Smoked Cabbage With Bacon Butter Sauce
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When I think about firing up the smoker, I’ll be honest – cabbage isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. I was even a little skeptical about trying this recipe at all, but once I tasted it, I was beyond glad that I did.
This recipe can be a great appetizer or side dish for your next barbecue, and I think you’ll be surprised too at how amazing you can make simple cabbage taste.
Vegetables take up a lot of smoke quickly, which is great because they also cook relatively quickly.Â
Smoked Cabbage in Bacon Butter Sauce
Ingredients you’ll need
- Cabbage – I used a head of green cabbage for this recipe. I’ve never tried smoking red/purple cabbage, so I can’t give you a lot of advice as to whether there are any differences.
- Olive Oil
- Seasoning – You can use salt and pepper or a BBQ rub.
- Bacon – Cooked and crumbled. Leave it out for a vegetarian option.
Equipment you’ll need
- Pellet grill or smoker – I love smoking cabbage on my Grilla Grills Alpha Connect. It adds just enough smoke flavor to make the cabbage delicious and maintains a steady temperature throughout the entire cook.Â
- Aluminum Foil – good old-fashioned Reynold’s Wrap Heavy Duty is the perfect tool for this job. Be sure to grab something heavy-duty so the cabbage doesn’t break through during the cook.
How to make Smoked Cabbage
1. Prep
A head of cabbage is just enough for four people, so I chop it into quarters.
It’s helpful to remove the core from the head of the cabbage. Again, I’m not sure if it’s necessary or not, but I’ve always done it.Â
Drizzle the quarters with olive oil to coat the surface, then sprinkle on some salt and pepper or bbq rub.
2. Fire up the smoker
Preheat your smoker to 250℉.
3. Smoke
Place your cabbage on the grates and let it smoke for about an hour. The cabbage will get a good smoke flavor during this time and start to build up a char.
You may notice that the cabbage leaves on the outside dry out too much to be edible. You can discard those towards the end of the cook.
4. Wrap
After about an hour of cooking, it’s time to wrap the cabbage.
At this point, it’s got enough smoky flavor, but you want to wrap it to ensure it doesn’t dry out during the final hour of cooking.Â
I like to place each quarter onto a piece of heavy-duty foil and add a few pats of butter, along with a good handful of crumbled bacon.
While the bacon is optional, it really adds a nice element to the dish.
Place the cabbage down on the foil and place the butter and bacon on top, then wrap it up tightly and place it back on the smoker.
After another hour, the cabbage should be soft, smoky, buttery, and delicious.
Serve as an appetizer or as a side with these proteins
Smoked Cabbage with Bacon Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 head green cabbage
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tbsp Kosher salt
- ½ tbsp black pepper ground
- 1 stick salted butter
- 1 cup bacon cooked and crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat your smoker to 250℉.
- Cut your cabbage into quarters, coat them in olive oil and season well.
- Place your cabbage directly on the grates. Let smoke for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, remove the cabbage from the smoker and place each quarter on a sheet of aluminum foil with 2 tbsp of butter and ¼ cup of crumbled bacon. Wrap tightly.
- Place back on the smoker for 1 more hour or until soft.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation only. If you’re worried you could always add a side of kale.
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