Braised cabbage

Cabbage is quite basic, as veggies go. It’s a beautiful, tightly bound ball of green-yellow leaves with a distinct pungent scent and taste. But when chopped up and left to melt and brown in salty, savory bacon fat, cabbage transforms into a pot of soft, mellow vegetable magic that soothes the soul.

Southern cooks know this magic properly. Here’s how to deliver all of that cabbage magic into your own kitchen.

The Comfort of Cabbage

This recipe is rooted in the Southern tradition of cooking fresh cabbage in bacon body fat for an effortless side dish that delivers pure, vegetable comfort. It commences with cooking lardons, otherwise known as thick-reduce bacon bits, until finally they’re crispy. They get set aside and wedges of cabbage go into the pan.

Kitchn Daily

Each day we'll send you our selection assortment of the greatest recipes, posts and kitchen excursions.

Rather than chopping the cabbage into pieces, I like to maintain the cabbage attached to the core, making for soft, tender hunks of cabbage to spoon onto each and every plate. This generates soft cabbage “fans” on the plate as soon as they are cooked down and ready to eat. The cabbage will get braised in broth right up until tender, with a very good glug of apple cider vinegar to finish.

This recipe is a stunning mix of Southern cooking and comfort strategies, but it’s easy ample to be the dish you consume any day of the week.

One-Pot Braised Cabbage with Bacon

Components

thick-reduce slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/three-inch-thick pieces

Olive oil, if required

garlic, finely chopped

medium green cabbage (about 2 lbs), lower by means of the core into one/4-inch-thick wedges

minimal-sodium chicken broth

1 1/two tablespoons

apple cider vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat a five-quart or greater Dutch oven on medium-higher heat. Include the bacon and cook, stirring sometimes, until crispy and most of the fat is rendered, 8 to ten minutes. Get rid of with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate. Take the pot off the heat and let awesome a couple of minutes. If you have less than three tablespoons of grease in the pot, include olive oil to make up the difference.

Spot the Dutch oven back more than medium-large heat include the garlic and stir. Spot the cabbage wedges minimize-side down in the pot (they will not sit in 1 layer). Cook undisturbed until the cabbage pieces on the bottom commence to slightly brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Employing a wooden spoon, bring up the cabbage sitting on the bottom to rotate the pieces on the best to the bottom of the pot. Continue cooking till the cabbage somewhat wilts and far more pieces brown on the edges, seven to 8 minutes.

Lessen the heat to medium. Include the broth, bay leaf, and salt. Simmer, stirring every handful of minutes, till the cabbage is tender and all the liquid is evaporated, twenty to 25 minutes.

Take away from the heat and stir in the vinegar. Taste and season with salt and pepper as required. Scatter the crispy bacon on prime and serve right away.

Recipe Notes

Bacon substitute: Black pepper pastrami can be substituted for the bacon.

Storage: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.