Slow Cooker Cabbage
This easy and delicious Slow Cooker Cabbage recipe is loaded with meaty goodness from Italian sausage and smoky bacon! With just a few simple ingredients, you can just set it, forget it and the slow cooker does the rest of the work for you.
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❤️ Why You’ll Love This Crockpot Cabbage Recipe
- Italian sausage and bacon along with the cabbage makes a tasty one-pot meal
- Simple ingredients not only make this dish easy to make, but it’s also budget friendly
- Slow cooking this cabbage recipe allows you to set it and forget it-perfect for a busy weeknight meal
Cabbage is one of the most quintessential low carb vegetables. Because cabbage, all by itself, really doesn’t have much flavor, it works as the perfect vessel when loaded up with other flavorful ingredients.
Whether you prepare it raw, in recipes like this Easy Cole Slaw recipe, or fry it up, in recipes like this Fried Cabbage or Fried Cabbage with Ham, it’s always a huge hit. For this slow cooker recipe, I wanted to create a one pot style meal that would be a hearty and healthy meal all in one, that would be great for weeknight dinners, meal prep, potlucks or for any occasion when you just don’t have time to stand over the stove preparing a multi-course meal.
This recipe nailed it! The cabbage cooks until perfectly tender while the sausage and bacon slowly seasons it, giving it the most mouth-watering savory flavor. You’re going to love this one so much, you’ll want to keep it on regular meal rotation.
Serve it as it is or with a warm piece of this Keto Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread or these Gluten-free Bacon Cheddar Biscuits for a really tasty low carb treat.
What’s in Crockpot Cabbage
- Green cabbage
- Bacon
- Italian sausage
- Chicken broth
- Yellow onion
- Garlic
- Butter
- Apple cider vinegar
- Smoked paprika
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
*Exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below.
How to Make Slow Cooker Cabbage with Bacon and Sausage
Heat a large skillet to medium and add in the bacon and sausage.
Cook until the bacon is crisp and the sausage is browned.
Add in the onion and sauté for a few minutes until tender.
Add in the garlic and sauté for 15-20 seconds, then remove from the heat and set aside.
In the insert of your slow cooker, add in the shredded cabbage.
Add in the chicken broth, apple cider vinegar, butter, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
Pour the bacon, sausage and onion mixture with the fat in the pan over the cabbage.
Cook on high heat for 3 hours (or low for 5-6 hours) or until the cabbage is as tender as you like it. I cooked them for the entire 3 hours and the cabbage was super tender. If you like your’s a little more firm, cut the cooking time back to 2-2 1/2 hours instead.
How Do I Prepare Cabbage for Cooking?
Green and red cabbage have a thick core that needs to be trimmed away before you cook it. To do so, just follow these super easy steps:
- Remove any dry or tough outer leaves.
- Slice off the end where the root was connected.
- Sit the cabbage up on the end, then cut and slice the head right down the middle, then cut into quarters.
- With a sharp knife, slice out the core with a diagonal cut.
- Lastly, cut up the cabbage into your desired sized pieces.
The simple answer is yes. The slow cooker works by slowing braising and steaming its contents. So, if you want the bacon to be nice and brown, you’ll need to cook it beforehand. Or you can sauté it first in the crock pot if yours has that option.
Yes, that is the primary purpose of a slow cooker. It takes raw ingredients and cooks them slowly until tender and juicy. The extended cooking time helps to distribute flavors and moisture.
Sure! It is really like any other appliance that uses heat to cook. The benefit to using a slow cooker, is the extended time it takes to cook something allows you to have more of a hands-off approach.
But if you allow vegetables to cook too long, they will get soggy and mushy. For best results, stick as close to the recommended cook time as you can.
Tips for Buying and Storing Fresh Cabbage
- Look for compact heads that are heavy for their size.
- The outer leaves should be crisp and deeply colored with few, if any, blemishes.
- You’ll want to avoid heads of cabbage that have wilted or yellowing outer leaves. Check the stem of the cabbage for cracks or other signs of aging.
- When you get the cabbage home, place it in the vegetable crisper in the fridge, even if it was not refrigerated when you bought it. Cabbage will stay fresh for up to two weeks when kept cool.
What Slow Cooker is Best to Use?
I used the Hamilton Beach 6 Quart Slow Cooker and absolutely love it. It’s very lightweight and is programmable. But here’s my favorite part… you can use the insert on your stovetop to sear before slow cooking.
So if you have a roast that you want to sear to give it more flavor, you don’t have to use another pan! You can also deglaze the pan with your liquids and really make the most of all that flavor. Hands down, my favorite slow cooker ever!
More Keto Slow Cooker Recipes
- Tuscan Chicken
- Chicken Soup
- Turkey Breast with Gravy
- Southern Green Beans
- Mississippi Pot Roast
- BBQ Meatballs
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Slow Cooker Cabbage
Ingredients
- 1 medium head cabbage, shredded
- 12 ounces uncured bacon, chopped
- 8 ounces Italian sausage, ground
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet to medium and add in the bacon and sausage. Cook until the bacon is crisp and the sausage is browned.
- Add in the onion and sauté for a few minutes until tender.
- Add in the garlic and sauté for 15-20 seconds, then remove from the heat and set aside.
- In the insert of your slow cooker, add in the shredded cabbage.
- Add in the chicken broth, apple cider vinegar, butter, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
- Pour the bacon, sausage and onion mixture with the fat in the pan over the cabbage and cook on high heat for 3 hours or low for 5-6 hours or until the cabbage is as tender as you like it.
Recipe Notes
*Make sure to scroll up and read the post for substitutions, additions and helpful tips for making this recipe.
*Nutritional data is provided as a courtesy and is accurate to the best of my knowledge. You can verify it using the nutrition calculator of your choice. All data is based on net carbs, without sugar alcohol: Swerve, Erythritol, Monk Fruit or Allulose.
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Rate this Recipe
Made this hoping to disguise the cabbage flavor as my husband doesn’t care for the taste. Wow, this came out marvelous and not one bad review from him.. Was so good that I have just set out my sausage and bacon and going to make it again!!!!!
That is SO awesome to hear. Thank you for sharing.
Can you add kielbasa to this as well?
Absolutely!
I made this yesterday for the first time. It was incredibly good! I have leftovers but they won’t last long. I can’t wait to make it again.
Thank you!
I am so glad you enjoyed it. Leftovers are always great the next day.
if you’re short on time, can you use precut cabbage (coleslaw) that has green a & purple cabbage and carrots.
Get tip, thanks!
My family loved this. I’m making it again today. per request. I served it with buttered bread.
That’s wonderful to hear! It’s always a winn win when the family loves it!
I have always thought of cabbage as a boring vegetable, but this changed my mind. It has so much flavor from the paprika, and it was a great side dish for dinner!
Thanks so much. Cabbage really is like a blank canvas for other flavors. I am glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Ohh I love this as a side dish or full meal! I do a lot of cabbage with sausage but never with bacon, total game changer!
Thank you for the amazing review, I’m thrilled you enjoyed the recipe!
Absolutely delicious! And so easy to make. I used chicken sausage instead, and it worked perfectly.
I’m so glad you loved the recipe; your feedback means a lot!
My whole family adored this cabbage side dish! The bacon and apple cider vin were fabulous together. I didn’t think anything could get me to eat cabbage but you have proved me wrong!
Your kind words made my day, thank you for the 5-star review!
I love adding extra bacon to my slow cooker cabbage and it was the best comfort food especially when paired with white rice!
Your 5-star review means so much, thank you
Do you have an idea what the timing would be for instant pot?
Once you have the meat browned, it usually only takes cabbage about 12-15 minutes in the IP. Just make sure that you have the appropriate amount of liquid added because a slow cooker does not require as much as an IP does.
Sounds so good! Do you have to use an insert?
Thanks so much. I am not exactly sure what you’re asking but with most any slow cooker, there is an inner pot (insert) that’s removable so it can easily be washed. Read the directions on your slow cooker, but I would think the insert would be required.
She probably means a crockpot liner.
my question is to you or any other cooks put there is: Have you tried adding a can of diced tomatoes or chopped fresh tomatoes? Maybe a can of kidney beans too?
No, the insert is not crockpot liner. It’s the ceramic inner pot that holds the food you’re cooking. Most are removable to make clean up easier. You can certainly add tomatoes to this recipe. They would be delicious with the cabbage. Most people on Keto choose not to use kidney beans because of their carb count, but you can add them to if you’d like.
Can this be turned into a soup by adding more of the chicken broth? Now that it is cold weather I am in the ‘soup’ mood!
You certainly can and what a lovely idea! Thank you for the suggestion.