When I was a kid, I absolutely refused to eat anything with cabbage, I wouldn’t even try it. I was a typical kid, not willing to even try something that looked suspicious.
Since so many popular dishes in Russia feature cabbage, let’s just say I refused to eat quite often. It was a long time until I even agreed to try Borsch. But once I tried it, I agreed to try them all because I realized that cabbage is quite tasty.
Cabbage is a great vegetable and featured in many dishes like soups, cabbage rolls, and side dishes. Whether it’s served raw, like in coleslaw, or cooked like this fried cabbage, it doesn’t disappoint.
Benefits of cabbage extant far beyond it’s taste too. Cabbage is packed with vitamins and nutrients like Vitamin C, Vitamin K, antioxidants, fiber, beta-carotene, anthocyanins, and so much more. It’s low in fat and calories but high in fiber, this is great for your digestive system. Being packed with vitamin C and K is very helpful for your immune system.
Cabbage is cheap, versatile, and available year-round. For all these reasons and more, you should definitely include more cabbage in your diet.
HOW TO MAKE FRIED CABBAGE
Before starting to cook, prep your ingredients. Dice raw bacon, and slice cabbage and leeks thinly.
Preheat a large cooking pan over medium heat and add diced bacon. NOTE: if using a non-stick pan, you won’t need additional oil but if using a stainless steel or cast iron, you may need to add a little bit of canola oil.
Cook bacon until it’s browned and the fat is rendered and add leeks.
Saute until leek is softened and add cabbage. Stir everything well and cook until cabbage is soft. You will need to stir every few minutes so that cabbage is cooked evenly throughout.
CAN FRIED CABBAGE BE FROZEN?
Yes, you can freeze cooked cabbage. You can either separate the whole batch into several smaller portions, or freeze the whole batch at once.
Use either a freezer friendly storage container or a freezer zip-lock bag. Transfer cooled cooked cabbage into the container or a zip-lock freezer bag, get the air out, and close it tight. If using a container with a lid, make sure the lid is air-tight and wrap the container in foil.
Label and freeze for 3-5 months.
To thaw, pull frozen cabbage out of the freezer and into the refrigerator to let it slow-thaw overnight.
To reheat cooked cabbage, it’s best to reheat it in a cooking pan, over medium heat. Reheat it just until it’s heated through.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH FRIED CABBAGE
Fried cabbage is a great southern dish and goes well with some cornbread and sausage.
It goes well with many other main proteins like fried chicken, roasted chicken, meatloaf, and grilled meats.
Pair it with other sides like roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn casserole, baked potatoes, or beans.
Fried cabbage is also delicious when mixed right with mashed potatoes or noodles.
SOME MORE RECIPES TO TRY:
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Fried Cabbage with Bacon
Ingredients
- 2 lbs cabbage
- 2 large leeks
- 1 lb thick cut bacon
- salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Prep your ingredients first. Dice raw bacon and slice cabbage and leeks thinly.
- Preheat a large cooking pan over medium heat and add diced bacon. NOTE: if using a non-stick pan, you won’t need additional oil but if using a stainless steel or cast iron, you may need to add a little bit of canola oil.
- Cook bacon until it’s browned and fat is rendered. Add leeks and stir well.
- Saute until leeks are softened and add cabbage. Stir everything well and cook until cabbage is soft. You will need to stir every few minutes so that cabbage is cooked evenly throughout.
Notes
Nutrition
Rose Mary George says
This looks delicious!
Karly says
Yum! Pinning!
Toddp says
Wanted to read your article but with all of the ads and constant popups I gave up and went some where else. Looked good what little I could read
LyubaB says
Sorry about that! Unfortunately, I do not control where they place the ads.
Bill Fodor says
Lyuba, I’m prepping all the ingredients now, for your Fried Cabbage & Bacon & I have two questions : First with the Leeks, do you dice all the white & Green part, or just the White & a bit of the Green leafs ?
Secondly: once doing up the bacon, do yo leave all the fat there, or just a few Tablespoons & does the bacon stay in the pot throughout ?
Finally, just wanted to thank you for the ‘Irish Lemon Aid’ ! It sounds fantastic & being a died in the wool Jack Daniels on the rocks /a twist guy for many years, I recently tried a Jameson on the rocks & it was great ! So this recipe will get me to pick up a bottle.
Thank You… Hope to hear back from you soon “Old Bill, from PA.”
lyuba says
Hi Bill!
For the leeks, just the white and a tiny bit of light green. The dark green you can either discard of tie in a bunch and cook in a soup broth (if you are making soup) and then discard after soup is cooked.
For the bacon, I leave it all in but I usually get the bacon that doesn’t have as much fat. So you can make that judgement call if your bacon is extra fatty, you can pour out some of the grease and leave a some in the pan. The bacon bits do stay in the pan the whole time, you add the cabbage to the cooked bacon bits.
I really hope you will enjoy the Irish Lemonade, it’s our favorite now!
I hope this helps and you enjoy it! Have a great week!
Kim says
I’ve used this recipe, as is, for 2 years on St Patrick’s Day. I love it and it always gets rave reviews! Thank you so much!
LyubaB says
I love hearing that, Kim! Thanks for stopping by to let me know!
Ladale K. says
I love cabbage. Even though this is fried it is still good for you. And your idea serving this with corn bread sounds so good. My mom would have loved this recipe. Her and I were the cabbage eaters in our family.
LyubaB says
I am so glad you liked it, Ladale! 🙂