This one-pan Cabbage and Sausage skillet is hearty, flavorful, and easy to make. It’s a cozy weeknight dinner with minimal cleanup and it’s budget-friendly to boot. What’s not to love?!
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5 Star Review
“Made this recipe and it was OUTRAGEOUSLY good! Thanks, Erin for a great healthy meal.”
— Loucinda —
Why You’ll Love this Cabbage and Sausage Recipe
- Simple Ingredients. This easy recipe is only seven ingredients (nine if you are a stickler and count salt and pepper).
- Fast and Easy. It’s almost completely hands-off (leaving time to pour yourself a Whiskey Smash). If a special project like Corned Beef and Cabbage isn’t in the cards, no biggie! This recipe gives you a similar vibe.
- One Pan. Because food tastes better the fewer dishes you have to wash. It’s why I love all of these one-pot meals!
- Wallet-Friendly. Cabbage is one of the most affordable kinds of produce and is incredibly nutritious. Recipes like Sautéed Cabbage, Cabbage Soup, and Cabbage Rolls stretch your dollar.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Cabbage. If you’re not a believer in cabbage yet, perhaps its heavy dose of vitamin K, vitamin C, and folate will convince you otherwise (so you can make this Cabbage Roll Soup next).
- Smoked Turkey Sausage. Adds tons of hearty, meaty flavor to the dish while keeping it lean without excess fat or cholesterol.
- Onion. For an extra layer of flavor that adds both zip and sweetness.
- Fire-Roasted Tomatoes. For extra moisture, flavor, and powerful antioxidants, such as lycopene (they’re also key to this Stuffed Pepper Casserole).
- Instant Brown Rice. Keep the cooking time of this dish lightening fast while adding extra protein, fiber, iron, and vitamin B6 to the dish.
- Chicken Stock. Adds so much extra flavor to the rice compared to plain ol’ water. I keep things on the healthy side by choosing a quality low-sodium variety. Vegetable stock works too if that’s what you have on hand.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Brown the Sausage. Remove and set aside.
- Saute the cabbage and onions with salt, and pepper until softened.
- Add some chicken stock, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining chicken stock, canned tomatoes, and rice. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the sausage, cover, and remove from the heat. Let stand 5 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. ENJOY!
What to Serve With Cabbage and Sausage
- Bread. Crusty No Knead Bread would be perfection!
- Dinner Rolls. Like my soft and fluffy Homemade Dinner Rolls.
- Cornbread. Make dinner in two skillets by pairing cabbage and sausage with Skillet Cornbread!
Cabbage and Sausage
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Total: 40 minutes
Servings: 4 –6 servings
This one-pan cabbage and sausage skillet is hearty, flavorful, and easy to make. It’s a cozy weeknight dinner with minimal cleanup.
Email Me the Recipe!
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Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
- 14 ounces smoked, fully-cooked turkey sausage or chicken sausage, sliced into rounds
- ½ head cabbage cut into thin slices
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ¼ cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes in their juices (15 ounces)
- 1 cup instant brown rice
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add the sausage slices and cook for a few minutes on each side, until brown. Remove to a plate, blot with paper towels if needed, and set aside.
- With a paper towel, carefully wipe out the skillet. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high. Add the cabbage, onion, salt, and pepper and cook until the onion begins to soften and brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of the chicken stock, cover, and reduce the heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the remaining 1/4 cup chicken stock, canned tomatoes in their juices, and rice, stirring well. Bring to a boil, stir again, then cover and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the reserved sausage slices, mixing well, then re-cover and remove from the heat. Let stand 5 minutes, until most of the remaining liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Serve warm.
Notes
- TO STORE: Place leftovers in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- TO REHEAT: Gently rewarm leftovers in a large skillet over medium-low heat until hot. You can also reheat this dish in the microwave.
Nutrition
Serving: 1(of 4)Calories: 403kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 21gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 53mgSodium: 1681mgPotassium: 487mgFiber: 5gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 667IUVitamin C: 75mgCalcium: 110mgIron: 12mg
Tasted really good, love the flavor! Question, mine was very liquidy when I was done, what did I do wrong?
Hi Lauren! I’m so glad the flavor turned out, but sorry that it was liquidy. My guess is that it might just be a difference in the brands of rice we purchased or the heat of the skillet. If that happens again, sometimes you can crank up the heat and cook off some of the liquid. Regardless, I hope that it still turned out to be a great dinner for you!
Love this dish! It was great just throwing everything into one skillet. The flavors are great! After adding 1 cup chicken stock, I could tell that the dish was a little liquid-y so I did not add the addition 1/4 cup of stock. I also added a little cooked white rice I had in the refrigerator to absorb the excess liquid. Overall great dish!
Philene, I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking time to leave your review. It truly means a lot!
I made this today using turkey kielbasa. I did not have the fire roasted tomatoes so I used diced tomatoes with garlic and added crushed hot peppers. It was delicious!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for trying it and letting me know. Have a great day!
Any advice about how to adapt this recipe to use non-instant brown rice instead of instant rice? Should I just let it sit longer after I remove it from the heat? Thanks for posting – we love cabbage and I’m excited to try it a new way. Greetings from Madison!
Hi Alyson! I’ve never made this with regular long grain brown rice, but I think that you would need to simmer the rice in the liquid for considerably longer (up to 45 minutes depending upon your rice), and you would likely need more liquid too. I’m worried the cabbage would become soggy after simmer for this much time. One idea is to cook the cabbage separately, then stir it together with the rice at the end, along with the sausage. I’m sorry I can’t give you more specifics—it’s just hard for me to say exactly, as I’ve never made the recipe this way!
I’m coming to this recipe very late because we were out of the country until a few days ago. This one would be good all year round, and it’s especially on my list for later this summer for cooking at the beach where my kitchen is a microwave and an electric skillet. Maybe by then I’ll be able to deal with the tomatoes (I am thoroughly sick of them right now). Just out of curiosity, is there anything you can think of that I could substitute for the tomatoes? I’d love some ideas.
By the way, for me, cabbage is a year ’round veggie. I do make coleslaw, though without mayonnaise, but I also love it steamed with a little butter. Yum!
Hi Susan! I’m afraid the tomatoes are pretty important in this recipe because they add both liquid and flavor. I can’t think of another veggie that would provide the same function. If you do find one that works though, I’d love to hear what you used! (And I’m a fan of no-mayo coleslaw too!)
My niece went grocery shopping for lettuce and brought back cabbage! Hmm, green right? So I tried the cabbage, sausage & rice skillet recipe. Doubled for 8 people. Everybody loved it and teenage nephews went back for thirds! Great recipe!
Connie, it sounds like a happy accident! I am so happy to hear you all enjoyed this so much. Thanks for trying the recipe and leaving this kind review!
Had a head of cabbage from a CSA share. My husband said he’s not a big fan, but I can make anything taste good. He was a fan tonight! I probably used less sausage and I only had regular canned tomatoes, but still very very good.
YAY Sarah! I’m so glad to hear the recipe was a hit. :) Thanks so much for giving it a try and reporting back!
It was delicious! I also put thinly sliced zucchini and yellow squash that I had in the fridge. Used long cooking white rice as I did not have brown rice or instant brown rice. It may not be the Irish dish it was intended to be, but it definitely is a meal that will be made again in this house.
Tammy, I am so so happy it is a repeat recipe for you. Thanks for leaving this review and sharing your adaptations too!
I definitely tried this back in march! My husband and I loved it and I was so happy it was easy to make! I’m making it again tonight. Thanks for posting this one! ❤️
Sarah, I am so so happy to hear how much you all enjoyed it, thank you!!
Made this today. Cabbage and rice seemed an odd combo to me but it turned out great! I didn’t have instant rice so I cooked up some brown rice in the instant pot and added it at the end. My final product was a little juicy but I prefer it that way.
Easy & yummy–I’ll definitely make this again!
I’m so happy to hear that this was a hit, Susan! Thank you for taking the time to share this kind review!
This is delicious! Made it for St Patty’s day earlier this week, and making again tonight to use up the rest of the cabbage :D thanks for another tasty meal!
Thank you for sharing this kind review, Heidi! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Excellent!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it, Debbie! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
Amazing! I did make a couple of modifications to make it vegan by swapping the sausage with a plant-based version and used vegetable stock. Even my non-vegan spouse loved it! A definite 5-star!!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it, Jerry! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
This is a very tasty dish and easy to make. The recipe steps were laid out perfectly in order with the ingredients. There was no jumping around trying to figure out when/where to put the salt in. This recipe is a keeper!!! Loved it.
Hi Steve! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Looks great! Definitely plan on trying. I just was wondering if you could give an accurate sodium amount on the recipe, please?
Hi Laura! I stopped including sodium info because it can vary so much depending upon what products you used, and I found a lot of conflicting info online, so ultimately I didn’t feel comfortable publishing it because sometimes it wasn’t even in the ballpark. If you’d like to calculate it yourself, there are lots of free tools online (myfitnesspal.com is popular). I hope that helps!
Made this recipe and it was OUTRAGEOUSLY good! Passed it along to my sisters! Thanks Erin for a great healthy meal.
Hi Loucinda! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
This is a winner. I used mild Italian sausage and jasmine rice because that’s what we had on hand. I just adjusted the liquids and cook times. This was delicious.
Hi Debbie! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
could you please list the sodium content of your recipes for those of us who are watching our salt intake. thanks.
Hi Diane! I stopped including sodium info because it can vary so much depending upon what products you used, and I found a lot of conflicting info online, so ultimately I didn’t feel comfortable publishing it because sometimes it wasn’t even in the ballpark. If you’d like to calculate it yourself, there are lots of free tools online (myfitnesspal.com is popular). I hope that helps!
Good recipe! I never to use tomato, worked well!
Great to hear, thank you Donna!
We made this tonight, it was delicious! Everyone went back for seconds! Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
Thank you BJ!
Super easy and tasty! I tried this after getting a very large (and lovely looking ) head of cabbage from our food co-op. I followed the recipe as provided and wouldn’t change a thing. I served it with cornbread muffins. My husband, who is not a cabbage fan at all, was skeptical, but he declared it a winner and went back for seconds. And since it’s just the 2 of us we have dinner for another night!
Great to hear! Thank you Lauren!
I’ve made this and versions of it countless times for my grandfather. Always a hit! Says it reminds him of his immigrant mother’s dishes.
Great to hear, thank you JP!
REALLY love this recipe!!! It’s delicious and makes great leftovers!! I love that it has a good amount of protein and fiber. I’ve used both smoked chicken apple sausage from Trader Joe’s, and turkey kielbasa from Sprouts. Both are delicious in it! I find that the instant brown rice I use takes longer to cook than the recipe says, so I saute the cabbage for a few mins, then add the rice, canned tomatoes, and all the chicken broth and simmer everything for 15-20 mins or so. I usually make more than the recipe says and freeze some of it because it’s so good and makes a great leftover lunch. I like to serve it with parmesan, and sriracha for those that like spice. Nothing better than a delicious one-pot meal!!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, Carissa! Thank you!
Tasty but I don’t know if it was the brand of the brown rice I used, as this recipe took me around 2h and a half to make, and about 2L of water and the rice still didn’t cook all the way through.
I’m so sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe, Marlene. Which brand of instant brown rice did you use?
Just in case someone will see this post. I cannot find instant brown rice. Can I use instant white rice?
Hi Linda, that should work but it might cook quicker than the instant brown rice. Let me know how it goes!