Sweet and Sour Cabbage with Bacon- a combination of sugar, cider vinegar and crispy, salty bacon bits makes this one of the most delicious cabbage side dished ever.
Sweet and Sour Cabbage with Bacon Recipe
I love any kind of sautéed cabbage, but this Sweet and Sour Cabbage with Bacon may be my favorite. When I make it, I find myself picking the last pieces out of the pan with my fingers. It’s that good.
With crunchy bacon, onion, sweetness from a hefty dose of sugar, tang from cider vinegar, and saltiness from soy sauce, this side dish will wake up every taste bud in your mouth. So much so that you might wish it was the main dish instead of just a side.
Sweet and Sour Cabbage with Bacon is a simple side dish, but it is big on flavor. Only a handful of ingredients are needed. It’s a German-style side dish that is popular in the south. The part of North Carolian I am from had a lot of German immigrants and you can see the influences in southern home cooking.
How To Serve
I love to serve it with Bratwurst and Knockwurst. I slice them in half horizontally, place them in a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil and brown them up a little bit. But you could slice them and cook them with the cabbage for a one dish meal. Easy peasy!
This amazing side dish goes great with a side of Buttermilk Cornbread.
Recipe Tip
Red cabbage can be used instead of green cabbage.
Make it Spicy
If you want to make this cabbage recipe spicy, add crushed red pepper flakes to taste
Storage
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days and can be reheated in a microwave.
Pin this now to find it later
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Sweet and Sour Cabbage with Bacon
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 4 slices bacon,, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 onion,, thinly sliced
- 1 medium green cabbage,, cored and cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- black pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large, heavy pot (I use a Dutch oven) over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crisp, stirring frequently.
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer bacon to a plate. Add onion and cabbage to pot and cook, stirring often, until cabbage is wilted (about 10 minutes).
- Add vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce and cook until cabbage is crisp-tender, about 10 more minutes.
- Stir in bacon.Add black pepper to taste and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Source: Martha Stewart
Originally published Oct 29, 2013.
The only thing I did different was to thicken the liquid at the bottom of the pot a bit. It stuck to the cabbage instead of just laying at the bottom. It was wonderful! It’s funny how something as cheap as a head of cabbage makes me sooooo happy!
My son made this today after I told him my grandmother used to make sweet and sour cabbage. He found this recipe and I’m so glad he did. We had a very large cabbage, so we had to alter the other ingredients accordingly.
Additionally, he used avocado oil and some of the bacon drippings instead of vegetable oil. He also used maple syrup instead of sugar. It was very good and we must have eaten a 1/3 of a giant cabbage each. Soooooo delicious.
Thank you for your wonderful recipe and bringing back fond memories of my childhood. I recommend this to all cabbage connoisseurs. 🙂
This is an outstanding recipe exactly as is that we’ll be enjoying often! Wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you!
Hi
I don’t see the video on your blog for this recipe. I’m using chrome.
I haven’t made this as of yet…but was wondering if I could use “sour cabbage” that is already soured by marinating?
If so, how long would it cook it for?
I have not tried that Beth.
Hi Cristin!
This looked so good and I love cabbage. Especially sauteed cabbage. The only thing I had a problem with was the cabbage didn’t want to wilt in 10 minutes! That was ok and I cooked it a little while longer. Now it’s ready for supper. Yippee. It had too much liquid so just used a slotted spoon. Taste tested, it was great!
I added quick fried thin sirloin steak strips and substituted brown sugar. Very good.
My entire family enjoyed this dish. It was a perfect pairing with Pork Schnitzel.
This recipe is super good. I added my own “twist” by putting in 1 large Granny Smith apple 1/2” diced.
Also good with noodles in place of rice. All cooked to gether.
There is no rice in this dish. And noodles won’t work either, Wrong recipe R.