Braised Cabbage
Tender cabbage cooked until melt-in-your-mouth terrific is what this Braised Cabbage recipe is all about. Braised in beer, bacon, and butter, this amazing dish is perfect as a side dish or the main course!
In my house, we call this Triple B Cabbage because it’s braised with beer, bacon, and butter. Who doesn’t love that combination of flavors? The alcohol cooks out of this but if you don’t want to use beer, you can substitute it with chicken broth/stock. This is an easy and delish recipe, and while it might take a bit of time to cook in the oven, the results are so worth it!
This is one of my favorite set-it-and-forget-it recipes. You prepare it on the stovetop, then pop it into the oven to cook. It fills the house with such an amazing aroma, and everybody knows what I’m cooking when they walk in the door.
Bacon, butter, and beer – what’s not to love? Try this recipe, and I’m sure you’ll love it as much as my family does!
Ingredients
- Bacon – Cut into 1-inch pieces.
- Cabbage – Cored and sliced. See my tips below on how to handle cabbage.
- Onion – Yellow or white onion; diced.
- Beer – You’ll need 1 bottle; I like using brown ale.
- Butter – 1 stick, cut into tablespoons.
- Garlic powder
- Salt and pepper
You’ll Also Need
- Heavy-bottomed pot with fitting lid – Like a Dutch oven or casserole dish.
How To Cut Cabbage
Cabbage is notoriously hard to cut. It’s big, heavy, and round, and it won’t hold still on the cutting board! Here are my tips on how to cut cabbage:
- Look for the stem end of the cabbage and cut a slice off of it so that the cabbage will stand up without rocking.
- Stand the cabbage up on the stem end and cut it from top to bottom, cutting through the stem.
- Turn the cabbage over and make a V-cut to remove the tough stem from each half of the cabbage. Discard the stem.
- Lay the cabbage down flat and slice it into ½-inch thick slices, then turn those slices 90 degrees and cut them again, creating small ½-inch squares of cabbage.
How To Make The Best Braised Cabbage
- Preheat your oven to 375-F degrees.
- Cook the bacon until crispy in a heavy-bottomed pot that can go from stove to oven, like a Dutch oven.
- Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain it on a paper towel. Leave the bacon fat in the pot.
- Add the diced onion to the bacon fat and cook for 5 minutes or until it has started to soften.
- Add the cabbage and stir well, coating the cabbage in all the balcony goodness.
- Stir in the cubes of butter until melted.
- Add the bottle of beer, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and half of the bacon. Cook over medium-high for about 5 minutes.
- Put the lid on and bake at 375-F for about 2 hours, stirring halfway through the cooking time.
- Serve with the remaining bacon on top.
Recipe Tips & Substitutions
- Good bacon will make a difference. You don’t have to use gourmet bacon, but a good national brand will make tastier cabbage compared to a cheap store brand of bacon.
- The cabbage will cook down – no worries! It looks like a lot of cabbage when you add it to the pot, but it’ll cook down. Trust me!
- No Dutch oven? No problem! Cook the bacon, onions, and cabbage in a large pot on the stove and then transfer the cabbage to a casserole dish and cover it tightly with foil for baking.
- Don’t care for beer? You really can’t taste the beer in this recipe, but you can use chicken or vegetable broth instead.
- Stir the cabbage halfway through the cooking time, and add a splash of water or beer or broth if it is looking dry.
Serving Suggestions
This is a great dish all on its own, and I’ve served it both as a side dish and as the main dish. Here are some more delicious ideas on how to serve this Braised Cabbage dish:
- Add sliced smoked sausage or kielbasa to the cabbage before you put it in the oven. Now you’ve got a meaty and smoky braised cabbage one-dish meal!
- Serve your bacon braised cabbage with Air Fried Pork Chops – pork and cabbage are a perfect pairing!
- It’s a great side dish to just about anything roasted!
- I love taking a pot of this to potlucks and events – it reheats so nicely!
How Do You Know When Braised Cabbage Is Done?
The best braised cabbage is soft, tender, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Taste a bit when you stir it halfway through the cooking time, and it’ll still be firm. An hour later, it’ll be soft and fabulous. That’s when you know it’s done.
Storage
Keep any leftover Braised Cabbage in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat it gently on the stove or in the microwave.
Braised Cabbage
Ingredients
- 12 Oz package of bacon sliced into 1 inch pieces
- 1 Medium to large head of cabbage cored & sliced into 1 inch pieces
- 1 Large onion diced
- 12 Oz bottle of beer (I like to use brown ale) or substitute for chicken broth/stock
- 1 Stick butter sliced into 1 tablespoon sections
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- In a heavy bottomed pot, (preferably oven safe with a lid – I use my Dutch oven) cook the bacon pieces until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon & drain on a paper towel lined plate. Add the diced onion to the bacon grease in the pot & cook. Add the diced onion to the bacon grease & cook for 5 minutes. Toss in the chopped cabbage, taking time to stir & coat the cabbage with the bacon grease & mix in the onions in throughly. Stir in the butter, the bottle of beer (or broth), garlic powder, salt and pepper, & half of the bacon. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.
- If using an oven safe pot, like a Dutch oven, cover with a lid & bake at 375 degrees for 2 hours.
- Serve with a sprinkling of the remaining bacon on top.
