Easy Cabbage Stew Recipe

This easy cabbage stew recipe is another perfect wintery mixture of deliciousness. Honestly, I wish I could claim the recipe as my own but I cannot. In fact, I hadn’t even heard of such a thing until it was introduced to me by my beautiful wife. From what I’ve been told, this exact recipe has been in their family for years and once I tried it, I understood why. One of the ingredients originally sort of threw me off but makes this stew what it is…trust me!

Oh, and DON’T FORGET THE CORNBREAD!

Ingredients for Cabbage Stew

Vegetables

What would cabbage stew be without cabbage…exactly! This recipe calls for a head of cabbage cut into big chunks, two diced onions, and a can of tomatoes. Of course the cabbage cooks down and softens quite a bit. So while you might not find the term “big chunks” to be that appetizing, thats what they start out as!

Meat

Ground beef was the chosen protein for this stew and it works perfectly. I personally think a spicy Italian sausage would also work well. But given the amount of times I get onto my in laws for putting hot sauce on their Runzas…I figure I better leave their recipe as is.

Beans

Okay, here we go! Instead of using black beans, kidney beans, white beans, or any other plain ‘ol beans, in true Texan form they chose two cans of Ranch Style Beans.

I went to camp as a kid, watched ‘Hey Dude‘ as a pre-teen, and even visited Tombstone and Old Tucson. Not one time in any of those scenarios did I hear of Ranch Style beans, let alone in a stew.

With that being said I’m open to eating just about anything and glad that I am. In my opinion, the beans are what give this cabbage stew the flavor and texture that set it a part from all the others. It’s not creamy, but thicker than a broth and not bland, despite not using any real spices or seasonings to speak of. All of the flavor comes from the simmering vegetables and the beans.

Remaining Ingredients

The only other ingredients for this cabbage stew recipe are water, minced garlic, kosher salt, and pepper. Now you can see why I call this an easy recipe and give a lot of credit to ranch style beans.

How to Make Cabbage Stew

This is truly one of the easiest recipes I’ve ever made. If you’re looking for something full of flavor that can quickly be made on a cold, wintery, weeknight, look no further.

Start by dicing the onion and slicing the cabbage into large chunks.

Next, in a large stockpot brown the ground beef. Once the meat is browned add the garlic, one can of tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Stir the mixture to be sure the salt and pepper are fully mixed into the beef and tomato mixture. Turn the heat to medium-low to bring the remaining ingredients to a slow simmer.

Working in layers, place about half the cabbage and onions over the beef. Then the other can of tomatoes and both cans of ranch style beans. Lastly, another layer of cabbage and onions, top it off with a can of water, cover, and simmer stirring occasionally until the cabbage has fully softened and cooked down, about 30-45 minutes.

There you have it…A super easy Cabbage Stew recipe that the whole family will love!

In Conclusion

Sometimes when we first hear of an ingredient being used that we either aren’t familiar with or just doesn’t sound like it would pair well, we shy away. In doing so, we might miss out on a cultural or regional cuisine that we might actually fall in love with.

My belief is that sharing food with family and friend is one of the most comforting things a person can do. It’s only comforting if that food is well received and appreciated for what it is and where it came from. Like ranch style beans!

Let us know in the comments what you’ve tried that maybe didn’t sound great at first as well as how you like this recipe for cabbage stew!

Thank you so much for checking out Chicken Fried Kitchen and as usual…

Happy Cooking,

-Jeremy