Slow Cooker Cabbage

Buttered slow cooker cabbage recipe that is the perfect vegetable side dish to serve with any meal, not just corned beef brisket at St. Patricks Day. We will show you how to cook cabbage low and slow step by step.

If you only think about this green vegetable during St. Patrick’s Day, shame on you! There are SO many great and simple cabbage recipes you can make all year long. We make air fryer cabbage with chicken all the time, and even my kids clean their plates. 😉

I mean buttered cabbage just melts in your mouth and is so easy to throw together. If you want to spend less time standing at the stovetop, let it cook in your slow cooker instead!

I was not a fan of this growing up. Every time I went to visit my Grandmother she served this with everything, I mean every thing. It literally took me into my late 30s before I bought a head myself and started working with it. I found that the leaves really soaked up a lot of flavor, but you had to find the right consistency for sure.

You don’t want it too firm or wilted and soggy. A fine balance for sure is necessary to really enjoy it but once you get the hang of that perfect cook time you’ll be a new cabbage lover too I tell you.

With that you would get to enjoy our slow cooker cabbage and ham dish you can serve as a whole meal. Meat will give your leaves even more flavor with the broth and seasonings. You can add chicken too like we did with old fashioned cabbage soup. Want to keep it vegetarian? Use vegetable broth and just some garlic salt.

Ingredient & Recipe Notes

You want to start off with a head of green cabbage sliced with stem removed. The thinner the slices are the softer they will become so keep that in mind when you decide how wide you want them to be.

A stick of salted butter is suggested for flavor and make it a bit creamy. I like Kerrigold the best, dairy free sticks that are plant based work too but they don’t offer as much flavor as we have found with our baked cabbage steaks.

Seasonings of your choice but salt and black pepper are givens, sometimes will add Old Bay too

We use chicken broth instead of water to give it more flavor and a little bit extra salt

Diced onions and garlic are optional but nice add ins, diced really fine to incorporate into the dish nicely You could add bacon bits and a bit of bacon grease while you’re at it for an over the top wow. Apple cider vinegar will add a zing of flavor if you like that.

Depending on how much you want to make and how large your pot is you may use only 1/2 or the whole head. This is very simple to double if you have a really large machine for sure. Only want enough for dinner, use a casserole size Crockpot and cut this in half, simple.

Can you add ham?

If you wanted to transition this from a side to a main dish you could make this as an easy leftover ham recipe with diced pieces into the mix at the beginning. A great way to add protein and a lot of flavor For a heartier dish you can add protein like we did with our Crockpot cabbage and sausage recipe.

How Long to Cook Cabbage in Slow Cooker

There is a range for this because everyone likes the texture a bit different. If you want it quite wilted and soft I would opt for the full 6 hour cook time duration. However if you want it to be limp but still have a bit of “bite” to it then taste at hour 4-5 and see if it is right for you at that point.

Steaming it quickly can also keep it a bit firmer. Try a few of our Instant Pot cabbage recipes and see which you prefer too and go with that.

With tons of flavor but low in calories and carbs it’s kinda’ the perfect easy side dish. Now there are different colors of this baby too, sometimes. The most popular is green as you see here but you can find red or purpleish colorwhich is much firmer and used more in things like coleslaw.

FAQ

Looking for more Crockpot cabbage recipes? Check out our roundup of more here. Jump to recipe below and get your cabbage and onions all prepped. There is nutritional information there too with calories, saturated fat, etc… You could fry up some fresh bacon and chop it up, or throw in some already precooked out of a bag. Print recipe to keep it handy or just come back time and time again. 😉

How do you make cabbage not soggy?

Well I mean you do want it to get soft, but not too much. Cook time and the amount of liquid it is sitting in will change the texture of it the most. If you don’t want it as soft then cut the timing, you can also gently move the bottom layer to the top so the texture is more evenly distributed.