Seriously Good Bacon Fried Cabbage - Inspired Taste

This fried cabbage recipe with bacon is quick, delicious, and transforms ordinary cabbage into something you’ll want to make again and again.

If you’ve never fried cabbage before, you’re in for a treat. As it cooks in the pan, the cabbage softens, becomes tender, and develops a naturally sweet, caramelized flavor. Add smoky, crisp bacon, and you’ve got one of our favorite easy side dishes.

For this recipe, we use the bacon fat to “fry” the cabbage. There’s just enough to coat the pan, giving the cabbage a rich, smoky flavor, without making it greasy. If you’d like a vegetarian version, try our sautéed cabbage recipe, which uses olive oil instead.

Key Ingredients

• Cabbage: I use white or green cabbage for this. It cooks down until tender but still keeps a bit of texture. You can swap in other cabbage varieties if you like, though they may wilt down a little more.
• Bacon: I love thick-cut bacon for extra flavor and texture. You can even substitute sausage if that’s what you have on hand. Fried cabbage with sausage is really delicious!
• Garlic: I like a nice kick of garlic in this dish, so I use 3 to 4 cloves.
• Dijon Mustard and Apple Cider Vinegar: These two ingredients brighten everything and balance the richness of the bacon. You only need a little of each.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make the Best Fried Cabbage

Tip 1: Cook the bacon first. I love cooking with cabbage, and this recipe is at the top of my favorites list! You’ll start by rendering bacon in a skillet until it’s crispy. Then, transfer the bacon to a plate, but leave the bacon fat in the skillet (there’s so much flavor there!).

Tip 2: Expect the cabbage to wilt. Add the cabbage to the rendered bacon fat, and cook it with garlic until it is wilted, sweet, and starting to brown around the edges. It’s going to look like a lot of cabbage at first, but trust me, it wilts down nicely.

Tip 3: Finish with mustard and vinegar. To make this dish really pop, stir in a little Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, and the cooked bacon from earlier. So easy and so delicious!

Serving Suggestions

We love serving this cabbage with roast chicken, these stuffed pork chops, baked pork tenderloin, or this simple lemon dill baked salmon. It’s also fantastic with meatloaf.

And if you happen to have leftovers, they’re amazing reheated with a poached egg on top for breakfast.

Fried Cabbage

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• PREP 10 mins
• COOK 25 mins
• TOTAL 35 mins

Bacon makes this easy fried cabbage recipe so delicious. As the cabbage cooks in the pan, it wilts, turns tender, and becomes sweet. White cabbage is our favorite for this, but other cabbage varieties will work. Remember that Napa cabbage will release more moisture and won’t brown as nicely in the pan. We love using peppered bacon for extra flavor, but your favorite type of bacon will also work.

Makes about 4 servings

You Will Need

3 thick slices peppered bacon, diced (3 ounces)

2 pounds white cabbage, core removed and chopped (10 cups)

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or more to taste

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Fresh ground black pepper

Directions

1Cook bacon: Add bacon, in one layer, to a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat renders and the bacon is crispy, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, and then use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a bowl, setting it aside for later use.

2Cook cabbage: Remove all the bacon fat from the pan, except for one tablespoon. Then, add the cabbage, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt. Cook, occasionally stirring, until the cabbage is tender and some of it begins to turn light brown, 10 to 15 minutes. It might seem like too much cabbage for the pan, but as it cooks, the cabbage will wilt.

3To finish: Stir in the mustard, apple cider vinegar, and the reserved cooked bacon. Taste and adjust with more salt, pepper, and vinegar as needed.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

• To chop the cabbage, quarter the cabbage through the core, and then cut out the core. Chop each quarter into squares or bite-size pieces. Rinse and spin or pat very dry.
• If you aren’t into bacon, no worries! Swap the bacon for sausage or go meatless and use butter or olive oil.
• This cabbage recipe is excellent with onions, add them to the pan at the same time as the cabbage.
• The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.

Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1/4 of the recipe / Calories 160 / Total Fat 9.1g / Saturated Fat 2.9g / Cholesterol 14mg / Sodium 350.3mg / Carbohydrate 15.4g / Dietary Fiber 7.3g / Total Sugars 5.5g / Protein 7.7g AUTHOR: Joanne Gallagher