Slow Cooker Cabbage and Ham or on Stovetop

Slow cooker cabbage and ham or on stovetop is great with your leftovers or diced fresh year round. Simple cooked low and slow or a ton of flavor. If you’re looking for the best leftover ham recipe ever this is it!

Crock pot Cabbage and Ham

This is our favorite method because you can just throw it in and enjoy a few hours later. Of course plain Crockpot cabbage is quite good, and a great side dish. BUT if you add protein into the mix you can serve it as your main dish if you’d like.

It’s quite flexible too because you could use precooked bacon chopped up sometime as well. We do this often with our Instant Pot fried cabbage and OMG it is amazing. I could eat it as my whole meal and yes my kids think I’m crazy but that is okay.

I share a link below in the printable recipe card below on how to cut cabbage. For this one in particular there are several options, you just want to make sure they are small enough to eat with a fork. I typically cut into large bite size squares about 2×2″ knowing they will shrink down. You could shred in wide pieces too.

Ham and Cabbage Recipe Ingredients

For this one we almost always use leftovers right out of the bag and chopped up into small pieces. 3 cups precooked ham is about enough but give or take a bit from there. I have used shredded beef in cabbage stew as well which works great.

• 1 small head of cabbage cubed
• Chicken broth
• Butter or for dairy free use a plant based vegan alternative
• Black pepper
• 1/2 tsp celery seeds
• Garlic powder
• 1 bay leaf

Another great time to make this is on or around St. Patricks Day instead of our slow cooker corned beef brisket. Or just make both. If you can’t find a great flat cut though this is our other dish to make. Feeds a big crowd super cheap. I mean think about it with the veggie and one of those cooked hams you’re looking at under 20 bucks!

Diced bacon can be added in there and/or brown some ground sausage and add that too for a meat lovers paradise. Very versatile like I said before which I love.

How Long to Cook Ham and Cabbage in Slow Cooker

Cooked low and slow this only takes 5 hours. Leaving it in longer won’t necessarily hurt anything but it may not become the texture you want. Of course you want the leaves to get tender and wilty but not mushy. There is a fine line between the two when many any of our simple cabbage recipes.

To keep it firmer, but still melding the flavors together use our air fryer cabbage timing. Chop instead of slice it, add the meat, toss with melted butter or olive oil and air fry instead. That takes closer to 20 minutes to get done.

How to Cook Cabbage and Ham on Stovetop

You can use the same ingredients and just simmer on the stove in a skillet or Dutch Oven on medium heat. Cover with a lid and keep an eye on it. Take off the heat once the leaves are as tender as you like. Then serve it up!

One way you can prolong it a bit is to cut the pieces a bit larger. The cabbage head I mean, the meat won’t matter as it is much firmer. If you are apprehensive about the timing you could use our Instant Pot buttered cabbage recipe and add diced ham into the mix right when you got home instead.

How to chop cabbage for ham and cabbage?

For this mixture I would suggest that you cube cabbage into large bite size pieces. The smaller the pieces are the more wilted they will get. You don’t want it to become mushy so I think a bit larger is better and you can cook down longer if you like. Put into slow cooker with your chopped up precooked ham pieces. Top with broth and seasonings.

• Slice butter into pats and add to the top of everything.
• Cover and cook on high for 5 hours cooking time or until leaves are as tender as you’d like.
• Gently fold together and serve.

How to Make Crockpot Ham and Cabbage with Potatoes

There is a third item you could add to make it even heartier, add potatoes! For this one follow our Crockpot cabbage and sausage with potatoes instructions. That is fabulous too and you can swap out with whatever meat you have on hand. Heck, even if you have leftover pork chops, throw that in. You know how I hate wasting food.

Snowing outside and want something warm to go down your throat? Try our slow cooker cabbage soup here for another family meal idea. If you find this baby on sale buy a few heads because there are oodles of possibilities to make with it. It’s not just a side dish y’all.

And when you’re done how do you save leftovers? Well to be quite honest I don’t think it saves well. I know, you’re surprised because I hate wasting but it is true. The leaves will unfortunately continue to wilt in the fridge and there isn’t a way to liven them up. If you aren’t opposed to the change in texture just reheat in the microwave for 1 minute. It’s a no go for me.