Cabbage is a food you need to add into your weekly meal planning. Not a big fan? Maybe you have memories of eating cabbage cooked too long, mushy and possibly a little "unappealing". How about fried cabbage?
So freaking good. We cook ours until it is almost sweet, with yummy brown edges, but it still has a little crunch. Not only does it taste delicious, but cabbage is also healthy and CHEAP. Say it with me. "Cabbage is cheap." I'm talking about regular green cabbage. So when times are hard, count out those pennies (yes, PENNIES) and buy some cabbage.
Our Skillet Fried Cabbage is Inexpensive and Delicious!
Before we get to the yummy, lettuce let us talk about the health benefits of eating cabbage.
No, we are not doctors, or nutritionists, but we do believe in the power of eating natural, healthy unprocessed foods. (Yeah we like the other foods, too, but for the sake of this post, let's focus on the good of eating...good.)
Ingredients Needed to Make Fried Cabbage:
- Green cabbage
- Bell pepper chopped
- Onion
- Water
- Salsa or RO*TEL tomatoes
- Oil
- Garlic
- Salt free seasoning blend - Something like McCormick Vegetable Seasoning Blend or Mrs. Dash.
- Salt + pepper
Did you know that cabbage has anti-inflammatory properties, and may help prevent cancer? Did you know that cabbage is a great source of Vitamin C?
Cabbage can also help you lose weight. One cup of plain cooked cabbage has about 30 calories. And for around 60 cents a pound (on average according to the USDA), the price is hard to beat.
Our recipe for Skillet Fried Cabbage is a great side dish and is anything but bland. You can easily swap out ingredients, but for this preparation we wanted simple and flavorful. And healthy.
How to Make Skillet Fried Cabbage:
- Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet, cook garlic until golden. Add bell peppers and onions, half the salt, half the pepper, and all of the seasoning blend. Cook and stir the vegetables over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add cabbage, and cover with the remaining salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium-low to medium for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove cover and stir in water and salsa. Cook uncovered for about 5 minutes or until excess liquid evaporates.
Get out your trusty cast iron skillet (or whatever you have). Heat a little oil (or bacon grease) and garlic.
If you don't have a cast iron skillet, you should invest in a quality 10 or 12 inch skillet to start your collection. And always keep your eyes open at local flea markets. You will be amazed at what you will find.
Even if they look a little rusty, they can be brought back to life with a little scrubbing, oil, and seasoned.
Toss in the onion, peppers, a little salt and pepper and an all-purpose salt free seasoning blend. Saute for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are a little tender. You can cook them longer if you like them soft, but we like a little crunch to the peppers and onions.
Add the cabbage and sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper. Don't over season...just enough to bring out the natural flavor of the fried cabbage.
You will start with what seems like a crazy volume of food. As the cabbage cooks, it will wilt and reduce, so no worries.
Cover the cabbage and walk away for a while. Do the dishes, enjoy a tasty beverage, tidy up. You want the cabbage to cook for 5 to 10 minutes and almost caramelize. Stir occasionally.
Remove the lid, add the water and salsa and cook uncovered for 5 minutes until the excess liquid evaporates.
Try our recipe for Sheet Pan Salsa Chicken. So yum and low-carb.
Serve with your favorite meat and veggies, and maybe a little cornbread on the side. This is a great recipe to experiment with. Try it with sweet corn, mushrooms, Rotel tomatoes, kidney beans...very versatile and quick!
(Excellent recipe for camping, too!)
If you love cooking with cast iron, you should try our sweet treat : Sweet Potato Pie with Sweet Potato Crust. Yum!
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Skillet Fried Cabbage
Ingredients
- ½ head green cabbage chopped
- ½ bell pepper chopped
- 1 small onion chopped
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup salsa
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt free all purpose seasoning blend
- ¼ teaspoon salt divided
- ¼ teaspoon pepper divided
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet, cook garlic until golden. Add bell peppers and onions, half the salt, half the pepper, and all of the seasoning blend. Cook and stir the vegetables over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add cabbage, and cover with the remaining salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium-low to medium for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove cover and stir in water and salsa. Cook uncovered for about 5 minutes or until excess liquid evaporates.
julie at icanlivewithoutsugar says
Hi Teri, this is a meal after my own heart. Works for low carb sugar free eating too. Making it!
Teri says
This is one of our most viewed posts ever. Crazy how some of the best recipes are also the simplest to prepare. My family loves this. Glad you are going to try it.