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The Best Pan Fried Cabbage and Sausage Recipe Ever is the perfect easy way to celebrate Saint Patricks Day with a one pot cabbage and sausage dinner skillet that is low carb and keto diet compatible, family tested and approved, and goes from the fridge to the table in under 20 minutes in just one pot!
One Pot Sausage and Cabbage Skillet
Cabbage is one of those things a lot of people are a bit skeptical to try – it’s rich, delicious, buttery – and cooks quickly without much fuss – but because it can be bitter and boring when not cooked down, a lot of people turn their noses to using cabbage as a major part of a dish. Cabbage is something people usually only think of when it’s around Saint Patricks Day when it is hugely popular in America as an homage to Irish cuisine – or as a garnish in tacos, salads, and more.
In this easy one pot sausage and cabbage skillet, it takes on a perfect rich and meaty flavor your whole family will love!
The Best Pan Fried Cabbage and Sausage Recipe is super easy and can go from your fridge to the dinner table in just one pot and under 30 minutes – making it a delicious, hearty, and family friendly dinner that you’ll want to eat long after Saint Patricks Day when you’re thinking of easy Irish Recipes.
I love to cook cabbage and sausages when we’re in a pinch and need something quick for dinner – or as a swap for heavier, greasier comfort foods since it still tastes nice and indulgent!
Check out my web story about this delicious recipe!
How to Pan Fry Cabbage and Sausage
To make this recipe, you’ll need:
- Sausage
- Beef, Chicken, Turkey, or Vegan Polska Kielbasa style smoked sausages, sliced into thin rounds
- Cheddar Stuffed Bratwurst, sliced thin, for a cheesy twist on this dish.
- German Breakfast sausages, cooked in the pan before frying the onions and cabbage (simply brown before adding the onions in the pan, don’t cook all the way through since they will continue to cook with onions and cabbage, but you want to give them a good nice sear before adding in the veggies. Reduce butter to 1 tbsp if cooking raw sausage or your dish will be too greasy.)
- Andouille Sausage, sliced into thin rounds, for a slightly spicy twist!
- Onion – I love the earthy, hot, sweet, pungent flavor onion brings to dishes when it is caramelized. It is fabulous with smoked sausage.
- Butter – butter helps add fat to the cabbage, so it won’t stick to your pan, or burn as we pan fry, as well as adding a creamy salty richness to the dish.
- Cabbage – while we’re making this recipe with green cabbage for the best color (in my opinion), if you can only get red cabbage, it works just fine.
Tips and Tricks to Perfect Pan Fried Sausage & FAQs
Try other sausages. If you’re worried about the nutritional profile of adding smoked Polska Kielbasa (my personal pick for this dish), you can easily swap for chicken, turkey, and even meat-free sausages!
Skip the onions. I personally LOVE the flavor onions give to this dish, but you can sub them out for garlic if you’d like.
Use red cabbage. If you can’t find any green cabbage, you can use red for this dish too. It will look different, but taste very similar.
FAQs
Cabbage is extremely good for you, and something I try to incorporate more into our diets. I really love the rich and buttery flavor of cabbage when it’s cooked – and it is a great vegetable to get kids into, since when cooked it has a subtle flavor kids love
If you’re watching fat and calories, and worried about adding butter, this recipe works great with olive oil as well – so it can work in any diet or healthy eating plan!
This recipe can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days, or frozen for up to four months.
Other Irish Inspired Meals You’ll Love:
If you love this deliciously easy cabbage and sausage skillet, you’re going to love some of my other favorite Irish inspired meals!
The Best Pan Fried Cabbage and Sausage Recipe
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The Best Pan Fried Cabbage and Sausage
The Best Pan Fried Cabbage and Sausage Recipe Ever is the perfect easy way to celebrate Saint Patricks Day with a one pot cabbage and sausage dinner skillet that is low carb and keto diet compatible, family tested and approved, and goes from the fridge to the table in under 20 minutes in just one pot!
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 white onion, diced
- 1/4 cup garlic, whole or crushed cloves, skin off
- 1 cabbage, (use half if very large cabbage - whole head if small) sliced into thin strips
- 1 tsp salt, celtic sea salt preferred
- 1 lb polska kielbasa, sliced into thin rounds
Instructions
- Heat butter in large pan on medium-high heat until melted and foamy.
- Add diced onions to pan, cook until soft and transparent, about 4 minutes. Stir to prevent sticking or burning.
- Add garlic to pan, cook until fragrant and soft, about 3 minutes.
- Add cabbage to pan and toss well to coat in butter.
- Generously season with salt.
- Let cabbage reduce by half, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally as it cooks down to prevent burning and allow it to cook evenly.
- Slice smoked polska kielbasa into thin rounds and add to pan with cabbage and onions.
- When cabbage has lost much of it's volume and started to turn shiny, slightly translucent, and has lovely browned bits - and polska kielbasa has browned slightly (smoked kielbasa has been cooked already, so you're just adding some browning and flavor to it), it is ready to serve.
- Remove from heat and plate with your favorite meat, casserole, fish, or other main dish!
Nutrition Information
Yield 5 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 386Total Fat 34gSaturated Fat 13gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 18gCholesterol 85mgSodium 1602mgCarbohydrates 9gFiber 1gSugar 3gProtein 12g
Nutrition is automatically calculated by Nutritionix - please verify all nutrition information independently and consult with a doctor or nutritionist for any and all medical and diet advice.
I didn’t know this was a “recipe”, I’ve been doing something like it for years. I coarsely chop some bacon and fry it up in a dutch oven, add the cabbage & onion to the same pan, add some butter. I boil the kielbasa for a bit, slice into rounds and add to the cooked cabbage. I also add some cooked wide egg noodles to stretch it even more.
Absolutely delicious! I added just a bit of vinegar when the dish was almost complete and that took it over the top. This one is definitely staying in our rotation!! Very simple with great flavor.
I made this last night and am having leftovers for lunch now. I do not know how this simple recipe turned out so incredibly flavorful! I made it as stated but added a can of fire roasted tomatoes (spicy ones w/jalapeno), a little white wine vinegar, and topped it with fresh cilantro. I wanted to keep it vegan so I used olive oil and Beyond hot Italian sausage links. It was so quick and easy, very little clean up, and tasted delicious.
This recipe is great! I subbed precooked chicken Italian sausage that I already had in my fridge, and used garlic powder for the fresh. Also added a splash of vinegar at the end as recommended by a previous reviewer (I chose ACV) – the tangy flavor was a great contrast to the buttery cabbage and the resulting sauce was delish! Quick and expensive!
Oops I meant inexpensive!
I made this tonight. It turned out great.
Fabulous, tasty and simple dish. We all loved it, and find it is ample as a main course. I like a sprinkle of vinegar on mine, balsamic or rice wine…it just changes it up a bit. Thanks, will definitely make this again
MY favorite kind of meal-delicious, fast, easy and inexpensive! The second time, I substituted Red Cabbage and used a bit of bacon drippings and that was amazing, too. Thanks for a great recipe!
This was soooo good and easy to make! I used 1T of coconut aminos (for flavor) and 2T of butter and I marinated the cabbage and onions for 24 hours with olive oil, salt and minced garlic. The cabbage turned out kind of mushy and I’m not sure if I overcooked it, it was because I marinated it, or mushy was the goal— either way, delicious!!!