Fried cabbage is a whole lot like so many other things we 'fry' in the South...fried apples, fried corn. We call it fried, but it's not really what someone not from the South would probably consider fried. It is cooked a whole lot like fried corn though. My recipe is sort of my own version and not completely traditional, but it is so good and it's really simple.
Here is what you will need:
Here is what you will need:
4-5 strips of bacon
2 Tbs. butter
1 sweet onion, diced (I like to use Vidalia onions if available)
1/2 red or green bell pepper, diced (optional)
1 small head of cabbage or 1/2 large head of cabbage, rough chopped
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
1/2 cup water
In large skillet with a lid, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon to a plate and add the butter to the bacon drippings. Add the diced onion and bell pepper. The bell pepper is my addition and is completely optional, but I think it adds some really good flavor and color to this dish. Saute on medium heat for a couple of minutes.
Add the chopped cabbage and toss to coat with the butter and bacon drippings. Stir fry until the cabbage starts to get tender. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper to your taste. Pour 1/2 cup water in the pan around the cabbage and cover to steam it until just tender for about 20-25 minutes. I don't like my cabbage cooked to death. I like for it to still have a little body to it. If you like yours cooked down more than this, just cook it a little longer.
When it's done, place in a bowl and sprinkle with the crumbled bacon. I actually like mine with a little soy sauce or some hot sauce on it and some like vinegar, but it's good just like this.
mmmmm mmmmmmm!!
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought the red pepper was fresh chilled tomatoes. That would be awesome sprinkled on top.
DeleteYum!!! I cook my cabbage down and then toss in butter. Never though to add bacon or cook in bacon dripping. Will definitely be trying this.
ReplyDeleteAdd shrimp to it..I been doing it for years and no complaints
DeleteTry adding some caraway seed...been doing that for 40 years. Great with German potato salad as another side with a nice kielbasa.
DeleteMy family loves a dish similar to this but it has egg noodles in it.
ReplyDeleteFried cabbage with noodles is called Haluski here in PA. It's a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe.
DeleteI learned to cook haluski after eating it at Polish church bazaars in Plymouth and Nanticoke (near Wilkes-Barre). I "cheat" and get packages of shredded coleslaw in the produce section. Easy-peasy!
DeleteHaluski is a Polish/Slovakian dish.
DeleteI love Haluski in in FLA.. I make it though with homemade tiny drop dumplings. I get great raves for it. So yummy, served with fried cabbage and peppered bacon.
DeleteMight just have to try this. Sounds like my dish!!!
ReplyDeleteThis version looks really good. I was born and raised in the south but never had fried cabbage until I moved to Vermont. I am fixing this version as soon as I can.
ReplyDeleteI make the same dish but I add a little brown sugar and crushed red pepper at the end. Sweet and Spicy!
ReplyDeleteMy husband taught me about Southern fried cabbage. We use purple cabbage and it's delicious! We don't use the peppers or butter, just the bacon drippings, and bacon, but we pre-cook the bacon, use the drippings to fry the cabbage then add the bacon to the cabbage to cook together. Using them crumbled on top sounds great, would like to try but ... sadly, one heart attack later and this dish needs some serious revisions before he can have it again. I wonder how it would taste with olive oil?
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to bet it would be excellent with just a little olive oil. I'm very conscious of high glycemic foods but do believe this would be excellent with other adjustments too! Sounds good like it is...but can't have some of it!
DeleteI microwave cabbage and onions about 5-6 mins to soften. Spray a skillet with Pam and add about a tbsp oil. Saute cabbage til done and slightly browned. For extra flavor, you can add a few real bacon bits. With some hot cornbread and sliced tomatoes, it makes a delicious substitute for those of us with health issues.
DeleteIt's delicious with olive oil and turkey bacon!! :)
DeleteAll Ive ever used was olive oil.
DeleteI would say use turkey bacon,skip the butter it should be just as good..
DeleteI love fried cabbage with some cornbread on the side for a light dinner.
ReplyDeleteI like to add a tablespoon or two of sugar when I add the cabbage. It adds just a slight sweetness to the cabbage. I love cabbage the same as you, tender crisp. I am going to try your recipe with the bell pepper, sounds delish.
ReplyDeleteI make a similar dish with red cabbage, onion, minced garlic, brown sugar & apple cider vinegar. I call it "
ReplyDeleteGerman Cabbage". Yummy
sounds heavenly !!!
ReplyDeleteMy M-I-L used to make Fried Cabbage, onions, bacon and apples in butter quite often. She was of German descent born and raised in Missouri (she pronounced it "Mizz-ur-ah". She was one of the finest cooks I knew and taught me to cook a lot of really good food.
ReplyDeleteLooks delish! I will try this one night.
ReplyDeleteThis is great. Made it last week with fresh vadalia onions.My daughter that doesn' like cooked cabbage loved it.
ReplyDeleteI cook my spinach in the same manner but think i might like the cabbage better!
ReplyDeletekale is also good when sauteed in bacon and onions. put some broth or water and simmer for a few minutes. you might like some vinegar on it.
DeleteI do the same recipe kinda without the butter, onions and bell peppers. I cook the bacon then take it out and fry the cabbage in the bacon grease, as it starts cooking down add a can of Rotel, then add the bacon back in - the kids love it!!!
DeleteI cook this also but, I add potatoes, onion and some smoked or polish sausage to it a meal in 1 pan
ReplyDeletei first heard this called soul food from the movie soul food, i was just this morning talking about fried cabbage,, when i got home it was posted, now i will def have to make it again, we love it.
ReplyDeleteMaking it now :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great low carb dish minus the oinions.
ReplyDeletewhy are all your recipes fried? It's so unhealthy.
ReplyDeleteThere are actually very few "fried" recipe on this site, mainly, because I rarely fry food. If you had read the post, you would know that we call several things fried in the South, that are actually more like stir fried. If you aren't interested in the recipes, why are you even on this site?
DeleteI agree, Kathy.
DeleteCause we are FROM the South, that's why!! Don't like it move on.. Bless your heart!!
DeleteI agree with you Kathy. Why is she even reading the recipes?
DeleteBravo!!! Kathy! If a body can't type something nice, keep the fingers off the keys and move on! Geeze!!
DeleteI just discovered your site through Frank at Tales of a Middle Class Kitchen. This recipe sounds wonderful. I rarely "fry" foods and even more rarely "do" regular bacon. But I would gladly prepare this recipe as written with the addition of a splash or two of vinegar. Yum!
Thank you for posting this. :)
Any thing that is fried, I do not eat till it is well drained...I find baking a roast or chicken "sits" in the fat all the same. Breading is the worst part of frying. We are talking about tasty dishes here. Not necessarily a health site. There are ways to alter dishes to lower the calories if you know what you are doing. I think a diet of all boiled or baked food is very dull and bland. I try to balance it.
DeleteYou either "get" the South or not. I agree, this is more like stir fry. If you want "Southern deep fry" I can show you some of that too!
DeleteScramble a few eggs in this dish, it is really good.
ReplyDeleteI've cooked fried cabbage for years. I don't add any water and I slice up about a pound of Kielbasa. Back when I was a kid Mom always made this but she added sliced hot dogs as we couldn't afford sausage. Us kids loved it, especially if we were lucky enough to have a hunk of corn bread to go with it.
ReplyDeleteWow, I have told many people about fried cabbage. I make it the same way. I sometimes add thinly sliced carrots to it. Always use onion. I also put smoked sausage in it sometimes as well. My Great Aunt taught me to fry cabbage. I am going to have to check out the rest of the site!
ReplyDeleteI use pork breakfast sausage, cook it untill it turns grey add onions and shreaded cabbage , I don't add water just stir fry till cabbage is soft.
ReplyDeleteI am from NFLD and we do this all the time yummy but call it hash ;;; we add the onions and bacon drippings but also left over potatoe/carrot or turnip to the pan after the cabbage is done
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Kathy, keep your comments to yourself and just move own if you don't like Sweet Tea and Cornbread...for me, I can't wait to see what you post next...thanks so much for sharing your wonderful recipes
ReplyDeleteMy mom always made this when I was a child now it is always the way I make cabbage. We must have been poor because we didn't get the bacon, just the drippings and a little sugar in the mix. It was still delicious. She was from Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteI've been known to use bagged cole slaw mix on occasion for this dish. It's already shredded, has some purple cabbage and carrots in it for color. Good eating!
ReplyDeleteTry a lil corned beef in it....
ReplyDeletesounds good. my stepdad cooked cabbage in bacon grease and just added salt and pepper and a little sugar to keep the cabbage from being bitter
ReplyDeleteGosh darn it. This is so doggone good.
ReplyDeleteI've made cabbage similar to this recipe. Since I'm a huge fan of bacon. I must try it this way. Thanks for the recipe. :)
ReplyDeleteI also have added smoke sausage
ReplyDeleteI make mine like this but like the idea of the sweet red pepper, will try that. I also like to add celery seeds to my fried cabbage---tasty!
ReplyDeletefried bacon & onions &cabbage.... steam it all together in the pan boy now that hits the spot...
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ReplyDeleteI LOVE SWEET TEA AND CORNBREAD! Thank you for all the wonderful recipes!
Instead of water, I use chicken broth!
ReplyDeleteAdd a chopped apple and it will be perfect!
ReplyDeleteI cook it and add polish kielbasa sausage to it for about 5-10 minutes before it is done, just enough to brown the sausage. haven't tried it with the peppers yet.
ReplyDeleteI shred my cabbage like slaw and saute it in olive oil with salt and black pepper till its turns almost white. I add a touch of red papper for a zing. My husband loves it. I think the bought cole slaw with carrots would be a great time saver. I never liked cabbage until I ate it fried.
ReplyDeleteI think if you don't use the bacon or butter and want to go with olive oil you could add a little beef bullion powder not the cube as it won't desolve easily but that would be awesome! I cook all my veggies like that especially peas and butter beans!
ReplyDeleteI add a little dollop of sour cream.
ReplyDeleteI am from New Zealand ( Waaaay south) and we have dish called Bubble and squeak. When we have corned beef for Sunday Dinner we cook mashed potatoes and boiled cabbage with it. Monday nights dinner is always the Left overs put in a skillet and fried in Bacon grease and butter. All the ingredients put together and fry and it is called Bubble and squeak due to noise it makes when cooking. That is our version of fried cabbage. It has mashed potatoes and left over corned beef in it.
ReplyDeleteI saw another recipe that added diced tomatoes to this. I didn't have any so I used a can of rotel. Turned out really good.
ReplyDeleteI added a can of rotel. Mmm yum
ReplyDeleteMy mom has always prepared it just as you have and we have always loved it.
ReplyDeleteMy mom has always prepares it just the way you have and we have always loved it,
ReplyDeleteI think I will add some diced jalapeno peppers for a little added kick, ummmm.
ReplyDeleteI remove some of the bacon grease but leave the bacon in the pan, add the cabbage and a thinly sliced apple, then add one-half cup of chicken broth to steam a little. Delish!
ReplyDeleteYou can also make this with Polish Sausage and it is really good as well.
ReplyDeleteMy recipe adds boiled kilbasa and purple fingerling potatoes added to the onion, bell, and cabbage. So yummy.
ReplyDeleteLoved this recipe! I served it with Teriyaki chicken breasts on the side and the flavor of the teriyaki mixed with the cabbage well. This one is a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete