Cabbage is always a roast side-show winner, but pairing it with salty bacon and indulgent cream makes this Creamy Cabbage and Bacon next level delicious. You can serve it with any roast dinner, even Christmas dinner and you can cook it on the stove, or in the slow cooker for extra ease.
If you love to go all out for your roasts, or if you are cooking for a special occasion like Christmas or Thanksgiving - you need to jump on this Creamy Cabbage and Bacon side!
Cooking it in the Slow Cooker
Cooking this Creamy Cabbage and Bacon in the slow cooker is about as easy as it gets. You’ll just fry off the bacon for 3 minutes, then top with the cabbage, pour over the water, creamy and black pepper and then set the slow cooker to high for 2 hours. After 1 hour give it a good stir so the liquid coats the wilted cabbage and continue for another 30 minutes. Then stir and check to see if it’s cooked enough for your taste. If done, you can turn the slow cooker off and leave the cabbage in there for the last half hour if you aren’t ready to serve yet. If it’s not quite tender enough for your liking, continue to cook for the remaining half an hour.
Making my Creamy Cabbage and Bacon for Christmas or Thanksgiving
We all want to do as little food prep or cooking as we can on Christmas or Thanksgiving Day, so we can spend more precious time with our family and friends. So here are my tips for making this side dish in advance. Personally I would prep it all the day before and then slow cook it on the day for ultimate ease.
Preparing the Ingredients in Advance
When you’re cooking a roast, you’re always juggling side dishes so anything you can prep in advance will take the pressure off at cook time. You can slice, wash and dry the cabbage in advance and store it in a sealed bag or food container. You can also dice up the bacon earlier in the day and refrigerate in a sealed food bag or container.
Cooking my Creamy Cabbage and Bacon in Advance
If you are serving it for a special day like Christmas or Thanksgiving, you can even cook the entire dish In advance, cool it and refrigerate it or even freeze it. Then it just needs to be microwaved microwave until piping hot, around 3-4 minutes, stirring roughly halfway - saving you precious time and effort for the big day. If you freeze it, just defrost for 24 hours in the fridge before microwaving.
Ingredients
I’ve said to use white cabbage here, but you can also use any cabbage if you can’t get that. It’s just worth bearing in mind that other cabbages tend to have less leaves and so will make a smaller amount. And if you use a cabbage like savoy, there will be a difference in the texture but the taste will be just as good.
You’ll notice that I’ve not added any salt to the recipe, we’re going to let the bacon do all that salty work here.
My Creamy Cabbage and Bacon Pairs Perfectly With…
Feed a Crowd
You can double this recipe no problem, just be sure to cook it in an extra large saucepan as the cabbage will take up a ton of room to start with. After a short while of cooking, the cabbage will start to wilt, making it much easier to stir.
Storing My Creamy Cabbage and Bacon
You can store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days (2 + cook day). You can also freeze leftovers, just be sure to defrost them for 24 hours in the fridge before reheating and you might want to add a drop of water in before you microwave them and stir half-way through.
For more on safe food storage and reheating read here >
Diet Details
My Creamy Cabbage and Bacon is nut-free and gluten free. To make it diary-free, just leave out the cream, it’ll still be yummy.
Adapting my Creamy Cabbage and Bacon for Your Family
Eating together is beneficial for families of all ages and stages, for a multitude of reasons; nutritional, behavioural, psychological and for healthy family functioning. This section will show you how to tweak this Creamy Cabbage and Bacon recipe for sharing with a weaning baby, toddler or a fussy eater, to help make it easier for you to eat together as a family.
Keeping Picky Eaters Happy
Cabbage is a tricky one! Many even non-fussy eaters won’t like cabbage. Having said that though, you want to get to a place where your picky eater will eat pretty much anything so it’s worth a try. The salty bacon (as long as they are over 1 year old) might be enough to coax them into eating it. If it’s creamy sauces they don’t like, dish up their cabbage right before you add in the cream.
See more from me on fussy eaters here >
Make it Baby and Toddler Friendly
For over 12 months, you can remove the bacon from their serving if you like. For under 12 months - fry the bacon in a separate pan so the salt from it doesn’t seep into the cabbage. Then just toss everything together after little ones portion has been removed. Little one will be able to palm these strips as they are.
I’ve also added these notes at the bottom of the recipe so you have them to hand when you come to cook.
How to Serve to Babies and Toddlers
For baby-led weaning, serve the cabbage strips as they are, baby can palm these.
SPOON FEEDING
If you are spoon-feeding, here’s how I recommend you prepare their serving:
6 months
Roughly chop the cabbage and add to your stick blender pot (or food chopper if you have one that purées), along with the rest of their meal and whizz until smooth. Add a little warm boiled water to loosen and a drop of gravy or some low-salt stock.
7-12 months
Add the cabbage along with the rest of baby’s meal to your food chopper and whizz until finely chopped for 7-9 month olds, or go for a more lumpy, chopped consistency for 10-12 month olds. Add a little warm boiled water and a drop of gravy to loosen as needed.
1 year +
Using a sharp knife and fork, slice through the cabbage to make it more manageable.
See more on how I keep my family meals baby & toddler friendly here >
You Might Like…
Together to Eat is reader-supported. I may earn a small commission from anything bought through links found here.
RECIPE UPDATES
December 2024 - Now with slow cooker instructions.
Creamy Cabbage and Bacon
Equipment
- Chef’s knife + chopping board
- Salad spinner or large sieve / colander
- 1 mini prep bowl
- Large saucepan + cooking spoon
Ingredients
- 120 g smoked streaky or dry cure bacon sliced ½ inch
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 savoy cabbage
- 1 tablespoon water
- 15 g / 1 tablespoon butter slightly salted or salted
- 150 ml double cream
- Black pepper to taste see note 1
Instructions
ON THE STOVE
- Slice the cabbage in half and cut out the bottom core. Roughly slice into ½ inch strips, removing any large stalks. Submerge in a large bowl of cold water for a thorough wash and then drain using a large sieve or salad spinner.
- Heat the oil in a large non-stick saucepan over a medium-low heat for around 2 minutes. Add the bacon and fry, stirring often for 3 minutes or until opaque, not browned. (See note 2)
- Add the butter and when bubbling add the cabbage and water. Reduce the heat to low and cover for 5 minutes. Then uncover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring often and making sure nothing gets browned.
- Next, stir through the cream and black pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring often, to thicken the cream.
SLOW COOKER
- Follow step 1 above and then step 2 in your removable slow cooker pot if you have one.
- Top the fried bacon with the cabbage pushing it down to fit more in if you have a smaller slow cooker. Drizzle the water and then the cream all over. Add the black pepper and cover. Set to 2 hrs on high. After 1 hour, give the cabbage a stir so it’s all coated in the cream and water. Replace the lid. Check at 1hr 30 mins if the cabbage is done, it should be soft but slightly crisp to eat. If not done yet, stir well again and replace the lid for the remaining 30 mins. If ready, stir well and switch the slow cooker off, keep the lid off and it will stay warm for another 30 mins at least if you aren’t immediately ready to serve. Stir well before serving.
Notes
MAKING IT IN ADVANCE
The cabbage can be prepped the day before, as can the bacon, just store both in the fridge in airtight food bags/containers. You can cook the whole dish the day before and refrigerate, then microwave until piping hot, 3-4 minutes, stirring halfway. Or make it weeks in advance and freeze. Defrost in the fridge for 24 hours before microwaving.Baby & Toddler
STORAGE
Nutrition
Comments
No Comments