Seriously Good Bacon Fried Cabbage

How to make crave-worthy fried cabbage with bacon and garlic. Simple, quick, and delicious! If you have never fried or sautéed cabbage before, you need to start.

How to Make the Best Fried Cabbage

Thanks to bacon and garlic, sometimes boring cabbage transforms into a dish that’s almost crave worthy. If you have never fried or sautéed cabbage before, you need to start. As the cabbage cooks in the frying pan, it wilts, turns tender, and becomes sweet. Cabbage may sound like a boring side, but this is actually one of our favorite sides to make.

Fried cabbage is easy, and it’s one the first sides to go on the table. We “fry” our cabbage in some bacon fat. Not so much fat that it’s greasy but just enough that the cabbage picks up the smoky and savory flavors of the bacon.

If you aren’t into bacon, no worries! Swap the bacon for sausage or go meatless and use butter or olive oil. (We cook cabbage in olive oil for this lemony garlic cabbage and it’s excellent.)

We love cooking with cabbage and this bacon fried cabbage is right at the top of our favorites list, here’s the basic method:

How to “Fry” Cabbage

• Cook bacon in a skillet until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crispy.
• Save the crispy bacon for serving and save a bit of the rendered fat to cook the cabbage in.
• Cook the cabbage in the bacon fat along with some garlic, red pepper flakes, and a little salt.
• When the cabbage is wilted, sweet, and starting to brown around the edges, toss in a little mustard, apple cider vinegar, and the cooked bacon from earlier. The mustard and vinegar add a pop of acid to the cabbage which balances the sweet cabbage and smokey bacon.
• Serve and devour!

We like to keep things simple when it comes to the seasonings. Garlic, a little heat from red pepper flakes, and tang from mustard and vinegar. You can stir in other seasonings, too. Try a little paprika or turmeric for color, onion powder, chili powder, Cajun seasoning, Creole seasoning or cayenne pepper for even more heat.

More Easy Cabbage Recipes

• Lemon Garlic Sautéed Cabbage — This healthier fried cabbage is just as quick to make and tastes incredible.
• Quick and Easy Roasted Cabbage — We love how caramelized the cabbage gets in this recipe.
• Ham and Cabbage Soup — This soup is hearty, healthy, easy to make, and tastes fantastic.
• Easy Homemade Vegetable Soup — When we’re looking for a comforting meal packed with vegetables, this easy veggie soup is where we turn.
• Easy Chile Butter Shrimp Tacos with a Purple Cabbage Slaw — Meet your new favorite shrimp tacos. There are chile butter shrimp, mashed avocado and a quick and crunchy slaw.
• Seriously Good Homemade Coleslaw or try our dairy-free version — both have rave reviews!