Cabbage and Sausage | Real Balanced (2024)

This comforting dish is a recipe that many people have grown up eating.

It features an underappreciated vegetable that is so versatile and takes on flavor so well: cabbage! We love cabbage, and it is so delicious when paired with a smokey protein like sausage.

💛Why you’ll love this recipe

• A one-pan dish.
• Can be made in just 25 minutes.
• Low-carb, gluten-free, and high in protein.
• Easy to make.
• Straightforward ingredients — you may have most of them on-hand already!

➡️Ingredients

⏲How to make cabbage and sausage

This is an overview of the recipe’s instructions. The full instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Recipe Tip: To chop up the cabbage, first cut it in half through the core. Lay one half flat-side down on the board and cut out the core at an angle. Then, slice the cabbage into bite-sized pieces. Repeat the process with the other half of the cabbage.

• Cook Sausage: In a large skillet over medium heat, heat avocado oil. Once hot, add sliced sausages and cook until all sides of the sausage are crispy. Then, using a spoon, transfer the sausages to a plate and set those aside.
• Cook Cabbage: In the same skillet, melt butter then add the cabbage, onions, and spices. Cook until the cabbage is lightly tender, which should take about 5 minutes. Pour in apple cider vinegar then return the sausage to the skillet and stir.
• Garnish and Serve: Remove skillet from stovetop heat, garnish with pepper and parsley, then serve.

👉 Ingredient substitution suggestions

• Fully-Cooked Chicken Sausage: Consider using smoked sausage like kielbasa, andouille sausage, or bratwurst. Any pork sausage, beef sausage, or turkey sausage will work. Alternatively, other proteins like ground turkey or ground beef will work here, but they’ll just need a little longer to cook before cooking the cabbage.
• Unsalted Butter: Add more avocado oil or olive oil instead of butter.
• Green Cabbage: Red cabbage or napa cabbage work great here. You can even use bagged coleslaw from the grocery store!
• Apple Cider Vinegar: Use white vinegar or rice vinegar instead.

✨Variations

• Roughly chop up some bell peppers and add them in when you sauté the onion.
• Stir in 1-2 teaspoon(s) of stone-ground mustard, dijon mustard, or brown mustard for a new depth of flavor. Add this in when you add the spices.
• Add some spice by sprinkling in some red pepper flakes and/or cajun seasoning when adding in the other spices.

〰️How to serve

• Potatoes – Serve with roasted potatoes or mashed potatoes. For a low-carb option, try mashed cauliflower.
• Protein – Serve alongside buffalo wings, baked BBQ chicken breasts, air fryer Greek chicken souvlaki, or air fryer chicken cutlets.
• Rice – Serve with hamburger rice casserole.
• Leftovers – Warm up leftovers and serve in a bowl with an over-easy egg on top.

💬 FAQs

📚 More cabbage recipes

• Fried Cabbage with Bacon
• Keto Bacon Coleslaw
• Cabbage Rolls
• Instant Pot Cabbage Soup