Whether you are looking for a throwback side dish to your youth being raised in the South or following the KETO diet, this Southern Fried Cabbage is sure to solve all your desires and needs! I will not go as far to say this is the most healthy option when it comes to leafy greens, but it is certainly high ranking on the taste scale, thanks to all the bacon upping the recipe to a whole new level. After all, it is truly the Southern way to take something healthy and add a bunch of grease and bacon and yummy extras, then fry it to ensure everyone eats their veggies! So if I haven't scared you off yet, or your a glutton for great food, stick around and check out this super simple recipe that makes cabbage the best side dish to any meal. Let's get cooking!
Like most cabbage recipes, begin by quartering the head of cabbage and removing the core. It is hard and bitter and "Ain't Nobody Got Time For That!" Next, rough chop the cabbage a bit more into 2-3" pieces till your counter looks like it is growing a Cabbage Patch Kid of its own. Now for this first cooking step I will explain the process using an Instant Pot, but a steamer or rice cooker with a steamer insert will work just as well. Otherwise, just parboil the cabbage and move on to the next step. For the Instant Pot, add the chicken stock and butter and insert the included trivet. Toss all the cabbage you can fit into it and set it to "Steam" for 4 minutes. It will take a few extra minutes to build up temperature and pressure so we can move on to the next step while we wait.
While the cabbage begins to partially cook and steam in the Instant Pot, chop your bacon into bite sized pieces and start cooking it over medium heat in a large dutch oven or pot. The main point of this step is to render the fat from the bacon to use to "fry" the cabbage later on so resist the urge to crank the heat up to cook the bacon like you normally would. Cook the bacon for 6-8 minutes until soft, stopping before it gets too crispy. Remove the bacon pieces from the rendered fat using a slotted spoon and set aside for the time being. Now rough chop an onion and throw it right into that hot bacon grease, being careful not to splash and burn your kitchen down of course! Stir that around for a few minutes until the onion becomes translucent then toss in some garlic. Let that sauté/fry together for another minute or so till everything begins to smell like an onion/garlic party no Vampire wishes to attend!
At this point, the cabbage should be done and ready for it's bacon fat sauna! Drain the partially steamed/cooked cabbage and add it to the onion and garlic. Throw that bacon back in and toss everything around to mix thoroughly and coat in bacon grease....yeah baby! Crank the heat up to medium-high and sauté/fry for 5-6 minutes, stirring constantly so all the cabbage gets it turn down in the bacon fat sauna at the bottom of the pot. Now comes a little personal preference on cabbage and texture. If you prefer a softer cabbage, put the lid on and let the cabbage cook for another 3-4 minutes to help soften things up a bit more, almost like a repeat steam cooking. If you prefer more crisp cabbage, well, I guess that about wraps things up for this recipe. Oh, just don't forget some salt and pepper like some sort of kitchen rookie!
Hopefully you have attained a cabbage texture to your liking at this point. If it's still a bit too crispy, remove the pot from the heat and put the lid on to cool a bit longer and further soften the cabbage. If it's too soggy/wilted, good try but it's overcooked so try again and steam/sauté things less next time, eh? It's still edible and will taste fine, just gonna be a bit mushy. Times are approximate and everyone has their own personal preferences so feel free to blame your dog or cat for distracting you if things didn't quite work out. As for everyone else, hell yeah you nailed it! Give it a try and let me know what you think. It's a pretty simple and cheap side dish so feel free to experiment and develop your own unique twist. Skip the bacon, add ham, keep it 100% vegetarian.......you do you, just keep cooking!
Comments