Braised Red Cabbage with Bacon Recipe
By
Regan Burns
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Poor cabbage has a bad rap and we can’t figure out why. Prepared this way, it’s savory and delicious—a fabulous side dish.
What to buy: Red cabbage is classic in this dish, but our preparation will work with any variety.
Game plan: You can make this dish up to one day ahead; it gets better as it sits.
For a vegetarian option, omit the bacon and substitute low-sodium vegetable broth for the chicken broth.
This recipe was featured as part of our Moktoberfest story.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium head red cabbage
- 6 thick slices applewood-smoked bacon or other smoked bacon, cut into lardons (about 1/4-by-1/4-by-3/4-inch pieces)
- 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup cider vinegar
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
INSTRUCTIONS
- Slice cabbage in half lengthwise. Use a sharp knife to cut a V-shaped notch around the white core and discard it. Slice both pieces in half again so you have 4 quarters, then thinly slice each piece crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick strips. Set aside.
- Place bacon in a large Dutch oven or other large, heavy-bottomed pot with a tightfitting lid over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and most of the fat has rendered.
- Add onion and stir to coat in the bacon fat. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook until the onion softens and the edges begin to brown, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the reserved cabbage, stir to coat in bacon fat, and cook until the cabbage begins to wilt, about 4 minutes. Stir in the brown sugar and mustard.
- Deglaze the pan with the cider vinegar, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a spatula. Add the chicken broth and season with a few pinches of salt and more freshly ground pepper. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium low and cover the pan tightly. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is soft and soupy and the bacon is tender, about 45 minutes. If the cabbage begins to look dry, add more broth or water.
Beverage pairing: Crack open a Duvel, a Schneider Aventinus, or a Stone Smoked Porter.
A light- to medium-bodied red wine with sweet red fruits like the 2004 WillaKenzie Estate Willamette Valley Pinot Noir will complement the earthy and smoky components of this dish.
This turned out great! I didn't have any bacon on hand so I just used some reserved bacon drippings. When I warmed some leftover cabbage in the microwave at work, everyone came in to ask what smelled so good! Simple and delicious!
Has anyone tried putting a Smoked Pork Hock or 2 in this????? It would really be YUMMO!
The vinegar at the beginning might help with the color... the other thing to try would be to add a little sugar. The easiest way I have found to fry cabbage is to partially freeze it first - it wilts SO much faster, and ends up easier to cut. Then after you add it to the hot pan, when it starts to change colour, if you add a bit of sugar, the sugar should caramelize and give the cabbage more of a "roasted" hue than the greyish one you got.
I made this, and it is absolutely delicious. But is there anything I can do about the ugly blue/gray color? Should I add a bit of vinegar at the beginning, when first adding it to the pan?
This sounds so good. The smoked paprika is a great idea, streganona, I was thinking of veggie bacon, but not sure it would work.
can anybody comment on the end result of vinegar taste - is it still there or does it cook out? thank you.
One vegetarian suggestion: add Spanish smoked paprika (Pimenton de la vera) to get the effect of succulent bacon flavor without the meat.
Mom is away so the boys and I had Oktoberfest dinner tonight, this was a hit. I made it exactly as written and it turned out great. One question - will this freeze okay? I have about half left over and I hate to throw it away, but the thought of red cabbage for breakfast, lunch and dinner tomorrow is equally unsavory. Thanks for your thoughts.
Love this. Mostly followed the recipe, adding a little less brown sugar and a little more apple cider vinegar. Also added four apples. Agreed that the cooking time is at least an hour to get the cabbage soft. Otherwise a pretty easy, great tasting, rich dish. Could use half the bacon if you wanted to skimp on fat.
I used this recipe for my first time cooking red cabbage. I scoured websites looking for a recipe that the kids would enjoy. This particular recipe did not require a lot of ingredients, in fact most listed are things one usually would have in a well-stocked pantry. It took a bit longer to cook than suggested on the actual recipe...but the result is fantabulous! Sweet from the sugar and cider, but savory from the mustard balanced by the bacon fat (yay) yet you don't lose the cabbage. It twas a hit ladies and gents, the kids were freaked by a purple veggie until it hit their lips.
The vegetarian version came out extremely delicious as a side dish I made for an informal potluck a few weeks ago. I used a little more onion than listed, plus I added sesame seeds about ten minutes before the cabbage finished softening-- wonderful!
The sesame seeds made me think that the Nori Fumi Furikake blend produced by JFC (an unexplained acronym!) and stocked by any decent Asian grocery would make an excellent seasoning for another vegetarian version of this dish. However, it might depart so much from the original flavor palette that some people would consider it a separate recipe all together.
I made this last night. It did take a bit longer than the 45 minutes to get the cabbage to the right texture (or at least the texture I like) - maybe it spent 1 hour 15 minutes simmering. But the color and flavor were great. My husband loved it. For me it was just a little too sweet. Next time, maybe I'll try what one of the prior posters did - which is to cut back on the sugar and use balsamic instead.
It's very tasty but the colour came very dull purple as opposed to vibrant on the picture. And it never became soft. It probably takes 1 hr 30 min for it to be soft.
I made it with white cabbage because that was what I had. Tasty! But I bet I have half a dozen similar cabbage recipes in my cookbooks.
Wow, this was GREAT. i made the vegetarian version - olive oil instead of bacon fat. I didn't use any sugar, and I used balsamic vinegar instead. this recipe is VERY EASY - you only have to chop 2 things, and if you forget about it for a while during cooking, it still comes out fine. only word of caution: don't wear white while you're eating it. that is dangerous.
I made this recipe almost exactly as advised and it turned out great. Like squash head above, I also used full-sodium chicken broth and added salt as directed during cooking. The final output wasn't at all oversalty.
Meant to also say that I actually think it is easier to remove the core after cutting the cabbages in to quarters.
I made this for dinner this evening, with a couple of small changes. I had two v. small cabbages - one red and one green - from the farmer's market, so I used those. I don't particularly like cider vinegar, so I used champagne vinegar instead, and omitted the sugar. I browned some pork chops and added to the cabbage after twenty five minutes, which meant they cooked for 20 minutes - I think that was too long, so next time I'd add them after 30 minutes. Really delicious, and for some reason I can imagine this cabbage being tasty w/ a fried egg on top.
I'm no great cook, but I thought it was the best cabbage dish I ever tasted. Even my wife, no cabbage lover she, praised it.
Only modification I made was to put the dish in the oven after adding the chicken stock, DW said it wouldn't go dry that way. It didn't.
just tried it out yesterday for a st.patty's day dinner tonight. it turned out great. i substituted turkey bacon for the regular bacon and no one could tell the difference. lots of compliments.
I made a similar red cabbage braise last week, using less bacon but adding browned smoked pork chops, Polish sausages, chopped apples, juniper berries and red wine instead of the cider vinegar. I used the brown sugar and a few shots of balsamic vinegar. No mustard in it, but applied to taste on the meats at the table.
Just made this recipe tonight. Delish! I used green cabbage as that's all I had in the house and I used homemade chicken broth (not low sodium), otherwise followed directions exactly. Who knew cabbage could be so yummy?