Easy, no-fuss southern cabbage recipe with lots of flavor!
(Updated 07/22/22)
Cabbage is one of my favorite veggies. My mom is from North Carolina, so we grew up eating the flavorful, soul food style cabbage. Hers always tasted so good!
I started making this easy southern cabbage that has lots of flavor with less work (no bacon grease needed). This recipe doesn’t take much time and doesn’t cost much, making it a great side dish for pretty much any meal.
Recipe adapted from Divas Can Cook
Ingredients for Easy Southern Cabbage Recipe:
- Cabbage (a medium sized head of cabbage, no bigger than 3 pounds)
- Butter or Margarine
- Olive Oil
- Seasoned Salt (I use Lawry’s Seasoned Salt)
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Black Pepper
- Crushed Red Pepper
- Chicken Bouillon Cubes
- Water
- White Vinegar (for cleaning)
Video instructions:
How to make Easy Southern Cabbage Recipe:
1) Remove the thick outer leaves and thick ribs from the cabbage. They are tougher than the rest of the cabbage and they don’t cook down well.
2) Use a sharp chef’s knife to cut the cabbage into quarters. Cut the tough core out of each quarter and discard it. Slice each quarter into 1-inch wide strips.
3) Place the sliced cabbage in a large bowl and break apart any big clumps. Cover cabbage with cool water then add white vinegar, swish it around, and let it soak for at least 15 minutes. Drain the soaking water from the bowl then rinse the cabbage with fresh water and drain again.
4) To a large pot with a lid, add butter, olive oil, seasoned salt, chicken bouillon cubes, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and crushed red pepper then put the drained cabbage on top. It’s okay if the cabbage doesn’t completely fit down in the pot because it will shrink as it cooks.
5) Add 2 cups water and bring pot to a boil (uncovered) over medium-high heat.
6) Stir cabbage, then cover the pot and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until cabbage is tender, around 15-20 minutes. Make sure to stir it occasionally and check it frequently after 10 minutes so that you can stop cooking once it reaches your desired level of tenderness. Don’t overcook the cabbage or it will get mushy.
7) Serve cabbage warm. Optional – Add a little apple cider vinegar and crushed red pepper to your individual serving of cabbage to take the flavor up another level!
Easy Southern Cabbage Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 medium head of cabbage (under 3 pounds)
- 2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 3/4 Tablespoon seasoned salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- pinch of crushed red pepper
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes
- 2 cups water
For cleaning cabbage:
- cool water
- 1/3 cup white vinegar
Instructions
- Remove thick outer leaves and thick ribs from the cabbage.
- Cut cabbage into quarters and remove the tough core from each section. Slice each quarter into 1-inch wide strips.
- Place sliced cabbage in a large bowl and break up the large clumps. Cover cabbage with cool water then add white vinegar, swish it around, and let it soak for at least 15 minutes. Drain the soaking water, rinse cabbage with fresh water and drain again.
- To a large pot with a lid, add butter, olive oil, seasoned salt, chicken bouillon cubes, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes then put the drained cabbage on top.
- Add 2 cups water and bring pot to a boil (uncovered) over medium-high heat .
- Stir cabbage to distribute seasoning, then cover pot and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until cabbage is tender. Check it frequently after 10 minutes and stop cooking once it gets to your desired level of tenderness. Don't overcook or the cabbage will get mushy.
- Serve cabbage warm. Optional - Add a little apple cider vinegar and pinch of crushed red pepper flakes to your individual serving of cabbage for extra flavor
This recipe is delicious. It puts a whole new spin on the regular way of cooking it. It gives off such a wonderful smell as soon as the ingredients soak in. Yummy!
Thank you Tae!!
This recipe gives me a new twist on my fried cabbage that I have been making for years. I was taught by my gramma, who was born in 1881, and was an excellent cook!
A few, well more than 20, years ago I started adding some bacon grease (oh no!) and some crisp bacon pieces to ramp up the flavors…oh and more pepper too! At times, I would skip the bacon and replace it with smaller pieces of fried pork or make a fry pan dinner adding kielbasa and some tomato sauce, topped with grated cheese or even eliminate all the meat and just add tomato sauce or some juice. Your recipe using the bouillon was new to me but I did eliminate the garlic as I don’t like garlic in any manner! Thanks for posting this new, to me, twist on a favorite family recipe. … Mertie PS you both have some downright cute children too!
Aww thank you so much for your kind words Mertie!! That is so special that your grandma taught you to how to make fried cabbage! All the ways you prepare it sound delicious! Thanks for the great ideas😊