A heaping plate of hearty braised cabbage & sausage is ideal for those with a meat-and-potatoes background (like me) who thrive on simple, slow-cooked one pot recipes.
That's a mouthful. But here's the deal: this recipe is awesome for those still-chilly days. You know the ones. When you don't want to put a great deal of effort into cooking but going out and facing the cold isn't an option. When you're craving some warm comfort food.
I thought this recipe was a perfect fit with St. Patrick's Day on Friday! Sure, you might think of green beer and four leaf clovers when March 17 rolls around, but my thoughts always float off to corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, colcannon, sausage, and (let's face it) anything green. Bangers and mash, anyone? Sure, celebrating any and every holiday with "must-make" foods might help create a culture obsessed with eating... but I also just really love food. Constant struggle.
You can use whatever sausages you want for this recipe. I went with bratwurst. Since I'm primarily paleo, I'm pretty picky about my sausage. I look for uncured sausage without a ton of added ingredients. I try to avoid excess sugar, too.
I've recently begun this love affair with Mulay's sausage. They make uncured sausage with minimal ingredients and no sugar. Totally paleo-friendly (and Whole30-friendly to boot)! For those in the Fargo area, I find it at our local Natural Grocers. I've used the Hot Italian and Bratwurst in this recipe and both were great! Mulay's sausages are uncooked, so I wrote the recipe to accommodate. If you end up using pre-cooked sausage, toss them in when you add the cabbage instead of browning them.
As you see in the pictures, I used a combo of green and red cabbage. I simply did that because I had both on hand and I knew mixing the two would result in prettier, more interesting shots. Feel free to copy me or use one or the other. The flavor isn't any different—just the visual appeal!
Serve this with mashed potatoes and you've got yourself the complete package... as far as hearty, gut-busting meals go.
Braised Cabbage & Sausage
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Braised Cabbage & Sausage
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entree
- Method: braised
- Cuisine: German
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon bacon fat (or cooking fat of choice)
- 1 yellow onion, diced (1 ½ cups)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 12 ounces uncooked sausage, such as bratwurst (I used Mulay’s brand)
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 small head of cabbage, cored and thinly sliced (7-8 cups)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup bone broth or chicken broth
- Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Heat bacon fat in a four quart or larger dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add onion and garlic and cook for 7 minutes until softened.
- Increase heat to medium-high and add sausages, browning for 3-4 minutes on each side. Add caraway seeds, cooking for an additional 2 minutes. Pour in red wine vinegar and cook for about 2 minutes, until reduced by half.
- Add cabbage and continue to cook for 5 minutes or until cabbage has wilted slightly.
- Add broth and salt. Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 45 minutes or until cabbage is cooked through. Fish out the brats and transfer to a cutting board. Slice each brat into 5-6 pieces, then add back to the braised cabbage and stir. Sprinkle with chopped parsley if you want to add a bit of flair and serve warm.
Notes
You can sub apple cider vinegar for the red wine vinegar in a pinch. If you're using pre-cooked sausages, skip the browning step and add them to the dutch oven when you add the cabbage.
Keywords: Braised Cabbage Sausage
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