Cabbage Stew

An easy, hearty stew recipe made with cabbage, potatoes, smoked sausage, kielbasa or leftover ham.

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Many, many, many moons ago I worked at a little honky-tonk out in the country. We had a short-order kitchen and mostly just served stuff like burgers and chicken wings.

Except on Wednesdays. On Wednesdays we cooked a big homemade meal and served it for free. We usually cooked big pots of stuff like chicken bog, chili or catfish stew.

I arrived at the bar one day to find Ms. Sandy (a Michigan transplant who’d recently moved to town) in the kitchen cooking the Wednesday supper. The first thing I thought was Oh hayell naw, who let this yankee in my kitchen?!?

She was cooking down a ham bone with cabbage and potatoes. Well, that seemed like a great start to me and, I’ll admit, it smelled good. But when I saw her dump a couple cans of cream of whatever soup in there I thought she’d lost her mind. I rolled my eyes and waited for the regulars to complain.

Well, guess what? It was good. It was really good. 

Now, I'd just about rather pee on an electric fence than admit when I'm wrong about about anything to do with cooking, so when I tell you my assumptions were wrong and that stew was delicious, just know I mean it.

I've been making it ever since. I never had her recipe (and I *might* have been too stubborn to ask for it) but I watched her make it and it wasn't too hard to recreate.

If I have leftover ham or some really meaty ham hocks, I use those but mostly I use smoked sausage or kielbasa.

The first few times I made it, I didn't add any creamed soup but - man, DANG, I hate to admit this - the stew needs the canned creamed soup. Don't ask me why. It just does.

NOTES ON COOKING CABBAGE STEW

• Use smoked sausage, kielbasa or leftover ham (3-4 cups cubed).
• If you have a leftover hunk of ham on the bone, cook it down, covered, in 6 cups of water for several hours on low then use the stock in place of the chicken broth.
• I've tried it with a couple varieties of creamed soup but I definitely like Cream of Celery best.
• This is at it's BEST if you can let it rest an hour (or at least 30 minutes) before serving.

Recipe for Cabbage Stew

Cabbage Stew

Yield: 8 Servings

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 55 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

An easy, hearty stew recipe made with cabbage, smoked sausage or kielbasa and potatoes.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 pound smoked sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 3 tablespoons bacon grease (can substitute butter)
• 1 small head of cabbage, chopped into 1” pieces
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 5 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 10.5-oz. can cream of celery soup

Instructions

1. Sauté sausage in vegetable oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven until nicely browned.
2. Add onion and carrots then continue cooking until onions are semi-translucent.
3. Add bacon grease, cabbage, salt, pepper and garlic then continue cooking and stirring for 5 minutes.
4. Add chicken broth and potatoes then stir well. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer stew for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
5. Stir in cream of celery soup, reduce heat to low, cover then continue cooking for 10-15 minutes.

Notes

• Use smoked sausage, kielbasa or leftover ham (3-4 cups cubed).
• If you have a leftover hunk of ham on the bone, cook it down, covered, in 6 cups of water for several hours on low then use the stock in place of the chicken broth.
• I've tried it with a couple varieties but I definitely like Cream of Celery best.
• This is at it's BEST if you can let it rest an hour (or at least 30 minutes) before serving.

https://www.southyourmouth.com/2015/01/cabbage-stew.html

Images and text © South Your Mouth LLC 2015

cabbage, stew, irish, scottish, kielbasa, smoked sausage, potatoes, easy, soup, best, recipe, leftover ham

dinner, supper, soup, stew

american, southern

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