Bacon Wrapped Beer Braised Cabbage

A whole head of cabbage wrapped in bacon and braised in beer is a thing of glory. Make it on the grill or in the oven for a flavorful side dish.

Make cabbage a favorite side dish with this fabulous recipe. It’s cooked with bacon and beer until the cabbage is soft and flavorful. It’s an easy and fun way to make the side dish the star of the show.

I saw the inspiration for this recipe on a Facebook video this spring.  It looked really tempting so I shared it on my page and decided to patiently wait until we got cabbage in our CSA boxes.

You see my husband is not a fan of cabbage, so I didn’t want to burn him out early. We generally get several cabbages in our share during the summer, so I figured I had better wait.

Meanwhile his aunt saw the recipe when I shared it on Facebook and made it before our lasagna cook-off.

Their family was telling me how good it was that night, so I resolved to not forget to make it. Fast forward two months and we got out first heads of cabbage in our produce box…. it was finally time!

My husband loves to grill, so I figured cooking the cabbage that way would help win him over. He looked a little shocked when I told him we’d be putting a cabbage on the grill for a couple of hours, but was happy to light the charcoal.

Carlee’s Tips and Tricks

You could put it on a 350 F oven for a couple of hours. We put it on the grill instead.

Our grill was at a steady medium heat, not a big fire but plenty hot to get it cooked.  I used the rest of the pack of bacon to do smoked bacon wrapped pork loin as well.

We soaked up some corn on the cob and threw it on for the last half hour of cooking. A whole summer meal without heating the  kitchen!

Let me tell you, everything was so good! It was great to have a really nice meal and get to still spend the afternoon outside watching the boys play.

Usually I have to spend some of the afternoon inside missing the fun to get dinner on the table. This time other than a few trips in to get the next item for the grill, it was all done outside!

I was curious to see what my non cabbage loving hubby would think and he enjoyed it. I’m not sure he would request it for his last meal, but he did get seconds and comment on how good it was!

4.93 from 14 ratings

Bacon Wrapped Beer Braised Cabbage

Author: Carlee

Servings: 8 Servings

A whole head of cabbage wrapped in bacon and braised in beer is a thing of pure glory. Soft, smoky, and deeply flavorful — this easy recipe works on the grill or in the oven. Make cabbage the star your dinner table didn't know it needed.

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Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Total: 2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Ingredients 

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• ▢ 1 head cabbage
• ▢ 6 slices bacon
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons butter
• ▢ ¾ cup beer
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper optional

Instructions 

• Make an x out of two large pieces of aluminum foil.
• Place 1 head cabbage in the middle and cut two slits most of the way through each direction. 
  
• Place little bits of 2 Tablespoons butter in each of the slits. Then arrange the 6 slices bacon over the cabbage. 
  
• Start to wrap the foil around the cabbage forming a bowl and holding the bacon on. Pour ¾ cup beer over the cabbage.
  
• Season with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper.
• Finish wrapping the foil around the cabbage and seal.
  
• Place on the grill over medium heat for about 2½ or 3 hours. Or bake at 350 F for at least 2 hours.
• Let rest for about 10 minutes then unwrap. Remove the core from the cabbage. Dice the bacon and sprinkle over the remaining cabbage. Enjoy!

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Nutrition Information

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 113kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 446mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g

“Cooking With Carlee” is not a dietitian or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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