3-Ingredient Fried Cabbage With Bacon

Are you looking for a delicious side dish to serve with your next meal? Try this recipe for fried cabbage with bacon. You only need three ingredients!

David and I used to boil cabbage with a huge ham hock for hours. It’s the way we cook cabbage in the south; you throw vegetables into a pot, throw in fatty pig meat and boil it to death. It would stink up the house and hardly have any nutritional value after it boiled to death.

A little time would pass before we would boil another head of cabbage to death. We realized that every time we would sit down to eat boiled cabbage, it would start to bloat us like a blowfish after just a few bites. Not sure what kind of chemistry was going on in our bodies, but it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

It was almost like those stupid Beano commercials (gasp!).

After boiling cabbages for years, one day, I made a recipe by Michael Symon in which pork roasted on top of shredded cabbage. This recipe inspired me to make Dijon pork chops over shredded cabbage with beets. David and I both noticed that the cabbage was more enjoyable. Cooked this way, the cabbage doesn’t have the same effect as when boiled.

We either fry, roast, or grill cabbage rather than boil cabbage now. I have to say the house sure has smelled a lot better since we stopped boiling cabbages to death… phew!

What is Fried Cabbage?

Fried cabbage is a southern version of an Irish side dish made by pan-frying cabbage with crispy bacon. A quick one-pot recipe that’s great any time of year that can accompany any main course.

Ingredients You’ll Need

There are only three main ingredients to this recipe. A detailed list of ingredients is provided in the recipe card at the end of this post.

• Cabbage: I use savoy cabbage. Savoy is a more tender variety of cabbage that cooks even faster than regular green cabbage. However, if you shred a regular head of cabbage, it still cooks pretty fast.
• Bacon: I used regular cut bacon hardwood smoked bacon, but you can use thick-cut or whatever bacon you have.
• Broth: Broth is not a regular ingredient in a fried cabbage recipe, but I used it to break up the brown bits of bacon stuck to the bottom of the pan. I happened to have some leftover vegetable broth. You can use chicken broth or beef broth also.
• Seasoning: kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

How to Cut Cabbage for Frying

1. Remove any damaged and dark outer leaves.
2. Rinse the cabbage and blot dry with paper towels.
3. Place the head of cabbage on a cutting board stem side down.
4. With a chef’s knife, cut in half lengthwise through the core.
5. Cut each half into quarters.
6. Make an angled cut into the cabbage with the knife to remove the core out of each quarter. 
7. Slice each wedge starting at the end opposite the stem and cut crosswise from top to bottom into thin slices.

How To Make Fried Cabbage With Bacon

1. Using kitchen shears, dice the bacon into a Dutch Oven or deep skillet. Cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the cabbage, toss well with the bacon and the rendered bacon drippings.
3. Stir in the vegetable stock. Continue to cook until cabbage wilts, about 15 minutes.
4. Serve warm.

Storage and Leftovers

Store leftover fried cabbage with bacon in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. To reheat, microwave in a microwave-safe container for 2-3 minutes.

Tips For Making Fried Cabbage

• Use savoy cabbage to speed up cooking even more.
• Use a Dutch Oven or large skillet such as a cast iron skillet. It will cook more evenly.
• Like spice? Add in some red pepper flakes!

If you are not a cabbage fan, I promise that this southern fried cabbage will help change your mind. 

Are you making this fried cabbage recipe? We’d love your feedback. Leave us a comment and a star rating below. We value your opinion and appreciate your time.

See ya on the mountain!

Try some for St. Patrick’s Day!