Southern Fried Cabbage is the perfect side dish you’ll love for family or holiday dinners. It’s easy to make with simple ingredients and is loaded with incredible flavor from bacon and spices.
We’ve had an incredible week of cookies and back-to-school cupcakes here on the blog but I am sure we all need a break from all that sweet stuff. So today, we’re going semi-healthy with Southern-style fried cabbage.
I know one pound of bacon and healthy don’t usually come hand in hand but it does add amazing flavor to an otherwise bland side dish and cabbage is, in fact, a low-calorie food rich in vitamins and minerals. #winner
How do you Make Fried Cabbage and Bacon
Fried cabbage and bacon is a quick and easy side dish you can have ready in minutes. The recipe is as simple as the 1-2-3-4-5 steps below.
- Prepare the ingredients by chopping the cabbage and bacon. Slice up a medium-sized onion and mince a few cloves of garlic.
- In a wide pan, cook bacon until it begins to crisp and render fat.
- Add the cabbage.
- Season with your favorite spice blend.
- Cook the cabbage, stirring occasionally, until wilted and full-flavored.
Tips on How to Make Southern Fried Cabbage
- Try to find bacon ends and pieces at your neighborhood meat section. Since we’re going to chop the meat up anyway, ends and pieces deliver the same smoky taste and are meatier and less expensive than bacon rashers.
- Not a fan of bacon? Substitute with sliced andouille sausages or diced ham.
- Cut up the cabbage in uniform size to ensure even cooking.
- Feel free to season this up with your favorite spice blend but I suggest to add salt sparingly as the bacon does bring a good amount of saltiness.
- Please don’t skip the sugar as it helps heighten the natural sweetness of the vegetable and deliciously rounds up the flavor of the dish.
- I like to cook everything together so the cabbage absorbs more flavor as the bacon continues to render fat but if you prefer a crispier bacon, remove from the pan when browned and just crumble up on top of the vegetable when ready to serve.
Try this easy sauteed cabbage for dinner tonight! It’s easy to make and sure to be a favorite side dish for family or holiday dinners. For more vegetable side dish recipes, check out these green beans with bacon and tomatoes and these roasted brussels sprouts with garlic and pancetta. They’re a guaranteed crowd pleaser!
Southern Fried Cabbage
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon ends and pieces, chopped
- 1 onion, peeled and sliced thinly
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 medium cabbage, cored and chopped (about 5 cups)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- In a wide pan over medium heat, add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to crisp and render fat.
- Add onions and garlic and cook until softened.
- Add cabbage and stir to distribute.
- Cover, lower heat and cook until vegetable begins to wilt.
- Add sugar, salt, onion powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, and pepper.
- Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 to 15 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
Nutrition
Yum! I love southern greens. I’ll have to try this! 🙂
Thank you!
Hi Lalaine! Just a heads up: In one of your tips, you mentioned ‘Please skip the sugar…” but reading the complete sentence, and the list of ingredients, you mean “do NOT skip”, right? 🙂 This looks delicious, by the way. Bacon makes everything delicious!
Thank you, Suzanne, for letting me know. Fixed it. 🙂