Fried cabbage and sausage
A whole head of cabbage fried down in bacon fat with smoky sausage until it’s sweet and golden, the Southern skillet that costs next to nothing.
- 45 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.10 a serving
- 490 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 head green cabbage, about 2 lb
- 1 yellow onion
- 14 oz smoked kielbasa, 1 package
- 3 slices bacon
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
From your pantry
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Each serving has about 490 calories, 18 g protein, 21 g carbs and 38 g fat, and costs about $2.10 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No green cabbage? Red cabbage or coleslaw mix works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Quarter the cabbage, cut out the hard , and it into 1-inch strips.
Core. Coring means cutting out the hard center of things like apples, peppers or cabbage. That center is tough and woody, so it’s the part you throw away.
How you’ll know: What’s left is all tender flesh, with no hard, pale center.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
the onion and the kielbasa into ½-inch coins.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
the bacon.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Cook the bacon in a large, deep or over medium for 6 to 8 minutes, until . Scoop it onto a plate and leave the fat in the pan.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Dutch oven. A Dutch oven is a heavy pot, usually enameled cast iron, with a tight-fitting lid. It holds heat evenly, so it’s great for soups, stews and anything that simmers a long time.
How you’ll know: Any large, heavy pot with a lid does the same job if you don’t have one.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Food safety: Cook bacon until it’s crisp and no longer translucent.
Turn the heat to medium-high and the kielbasa in the bacon fat for 4 to 5 minutes, then scoop it out too.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min
Add the onion and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until soft, then stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
Add the cabbage a few handfuls at a time with the salt, stirring as it shrinks down to make room.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: It will pile over the top at first. It cooks down to about a third.Cook 12 to 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the cabbage is tender and in spots.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 14 min
Dolly’s tip: Let it sit between stirs. The browned bits are what make it taste sweet.Stir in the kielbasa, bacon, black pepper, pepper flakes and vinegar and cook 2 minutes, until the kielbasa is hot through.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Taste, add salt if it needs it, and serve hot.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
