Fried Cabbage with Bacon features tender cabbage loaded with crispy smoky bacon, made in under 30 minutes. It's perfect for busy weeknights!

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why You'll Love This Fried Cabbage Recipe
• 🛒 Ingredients for Southern Fried Cabbage with Bacon
• 🥣 Recommended Tools
• 🔪 How to Make Keto Fried Cabbage 
• 💡 Tips for Making Southern Fried Cabbage
• 🔄 Substitutions and Additions
• Can You Freeze Cabbage?
• How Many Carbs in Cabbage?
• Is Cabbage on Keto Okay?
• How do you cut cabbage for frying?
• Why is vinegar added to cabbage?
• Do you rinse cabbage before frying?
• 🍽️ More Keto Recipes with Bacon

❤️ Why You'll Love This Fried Cabbage Recipe

• Chunks of tender fresh cabbage
• Crispy pieces of smoky bacon add great flavor
• Seasoned and sautéed until tender
• Made in under 30 minutes
• Perfect Keto meal for busy weeknights

Chances are, if you're on Keto or a low carb diet, you've tried the ever so popular Keto cabbage recipe, Egg Roll in a Bowl. And while this it is an excellent dish, this recipe for Keto Fried Cabbage with Bacon changes things up and adds all new flavors to your meal planning.

If you like cabbage, you're going to absolutely love this recipe! The smoky flavor of paprika and bacon, and a hint of tanginess from apple cider vinegar creates a truly incredible dish.

This is a quick and easy Keto side dish that anyone can easily make. It's hearty, healthy and very filling. Serve it alongside of just about any protein that you like.

🛒 Ingredients for Southern Fried Cabbage with Bacon

• Uncured bacon (grease reserved)
• Cabbage
• Onion
• Chicken broth
• Garlic
• Butter
• Apple cider vinegar
• Brown Swerve
• Smoked paprika
• Pepper

*Exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below.

🥣 Recommended Tools

• Large skillet

🔪 How to Make Keto Fried Cabbage 

Core the head of cabbage and cut it into thick shreds, then chop into bite size pieces and set it aside.

Cut the bacon into bite size pieces and sauté it in a large skillet until crisp, then remove it from the skillet and set it aside.  Remove all the bacon grease except 2 tablespoons. 

Be sure to save the bacon drippings not used. This bacon grease keeper is great for straining out the solids, leaving just the grease for future use.

Add in the butter and chopped onions, sauté them for about 2 minutes on medium or until the onions are translucent.

Add in the garlic and sauté for another 20 seconds. 

Add in the apple cider vinegar, chicken broth, Brown sweetener and smoked paprika and stir, making sure to scrape up any of those little brown bits of flavor from the bottom of the skillet.

Stir in the cabbage and toss until well coated, add in most of the bacon, then cover and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until it reaches your desired texture.

Once the cabbage is where you want it, add in the reserved crisp bacon, toss and serve.

💡 Tips for Making Southern Fried Cabbage

• Cabbage cut into smaller pieces, as in this dish, requires little cooking time, so keep an eye on it once it starts to steam/fry. It won't take it long to cook at all.
• To make sure your cabbage has a consistent texture when cooked, cut your cabbage into as equal size pieces as you can.
• Don't overcook the cabbage, it can become mushy and the texture will be unpleasant.
• You might be tempted to take a shortcut and use coleslaw mix or other pre-shredded cabbage, but I don't recommend it for this dish. You really want substantial pieces of green cabbage that will hold up to the other ingredients and not become mushy or overcooked too quickly.
• Don't skip the smoked paprika, it really helps amp up the smokiness from the bacon and gives the cabbage such great flavor. If you've spent any time on this site, then you've probably figured out that I LOVE smoked paprika and use it often.

🔄 Substitutions and Additions

• If you don't have a Keto friendly brown sweetener, you can use the granular sweetener of your choice. You can even omit sweetener all together, but it truly helps to balance out the flavors of the bacon and vinegar.
• Feel free to add additional spices of your choice. Curry powder, garlic powder or a little red pepper flakes are just a few options.
• If you don't have bacon, you can use Italian sausage instead.
• To add a Mexican flair to the dish, you can sub the bacon with chorizo sausage and instead of adding parsley, add some chopped cilantro.
• Adding in some chopped red, yellow or orange bell peppers would add extra flavor. I wouldn't recommending using the green however, the flavor could overpower the dish.

Can You Freeze Cabbage?

This Keto cabbage recipe will freeze well, which makes it a great meal prep idea. Place leftovers in a freezer safe container like this one and freeze for up to a month.

The key to keeping the texture as close to when it originally cooked is to let it thaw out first in the fridge, then reheat it slowly in a covered pan. But, as with most vegetables, cabbage will be a little more tender once frozen then reheated.

How Many Carbs in Cabbage?

There are approximately 6.5 total grams of carbs in a one cup size portion of cooked cabbage. The fiber in cabbages comes in around 2.5 grams making the net carb count only 4 grams.

Is Cabbage on Keto Okay?

Absolutely! With just 4 grams of net carbs, cabbage is a great veggie for Keto. Cabbage is even used as a pasta substitute in some Keto lasagna recipes. And freshly grated cabbage makes this low carb coleslaw the best you've ever had.

Not only is it a low carb, high fiber vegetable, it's nutrient dense as well. It's a good source of Vitamin C, folic acid, potassium, Vitamin B6, calcium and magnesium. All of which are very important on Keto or with any diet. If you'd like to read more about the health benefits of cabbage, check out this article.

If you like smoked sausage, give this Keto Cabbage and Sausage a try! Not a huge fan of bacon? Try this Braised Cabbage Recipe!

How do you cut cabbage for frying?

While you can cut it any way you'd like, for this recipe I chop it in bite size pieces. In other cabbage recipes however, I sometimes like to shred it so it takes on the shape and texture of noodles, like in this Fried Cabbage and Sausage or this Slow Cooker Cabbage.

Why is vinegar added to cabbage?

This is really a personal preference and doesn't make the cabbage taste vinegary, just that little bit of acid really helps give it better flavor.

Do you rinse cabbage before frying?

A resounding YES! Always wash your produce before consuming to get rid any dirt or bugs that could have made their way in.

🍽️ More Keto Recipes with Bacon

• Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole
• Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
• Bacon Ranch Chicken Casserole
• Bacon Ranch Dressing/Dip
• Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Pork Loin

*Originally published on April 25, 2020, updated on March 14, 2024 with new photos and helpful tips.