Sausage and Cabbage Recipe (2024)

One of the oldest recipes in the handwritten files I inherited and a favorite in our house. I'm wondering, though, why the cabbage is boiled first in this version. In my old recipe the sausage is layered with the raw cabbage and pressed down to fit in the cooking dish. Cooking time is the same. That way the cabbage cooks in the sausage grease. Judging from the photo, the result seems to be pretty much the same and the prep is a lot easier.

This is delicious. I hate to parboil things, but often just put the chopped-up cabbage, or rapini, or whatever needs to be parboiled in a colander and pour a couple of kettles of boiling water over the item. Does the trick.

We used bratwursts instead of Italian sausage and added some potatoes, parsnips and carrots, then flavored the dish with garlic and ground caraway. We had a couple of slices of almost stale pumpernickel bread and combined
them with panko for a crumb topping along with some grated Jarlsberg. We all liked it a lot.
Julia's recipe was a great springboard. Thanks for the
inspiration!

I parboiled the cabbage the first time and used fresh leaves the second time. There was not difference that I could tell. The fresh cabbage took more room but cooked down. Easy and delicious.

What on earth is the "Stevie Nicks" of British cookery? She cooks wearing a long flowing dress and twirling around? She has a breathy voice? And is there a spot open for the "Christine McVie" of cookery?

parchment prevents the dish from reacting to the foil.

Made my own sausage. For 2 lbs ground pork: 2 t cracked fennel seed, 2 t thyme, 2 t oregano, 2 t black pepper, 2 t salt. Didn't blanch the cabbage, as another note suggested, and liked the texture, soft but slightly al dente. Served with white beans cooked with summer savory. No left-overs—everyone tucked in.

I have been making something like this for years, except I always added onions and garlic, with a touch of white wine. Either way it is easy and delicious.

Made today after picking up a cabbage at the farmers market. Read all the notes before cooking and did not parboil the cabbage but did brown the sausage (I used turkey sausage). Added an onion and some crushed red pepper. I put it in a large porcelain dutch oven and cooked as directed except for increasing the temp to 375 for the last 15 minutes. It was great and my husband ("I'm not sure I like cabbage that much") had seconds.

Recommended quantities/proportions were right for us. Italian pork sausage is a staple in my freezer. Next time I'll partially thaw, then cut into small dice, not bothering to take out of the casing. Spreading the mushy defrosted un-cased sausage was too fussy. After 2 hours covered, the last 1/2 hour without the cover to cook off some, but not all, of the liquid. For the last 20 minutes, I upped the temperature to 375. The top started to brown nicely. Simple, satisfying recipe. Will make again.

This dish hearkens to something my mother made using kielbasa the only difference was that she would add flat egg noodles to the dish. It was a great Polish comfort food.

I turned up the oven to 325 and baked it for 2 hours, last half hour open. Served with polenta - it was like paleo mac & cheese, great comfort food!

Let me just tell you - this is unbelievably good. You truly can’t know how good this is until you make it. Each time I make it I surprise myself by the flavor. Don’t skimp on salt.

The other comments helped me feel confident adding the onions and potatoes that seemed necessary. I used some very spicy homemade pork sausage and added a little garlic powder along with the salt and pepper. Skipped parboiling and baked everything in an enameled Dutch oven, whose lid served in place of the double disposable layer. Thanks to my antique oven’s unpredictable thermostat, I learned this works just fine cooking for 1.5 hours at 400F. Slightly browned, perfectly tender.

I was introduced to this recipe just a few years ago. It’s a staple in my house. As written, it’s perfect. No par boiling, no browning of the sausage before, no additions The cabbage is always so silky, it’s savory and sweet. The texture is always perfect after a 2.5 hour roasting. This is an exceptional 5 ingredient 5 minute prep recipes perfect for every season and any occasion.

Took much longer, even removing the cabbage “ribs”.

I used a small cabbage and 1/2 pound of hot breakfast sausage. Pretty spicy. Next time I may use regular breakfast sausage and just mix in red pepper flakes. Cooking low and slow this way turns cabbage into magic.

Great recipe. I halved it and it still came out wonderful. I added extra garlic and onion powder to make sure everything was seasoned. Served over buttered noodles this was a very tasty and simple meal.

Used sweet Italian style chicken sausage and added some sliced onions to the cabbage layer. Great guidance to pour boiling water over cabbage in colander - much easier than blanching. Very light sprinkle of panko and parm on top for last 30 minutes.

I followed other readers’ advice and didn’t cook the cabbage ahead. Just chopped it, added Italian sausage bits and a bit of butter with salt and pepper. How can just those items make such an amazing and filling dish? Will make regularly going forward. Amazing.

Red cabbage, a bit of parsnip, crisped guanciale, lightly browned homemade fennel pork sausage. Rubbed down bottom and sides of ceramic dish with butter. Placed in layers. Added 3 or 4 tbls of ACV. So sue me. A little tartness here goes a long way. Delicious! (PS - maybe some red wine soaked dried cranberries the last hour? I'm WILD, Y'ALL!)

Cabbage is so magical. Took a few commenters’ suggestions:Quartered head of green cabbage and poured boiling water over, covered pot for 3 min and drained and then chopped cabbageSubbed oil from garlic confit for butter and a few garlic cloves on topBeyond meat brats sliced upSalted as I wentAdded two carrots and a parsnip on top, plus walnuts for textureSo good—the Dijon mustard on the side really makes it shine

Has anyone substituted leftover ham for the sausage?

Made this with chunks of leftover ham and threw in some sliced potato. My husband didn’t even know he was eating cabbage it was so transformed. Infinite variations possible - and so easy! And no pots and pans to scrub - I just put the cabbage in a colander and poured boiling water over it.

Made this with French sausage meat, so added toasted and ground fennel seeds. Otherwise, made to the recipe in a Dutch oven - cooked cabbage, 2x layers of sausage meet, all pressed it down quite firmly. It was quite a thin casserole. The first night was lovely, though I wish I'd cooked it a bit longer and slower to caramelise the cabbage more. But the best part was that it was super easy to slice and heat up in the oven -- hot sandwiches for days, with mustard on fresh bread or toast. 10/10

Made this tonight--halved the recipe. Delicious, but should've just blanched and shocked cabbage instead of a 3+ minute cook time. Even with severely reduced cooking time the cabbage was mushy. Flavor was great, served with dijon and sliced baguette but buttered egg noodles would probably have been a better accompaniment.

I used kielbasa, and if you add a bit of honey and apple cider vinegar at the end, it really puts it over the top. Cover with mustard (yellow or the real stuff) and enjoy! Also would be quite good if you leave the sausage whole (or no more than about 5in or so) and serve on a bulky roll.