You’ll want to make this Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage again and again! It’s hard to believe that such simple ingredients could result in such a flavorful and delicious side dish!
Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage recipe
Are you a fan of cabbage?! For the most part, I can take it or leave it; it’s just okay to me …. unless you’re talking about this Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage. Goot Lort! I really believe that some of the most simple recipes are the best. Wouldn’t you agree? When it comes to this Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage, I know it to be true!
We’re talking four ingredients – cabbage, onion, garlic, and bacon … along with a few seasonings. Somehow, it cooks into this mesmerizing dish that I cannot stop eating! I could totally understand chocolate cake, friends, but we’re talking about cabbage!! Cabbage!!
I don’t know what it is about Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage, but as I said, I cannot stop eating it when it’s made! I find myself grabbing a spoon from the drawer to get a taste …. you know, you have to taste test when you’re cooking! Five minutes later, the same thing!
The great thing is my family digs this side dish just as much as I do, so there are never any leftovers! Which, I guess, depending on how you look at it, that’s a good thing! The only problem is that it means there is less for me … which maybe that’s why I have to “taste-test” it so much?! I have to make sure I get my fair portion!!
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Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon chopped
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large head cabbage cored and chopped
- 2 teaspoons seasoned salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Cook the bacon in a jumbo cooker over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease and discard the rest.
- In the same jumbo cooker, return the 2 tablespoons bacon grease. Over medium-high heat, cook the onion until it is soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook for an additional 1 minute. Stir in the cabbage and continue to cook and stir for 4-5 minutes. Add the seasoned salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Mix well.
- Reduce heat to low, cover, and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes.
- Just before serving, mix the bacon into the cooked cabbage. Serve immediately.
Notes
- For a more KETO-friendly meal, omit (or use less of) chopped onion.
Nutrition
Please note that the nutritional information listed on this page is an estimation based on the products I used. Ingredients and nutritional information can vary significantly between brands. Always be sure to read labels. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Likewise, recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them.
Bacon makes a great addition to cabbage. I like to fry bacon in my cast iron skillet. That fat keeps the skillet seasoned.
Thanks for sharing.
Wishes for tasty dishes,
Linda
This is my kind of cabbage dish…fabulous flavors!
Make this a main dish by adding your favorite smoked sausage, cut into rounds and fry
with bacon. Add other ingredients as listed.
Served as main dish makes great LCHF
meal.. Quick, easy and leftovers are a great plus.
Been making this for years but add sliced smoked sausage and al-dente mini-farfalle. Makes for a very hearty meal.
Sounds EXELLENT!!
Sounds like a fabulous way of making a complete meal with the cabbage dish. Love that idea!
I love cabbage! This looks so darn delicious!
Fried cabbage, hot buttered fried corn bread with blackberry jam on the side, fried taters and onions, sliced beefsteak tomatoes and vinegared cucumbers and onions, a skillet full of fried silver queen corn, with thick slices of jowl bacon slurped down with a couple of tall glasses of cold sweet tea! Dang, I miss my Mama!
Man that sounds good…
My mom made this my whole time growing up!
Love that idea..right up to the corn (not my fav. veggie..lol) the rest of the veggies would make a great summer meal without heating up the house too much.
My God !!! This sounds so good !!! I love cornbread with about anything . Born and raised on it …..But , this while thing sounded just like home …Only thing , it was sweet tea ! Didn’t eat the jam with it but sure would eat afterwards. Sure made me hungry . Think I will fix for supper ! Fried cabbage is awesome also .Never tried with bacon .We had slab bacon .But , I’d eat it .Great recipe !!!
That sounds delicious!!?
And she made it all in the day before all of the shortcuts we have today. Women were amazing in those days! Grandma had 7 kids, no dishwasher, no microwave, no iron free clothing, no automatic washing machine, no dryer. Coffee was percolated, cornbread was in a cast iron skillet, jams were homemade. I don’t think grandma ever sat down for dinner, her job was making serving and cleaning up. What a woman.
Wow! My Mom was the same way…plus, she worked full-time!
I`ll agree to that, sounds like us kids growing up, slab BACON, yea man! LoL,
Wow, I’m definitely eating with you. That’s my kind of food!! Wow!!
My favorite way of eating cabbage! Except I add a little butter to the bacon grease, more cabbage and sometimes the whole pkg of bacon!! Yum!!
Same here! I can’t keep people off of it! My kids eat bowls of the stuff!
I agree about the added butter….it makes a fabulous difference!
I cooked whole pkg of bacon too, yummy !
OMGosh, what a perfect Keto dish!!Thank you!
thats whats I said!!!
How do I print the recipe?
In the upper right-hand corner of the recipe card, there is a print button 🙂
Bacon is the ultimate ingredient. I’m not a big fan of sweet potatoes or lima beans, but I would imagine that if Chef Alex or one of the other wonderful chefs from Food Network had a recipe that called for sweet potatoes or lima beans, it also had bacon in it, I’m sure that I would like it.
Bacon makes everything taste better!
Great recipe! I just don’t cook my cabbage that long because you loosr the vitamins and it gets very limp.
I am with you… I don’t think I will cook the cabbage for 30 minutes. I like my cabbage just cook not soggy
Bacon makes everything taste better!
This is fabulous flavors!
Sounds so good I will be making it soon. II’ll toss in a couple chopped potatoes.
Sounds delish thanks. And I learned a new phrase, jumbo cooker.It’s just a deep skillet in NJ 🙂
This recipe looks delicious I love cabbage and bacon
Looks delicious.
My daughter and I love this Cabbage and bacon recipe.! I only put in the pepper, bacon, onion and cabbage. Then not so much salt. Delicious!
I made it with bacon and cabbage and didn’t add anything else to it. My daughter loves it.
To this recipe I also add 1 beef Hillshire Farm type sausage sliced into rounds then quartered, browned with chopped onion – drain off fat. Add six small Yukon gold potatoes, sliced in half and par boiked. Lastly, a dash of dill weed. So so so good!!!
I just made fried cabbage yesterday. pkg
of bacon, large onion, 3 sliced apples, 4 heads of
cabbage, 1 cup white wine, and fresh ground
pepper. Moms polish receipe, except the wine
and apples was my idea. Not much left.
This recipe was wonderful!
Great recipe except for one problem. All southern cooks know that you never discard bacon grease.
In southern cooking it is like pure cold! All good cooks should have a jar of bacon grease in their fridge.
We northern cooks also never discard the bacon grease.
Exactly I gasped out loud when I saw discard the rest of the bacon grease!! I have my jar of bacon grease in the fridge and add to it or use from it when I need to !!!
I am never without bacon grease in my fridge. It’s a must in green beans and red potatoes.
I love this yum yum
How is this as a next day/leftover lunch?
I add 1 T apple cider vinegar and 1 T brown sugar at the end of cooking.
I love cabbage but didn’t particularly care for this recipe. I think I prefer it simply steamed by itself with a bit of butter, salt, and pepper.
this is great!!! but i didn’t add salt. the bacon gave off plenty, as long as you got some in every bite (small pieces solve that)
nice lowish-carb side to have available in the fridge 🙂
Great tasting recipe!
Yum ?
I add beef sausage to mine, it’s to die for! We eat it with sausage for a main dish.
I made this just a couple days ago. Grew up on this. I add just a touch of tony’s.
What a great idea!
Been making this for over 35 yrs, fond memory is when I was pregnant with my daughter I would get up in the middle of the night to make this, I still make this and love to share this with all my friends and family, I actually make this most times when having pork of any kind,
What wpuld be good sides or other dishes to go with this? Or is it a meal all its own?
I can’t wait to try it!!
To add more flavor add apple cider vinegar 2 tbsp and brown sugar 2 tbsp, give it a try it is delicious
You’re missing the vinegar – very important part in my opinion. My preference is the rice vinegar or white balsamic, and love adding a pat of butter to the 1-2 tbsp reserved bacon grease for richness which is the “sauce”. I love this with panko-herb fried pork and boiled potatoes. Yum. Ooh, now I need to run out to the store so I can make this tonight.
I am a chef at a senior living community,they love bacon and of course cabbage they are going to love this dish, thanks for your recipe, enjoy your blog.
Chef Ernie
Sounds absolutely wonderful!! I can’t wait to try it!!
I made it, a couple of days ago, with sliced smoked sausage.
Never had fried cabbage until after I married. It was the only way my husband would eat it. I cook the bacon just enough to get some of the grease, then add the onion and cabbage to the bacon, and then cover and cook together on low heat. Flavors are better to me than cooking them all separate.
WONDERFUL RECIPE!!!! Thanks!!! Feel like I am in IRELAND!!!!
I only have an electric frying pan, an instant pot, and a crock pot. How can I make it?
The electric frying pan would be the best option.
This looks delish. I can’t wait to make some myself. I might even add some noodle to it. Mmmm, yum.
Hi! I want to try this dish. Just wondering if I really need to cook the cabbage for 30 mins? Thanks!!
Looks good
Think I might add some diced tomatoes. Sounds yummy
Looks Good
Easy way to cook boiled cabbage?
That seems nice, but it’s just Irish Colcannon without the mashed potatoes and butter. It would make me sad to make this without…plus my Irish grandfather would roll over in his grave! Super tasty dish most likely, even without the potatoes. 🙂
this recipe looks so tasty and i love cabbage and bacon
Great recipes
This is very close to a family favorite that my mom passed on to us girls, except we add a package of cooked extra wide egg noodles, YUM!
I’m not usually a cabbage eater. But for some reason this sounded good when I read it. It
was wonderful. I have printed it out, and we are having for dinner again tonight.
Thank you for sharing
Milissa
DELISH!!!!!!!!
Decided to fry red diced potatoes that added even more flavor. Did this with the onions.
Anyone try to but hamburger and a little bacon and you need to add butter to the cabbage recipe above, this one is good if you have kids !! Note still add the bacon grease and all other ingredients
Wow! So delicious. I used turkey bacon and avocado oil and also a sprinkle of celery seed. Fabulous! Thanks.
OMG!! This cabbage is the BOMB!! I will never fry cabbage any other way!! SO much flavor!!
The core of the cabbage is the best part, cooked or raw in slaw.
I went back to a cast iron set, what a difference. I also use a half of a bag of Amish egg noodles with this fried cabbage recipe.
Can I ask why you use garlic powder and onion powder in addition to garlic and onion? Aren’t the onion and garlic enough?
This is the way I make my Polish Halushki but of course I add wide cooked egg noodles to it. It’s not Halushki without them! My mother never used bacon but I found that I love the added flavor of bacon!
I must try this. Looks and sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing
Good recipe! The second time I made it, I reduced the onion to bring the carbs down and added about a tablespoon of nutritional yeast… made it even better. Yummy!
Spice this up with a diced fresh red chilli, some grated ginger and a teaspoon of good vinegar!
Yum! Add some sour cream on top. Kinda like a lazy cabbage roll dish.
Wonder how this would taste using purple cabbage?
I would probably put sausage in it as well. Just didn’t seem to be meaty enough.. But it was delicious!!!! I used a large onion but not a huge one.. I think huge would have been better… and I used a med size cabbage and I think that was too much for the bacon… But the flavor was HUMONGOUS
Wow!
This is awesome!
I made this tonight. I omitted the garlic powder due to the 3 cloves of garlic you use. I also added 1 teaspoon of sugar as suggested by another person. My Seasoning Salt was the no salt seasoning of Mrs. Dash. This dish is so yummy! My husband and I loved it!
My son loved this recipe! THank you so much!
This is haluski. Nothing southern about it.
Made this dish twice and my family loved it. I notiiced there was no water added and only a small amount noted at the end of cooking
I take butter brown sugar & oions salute together. Add your fried bacon to this. Than add your cabbage . But I also add small shell noodles to this too. I don’t use onion powder or garlic for this recipe.
Does it freeze well?
Add to a batch of mashed potatoes and have colcannon. It is delicious.
Discard the leftover bacon grease? Seriously?? ?
what a nice simpe recipe. i am sooo looking forward to trying this.
I also add noodles to the cabbage and add chicken broth . My husband and I like this recipe.
This was so good! My Hungarian husband loves cabbage in any form but I think this is now his favorite. I did add a couple splashes of hickory smoke and it was a good touch.
I make this all the time but add diced ham and diced potatos along with the cabbage, I make it in a cast iron skillet. And yes, add some butter! A terrific comfort dinner!! Yum!
I make the same dish but add a few sliced potatoes to it when cooking along with sliced polish sausage, when done just before serving melt swiss cheese on the top. yummy
I add cooked wide egg noodles to the cooked cabbage… also add some cumin, red pepper flakes with the seasonings… and yes, this is better the next day as leftovers
I grew up eating cabbage, I love it! This just takes the cake.
Just wondering why you would add garlic & onion pwder when the recipe actually has garlic & onion in it.
Layers of flavor 😉
I cook cabbage this way with one exception. I simmer it in whole milk, great flavor. This is how my Mom cooked it and she was from Arkansas.
Just made the Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage. It was delicious!! Loved it!!! What an amazing recipe!!!!
Made this for supper this evening…O My!! Delicious… definitely will be making this again.
I have a question. Do I use sweet or yellow onion and what seasoned salt do I use? Not sure what kind of seasoned salt. Thanks.
I use Lawry’s – but any seasoned salt will work fine.
I made this and used Johnny’ Doc for the seasoning, an I just hate it. Next time just bacon, onions, butter a little sugar and grill up some brots and be happy . Love the cornbread idea for next time.
Jamie, this looks so so so DELICIOUS! I can hardly wait to try it 🙂
Jamie, I like your recipes and I’m glad that your website isn’t buried under a ton of ads. Thank you.
Thanks for stopping by and for your support, Pat!
That looks delicious!
I made this and it was delicious! First time eating cabbage!
I love cabbage recipe , this Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage seems so delicious and amazing . Will love to make this . Thanks for sharing this one with us .
Never tried cabbage recipe like this before but will surely gonna try this Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage recipe. Thanks for sharing this one .
Love this Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage, this one seems super delicious . Will love to try this unique one . Thanks for sharing this one with us .
We really enjoyed this dish…I’ve made plenty of bacon fried cabbage recipes and this is the first time using seasoned salt…my choice was Johnny’s seasoning salt…thanks for sharing your recipe…
This Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage seems amazing and unique , super excited to try this one . Thanks for sharing this recipe with us , will love to try this one.
This Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage tasted so delicious. Tried the very first time.
This Southern Bacon-Fried Cabbage seems amazing and unique , excited to try this one for sure , thanks for sharing this one.
My Mom was Polish and I grew up eating Hluski with grated homemade potato dumplings. I never knew you could add cooked noodles or gnocchi . Thanks to our friend Harriet , I now use the gnocchi
I make a similar recipe, but I always add a teaspoon of dried basil. It sings in harmony with the cabbage!! For those who know and love black pudding, it goes so well with cabbage.