The Best Fried Cabbage

The very BEST Fried Cabbage recipe is a quick and comforting side dish. Made with simple ingredients and a family secret that makes this southern fried cabbage not so southern. The very same recipe my Polish grandfather made for years.

Fried Cabbage

Some of my favorite comfort foods are the most simple. There are several staples that grace our Easter dinner table year after year and one of my favorites is a creamy Fried Cabbage recipe my grandfather used to make.

It turns out it’s REALLY simple to make and I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why we only ever made it for Easter for crying out loud. I know it goes great with ham and our favorite potato pierogi recipe or kielbasa but it also goes with just about anything else you can think of. We love to have it alongside chicken and pork, too.

Now there are plenty of recipes out there in the internet world for Fried Cabbage…most of them being Southern Fried Cabbage recipes with bacon but this easy Fried Cabbage recipe is very different. It doesn’t usually have bacon (except I added some crispy pancetta at the end just for some color….and my grandfather was rolling over in his grave, I’m sure).

What this Fried Cabbage Recipe does have is caramelized onions (I don’t remember if they’re supposed to be in there or not but I did it anyway), lots and lots of butter…..and a healthy scoop of sour cream mixed in at the end. I know it sounds weird but just do it. It’s creamy and dreamy and adds just the right amount of tang to an otherwise flat dish.

How to Cook Fried Cabbage

Making the BEST Fried Cabbage recipe is so simple and quick. Basically, in a nutshell, it’s a stir fried cabbage recipe with little else but butter and onions. It’s one of the most decadent recipes for being so basic.

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add the onions to the pan and cook until beginning to caramelize.
3. Stir in half the chopped cabbage and cook until wilted.
4. Add the remaining cabbage and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted and beginning to caramelize.
5. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring every few minutes, until slightly caramelized. 
6. Stir in the sour cream and cook for 1 additional minute.
7. Top with crispy bacon, pancetta or just simply season with salt and pepper.

That’s it. So, sooooo easy! Right?

What kind of cabbage do you use for Fried Cabbage?

For my easy Fried Cabbage recipe, I like to use the old standby….green cabbage but you can also make this using red cabbage (it’s a beautiful vibrant color) or a chinese cabbage (napa cabbage). 

All will work well but napa cabbage doesn’t take quite as long to cook down and caramelize so adjust cooking times accordingly.

What To Serve It With

• My FAVORITE Potato Pierogi recipe….it’s my pop-pop’s recipe, BTW.
• Pan Fried Kielbasa…so simple…so good.
• The BEST Oven Baked Chicken Breast
• Simple Roasted Rotisserie Style Chicken
• Roast Pork Loin with Hoisin Honey Glaze
• Bourbon Honey Baked Ham...in keeping with the Easter tradition

More Easy Cabbage Recipes

• The BEST Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe
• Easy Beef Cabbage Soup...just like my favorite deli.
• Stuffed Cabbage Rolls…again, my grandpop’s hand me down.
• Stuffed Cabbage Roll Soup.…in case you get lazy and don’t feel like rolling the rolls.
• Caramelized Cabbage and Onion Colcannon.…MOST EPIC MASHED POTATOES EVER.

I really could just go on and on and on about this Fried Cabbage recipe but let’s be real here….I know you just want to get down to it and plop it on your plate. It’s so good, buttery and sweet and creamy and amazing. Be sure you don’t overcook it because you’ll lose that slight crunch that’s great in cooked cabbage recipes.

But other than that….it’s one of the easiest things to make besides that bag of frozen peas you were planning to nuke in the microwave.

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