Slow Cooker Cabbage With Bacon

If you’ve been walking past cabbage at the grocery store without giving it a second look, this recipe is about to change that. Slow Cooker cabbage with bacon is smoky, savory, and tender in all the right ways — and the Slow Cooker does almost all the work. It’s become one of my most-requested sides, and honestly, it still surprises me every time.

Why You’ll Love It

The bacon does something magical here — crispy, smoky, and cooked right into the cabbage so every bite has flavor
Hands-off cooking — a few minutes of prep, then the Slow Cooker takes over for the next 2–3 hours
Works with almost anything — pork chops, roasted Chicken, a bowl of soup on the side
Gluten-free and dairy-free — one of those rare sides that works for just about everyone at the table
Budget-friendly — cabbage is one of the most affordable vegetables out there, and this recipe makes it feel like anything but

A Little About The Ingredients

Cabbage: One medium head, green. Don’t buy the pre-shredded stuff for this — it’ll turn to mush. You want pieces with some substance to them.
Bacon: I go back and forth on brands, but I try to find something without nitrates when I can. The quality here really does matter because it’s one of the main flavor drivers. I cook it until it’s genuinely crispy, not just “mostly done.” Crispy bacon stays crispy-ish. Soft bacon just disappears into the cabbage and you lose the texture.
Yellow onion: Just half a cup, diced. Some people might add more — I’ve seen versions with a full onion — but I like the ratio here. The onion sweetens as it cooks and you want it to complement the bacon, not compete.
Garlic: I use jarred. I know, I know. Fresh is better in a perfect world, but I am not always living in a perfect world and jarred garlic is a perfectly reasonable shortcut. I’m not going to apologize for it.
Stone ground mustard: This is the ingredient people raise their eyebrows at and then come back for. It’s not sharp the way Dijon is — it’s more rustic, almost nutty. Don’t sub yellow mustard. Trust me on this one.
Chicken bone broth: Just a quarter cup, which seems like it won’t be enough, but it is. The cabbage releases its own liquid as it cooks. The bone broth adds body and a little richness that regular broth just doesn’t have.
Smoked paprika: A small amount that makes a noticeable difference. Don’t skip it.

Ingredients

6 oz bacon, chopped
About ½ cup diced yellow onion (I probably go a little over sometimes)
1 medium head of green cabbage
2 teaspoons jarred minced garlic
2 tablespoons stone ground mustard
¼ cup chicken bone broth
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and black pepper to taste

Let’s Make It

Start with the bacon and onion in a skillet over medium heat. You want both to cook together — the onion is going to absorb all that bacon fat and brown up beautifully. This is not the step to rush. I’ve rushed it. The onion ends up pale and kind of sad-tasting. Give it time. While that’s going, deal with the cabbage.
Cut off the stem end, slice the head in half, then cut out the core from each half. From there, cut the cabbage into big, irregular chunks — somewhere around an inch and a half to two inches. I don’t measure. I just cut until the pieces look substantial enough to hold their shape through a few hours of slow cooking.
Put the cabbage in the Slow Cooker. When the bacon is crispy and the onion has some color, pour the whole skillet into the slow cooker — grease and all. This is not the recipe to be shy about bacon fat.
In a small bowl or a measuring cup, whisk together the mustard, bone broth, and paprika. Pour it over everything. Give it a rough stir if you want, though honestly I usually just let it settle on its own.
Cover and cook on high for 2 to 3 hours. Start checking around the 2-hour mark. You want the cabbage tender enough to pierce easily with a fork but not so soft that it’s falling apart. There’s a window where it’s perfect, and it’s worth paying attention to. I’ve overcooked it once, maybe twice — the texture gets a little watery and limp, which isn’t the end of the world but isn’t what you’re going for.
Season with salt and pepper before serving. Taste it first — the bacon and broth bring some saltiness already so go easy at first.

Variations

If you want to make this without the bacon — say you’re cooking for a vegetarian, or you just don’t have any on hand — you can leave it out and swap in vegetable broth. It’s a different dish, quieter in flavor, but still good. Adding a little olive oil at the end helps.
I’ve tried this with red cabbage once, on a whim, and it was… fine. The color got a bit muddy looking and the flavor wasn’t quite the same. Green cabbage really is the right call here.
For seasoning variations — an Italian dressing mix stirred into the broth is surprisingly good, if you’re in the mood for something a little different. And if you like heat, a pinch of red pepper flakes on top right before serving is a nice touch. I’ve been adding them lately. Keeps things interesting.

Storing and Reheating

Leftovers keep in the fridge for three or four days in a sealed container. Reheat on a lower power setting in the microwave — medium or so. High heat tends to make the cabbage a little rubbery.
I wouldn’t freeze this one. The texture after thawing is not great. I learned that the hard way years ago with a different cabbage dish and I’ve never tried again.

If you’ve been ignoring cabbage at the grocery store — picking it up, turning it over, putting it back — I get it. It doesn’t look like much. It doesn’t promise you anything. But this recipe has a way of being more than the sum of its parts, and I keep coming back to it through the colder months especially. There’s something about the combination of smoke and savory and that little hint of mustard that just… works.