Crunchy Sauteed Cabbage and Bacon
A quick 10-minute weeknight vegetable dish that everyone in the family will love! Crunchy Sauteed Cabbage and Bacon let you enjoy all the health benefits of cabbage in the form of a delicious crispy side dish.
This side dish is stupidly easy and wickedly cheap, especially this time of year. Stores always discount cabbage around St. Patrick’s Day and you can take advantage of that to make yourself a crazy good meal.
Crunchy Sauteed Cabbage and Bacon comes together in about 10 minutes which makes it perfect for a busy weeknight. If you practice the incredibly hip and sexy art of meal prep, then definitely shred/cut the cabbage ahead of time. Also, you’d be the smartest person ever if you were to bake a batch of bacon over the weekend to use in this recipe.
Where Do You Get Whole30 Compliant Bacon?
I’m blessed that we have a local butcher for buying organic meat, but we also have a monthly Butcher Box subscription. Butcher Box sources only organic and free-range meat for their customers and ships them to your home once a month.
The meat is super high-quality and we’ve always had an amazing selection sent each month. In addition to what they pick for you, you’re able to add specific cuts and types of meat to your box. And yes, they have Whole30 compliant bacon!
Even with our local source, we still look forward to our monthly Butcher Box delivery.
How to Make Crunchy Sauteed Cabbage and Bacon – Step by Step
- Heat a large frying pan or wok over medium heat.
- Add bacon. The candy bar of meats.
- Add sesame oil, cabbage, celery, and onion, and saute until the cabbage has softened and is starting to reduce in volume. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
Cabbage is known for being low in fat and is often included in things like “the Cabbage Soup Diet”. Cabbage is too delicious to be suffered through in the form of a weak ass soup (and we all know how much I love soup!). Enjoy all the health benefits of cabbage in the form of a delicious crispy and crunchy sauteed dish.
And you know, bacon.
What Are the Health Benefits of Cabbage?
Besides being delicious and a fabulous addition to most dishes, cabbage also has some amazing health properties.
- It is a significant source of vitamin C. Feel a bit “citrused-out” and not sure you want to eat one more orange? Cabbage is loaded with vitamin C and contains 44% of your daily needs in only 3.5 oz. Like a boss.
- Fiber. Your body needs fiber to function and feel balanced. Cabbage has 3 grams of dietary fiber and is way yummier than a bowl of boring cereal.
- Vitamin K (72% of your daily needs) and Vitamin B6 (10% of your daily needs) are also found in the humble and tasty cabbage.
Is This Dish Whole30 Compliant?
Yes! No substitutions needed or anything. Just a simple straightforward recipe that everyone loves and reheats like a dream. Do make sure your bacon is Whole30 compliant.
My favorite Whole30 compliant brand of bacon is Wellshire Farms, but it is only available at Whole Foods (a 45-minute one-way drive for me). US Wellness Meats and Butcher Box also have compliant bacon and they do home deliveries.
Now a quick note about this super tasty Crunchy Sauteed Cabbage and Bacon dish. This is not something you make on a first date when you want to impress someone (but I would recommend Asparagus Ravioli with a White Wine Cream Sauce for that). Why? Let’s recap: Cabbage. Onion. Bacon. Those are not first date foods. Those are “I’ve seen you when you have the stomach flu and I still love you” foods.
And I do believe that is why they call this comfort food.
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A quick 10-minute weeknight vegetable dish that everyone in the family will love! Crunchy Sauteed Cabbage and Bacon let you enjoy all the health benefits of cabbage in the form of a delicious crispy side dish.
- 4 strips bacon, chopped
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
- garlic salt and pepper to taste
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.
Add bacon. If using uncooked, stir frequently until all pieces are almost cooked through. If using precooked bacon, heat enough for the bacon to warm through.
Add sesame oil, onion, celery, and cabbage and saute for 4 minutes, or until the cabbage has softened and is starting to reduce in volume. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
To make this a speedier weeknight side dish, pre-slice the cabbage, celery, and onion ahead of time.
Using bacon you have already cooked and chopped means you can get this ready in 10 minutes tops.
This post contains affiliate links and we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you if you click through and make a purchase. This allows me to continue to provide free content, and I only share products that I use and love myself.
This post was originally published in March 2012. It’s been updated with reader feedback, the recipe has been clarified and made printable, and new photos have been included.
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Looks yummy! Of course adding BACON gives it an edge!
Bacon makes it better!
That is what my tattoo would say if I ever got one.
You’re such a riot! I hope the unicorn did shut up.
For this recipe, did you use a whole head of cabbage?
Oh crap, guess I forgot to say that in the recipe! I probably used a half of a head.
My grandma makes this and we love it!
I love this stuff! So yummy!
Haluski is the polish name for it. It makes an awesome side dish for perogies….I know what I’ll be making this weekend.
Yum. You can also take this mixture and fold a few spoonfuls into thawed freezer rolls. Pinch edges and bake. Makes a great make a head on the go meal and they can be frozen after baking.
I abhor celery, so that’s a big, fat NO NO, but apart from that, I do something similar. Only difference is that I add sour cream to make it a little bit, erm, more unhealthy, really.
Instead of bacon, smoked sausage also works well, my Mum swears by it.
Sod this, NOW I’m hungry!
This is very close to a Belgian recipe my grandma used to make. The only thing different was no sesame oil, but she would use garlic and sprinkle the whole lot with nutmeg. This is my 11 year old son’s FAVORITE way to have cabbage. I think it’s the bacon that sells it. 🙂
Here is a recipe hint for a different flavor. Use half a head of green AND half a head of red cabbage (total = one head). Slice up as you did (and use the bacon, celery and onion if you wish, but there will be a new flavor ending.) No need to use a frying pan. Toss the cabbage with your choice of oil in a deep bowl, then layer the cabbage on a large but deep oven-safe tray. Top the cabbage with a few glugs of red/wine vinegar AND some very generous sprinkles of glorious brown sugar. Cover with foil and bake at about 350* (until the cabbage gets wilty from the steam), then uncover and put it back in the oven on BROIL for awhile, to brown the top leaves. Mix it up a bit, continue on broil to brown the top of the mixed cabbage, and VOILA, you’re done. Maybe sprinkle with some sea salt and black pepper.
It is amazingly sweet-n-salty goodness!
I just made almost the same dish this past weekend. Instead of leaving it crunchy, I cooked it until the cabbage was soft, browned and sweet. So good! I am pinning your version to try it a new way.
Ohhhh so like it carmelized? Sounds yummy!
“Cabbage. Onion. Bacon. Those are not first date foods. Those are “I’ve seen you when you have the stomach flu and I still love you” foods.”
….and this is why I love your blog. I even read the whole dang thing and I like cabbage as much as you like mayo!
I just pictured cabbage covered in mayo and both of us puking in a corner!
We just made this today with a spare head of cabbage that got lost in the fridge post St. Patrick’s Day. It turned out great! The ratio of bacon to cabbage is the key. We had made a dish similar to this before but didn’t quite achieve the excellent outcome, until now! We also cut the cabbage and onion into smaller pieces so the onions carmelized and the cabbage became one with the bacon.
Delicious. Will be having this again!
So glad to hear you three liked it Erin! Bacon is king in most dishes and I’m glad you all nailed the ratio.