Fried cabbage and noodles is simple comfort food at its finest! If you’re a fan of plain buttered noodles with salt and pepper, you’ve got to try adding caramelized onions and sautéed cabbage into the mix. Not only do the extra two ingredients add a lot of flavor and texture, it gives the meal a little balance as well, with the addition of a little vegetable matter. ;) This dish is still insanely easy and cheap, and makes a great side dish or base for a bigger meal.
Also check out our classic Fried Cabbage recipe!
Why are Fried Cabbage and Noodles SO GOOD??
It’s the butter. Well, the butter and the caramelized onions. That slightly sweet caramel flavor with the creamy butter and specks of salt and pepper sitting on the surface of the noodles is just to die for. The tender cabbage and delicate egg noodles can’t be overlooked either. This incredibly simple dish is just oozing with flavor and texture nuance. You just have to experience to get it.
What do You Serve with Fried Cabbage and Noodles?
Not only is this dish delicious and filling, but it’s very versatile. You can serve it as a side dish along side fresh or smoked sausage (kielbasa is especially good), pork chops, ham, or roast chicken. But you can also add ingredients into or on top of the fried cabbage and noodles to make it a sort of bowl meal. I like to top mine with a fried egg, but you can also brown some bacon or smoked sausage in the pot before you add the onion, and combine the sausage or bacon in with the cabbage and noodles.
How Long Does Cabbage and Noodles Last?
This dish does hold up pretty well in the refrigerator, keeping for about four days. But, as with any cabbage dish, it can begin to smell quite sulfurous as it refrigerates. Fried cabbage and noodles is not the best candidate for freezing because there is no real sauce to keep the noodles from drying.
Fried Cabbage and Noodles
Servings 4 about 2 cups eachIngredients
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 8 oz. wide egg noodles ($0.90)
- 1/2 head cabbage (4-5 cups sliced) ($1.28)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.20)
- salt and pepper to taste ($0.05)
Instructions
- Slice the onion into 1/4-inch wide strips. Add the onion and cooking oil to a large pot. Sauté over medium to medium-high heat until the onions are soft and browned on the edges.
- While the onions are sautéing, remove the core from the cabbage and slice it into 1/2-inch wide strips.
- Once the onions have caramelized a bit on the edges, add the sliced cabbage to the pot along with a pinch of salt and about 1/4 cup water. Continue to sauté the cabbage until it is tender, about 15 minutes, using the water to help dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
- While the cabbage is sautéing, bring a pot of water to a boil for the egg noodles. Once boiling, add the noodles, and continue to boil until the noodles are tender (about 7 minutes). Drain the noodles in a colander.
- Once the cabbage is tender, turn the heat off. Add the cooked and drained noodles, butter, and a generous amount of salt and pepper to the pot. Stir to combine and allow the residual heat to melt the butter. Taste the cabbage and noodles and add more salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.
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Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Got leftover cabbage? Make our Cabbage Soup Recipe next!
How to Make Fried Cabbage and Noodles – Step by Step Photos
Begin by slicing one yellow onion into 1/4-inch strips. Add the sliced onion and 2 Tbsp cooking oil to a large pot.
Sauté the onions over medium to medium-high heat until they are soft and have browned on the edges. You really want that browning action to get the proper flavor, and this only happens if the heat is high enough that the moisture evaporates quickly as the onions sauté.
While the onions are sautéing, remove the core from 1/2 head of cabbage, then slice it into 1/2-inch wide strips. Err on the side of thinner strips of cabbage here because the larger the pieces the longer they’ll take to cook.
Add the sliced cabbage to the pot with a pinch of salt and about 1/4 cup water. Continue to sauté the cabbage until it has softened, about 15 minutes. Use the water to help dissolve the browned bits off the bottom of the pot as you stir. The water will also help steam and soften the cabbage.
Once you get the cabbage started, begin cooking the egg noodles. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then once boiling, add 8 oz. wide egg noodles. Continue to boil until the noodles are tender (about 7 minutes). Drain the noodles in a colander.
Once the cabbage is tender, it’s time to assemble the dish.
Turn the heat off, add the cooked and drained noodles, 2 Tbsp butter, and a generous amount of salt and pepper to the pot with the cabbage.
Stir everything to combine and allow the residual heat to melt the butter. Give it one last taste and add more salt and pepper to your liking. You can even add a little crushed red pepper, if you like heat! Serve warm.
Simple, delicious, comfort!
Did the basic recipe as instructed except I prepared the noodles beforehand, added no meat, just pepper, salt and garlic powder to a waiting skillet, then fried it all up together in the butter. Absolutely delicious! everyone ate at least two helpings, and some (me) and one other ate a third. Not sorry for the self-indulgence, only that we ate it all and I had none left over the next morning to try with a fried egg or two.
Great combination. Thank you for sharing.
Tastier than I expected. Did add a can of mushrooms and ermmm, maybe a little extra butter. And very easy to make. Thanks!
Can this be made with Red Cabbage?
While you could do this with red cabbage, it will likely be fairly unappealing visually due to the bleeding colors.
I always add vinegar after all is sautéed. Sour cream is nice and i never
use oil only lots of butter!
With Hungarian grandparents, I grew up eating this but I never knew anyone else who did! My husband always liked a little kielbasa fried and added to it. My sister’s mother- in-law adds bacon and sour cream to hers.
This is one of my favorites! Filling and satisfying.
Liked it a lot, made with Salmon! Kinda on the sweet side due to the onions. Will make again!
We make ours with bacon and use bacon fat rather than butter to fry the cabbage and onions. Crumble about four slices of the bacon into the cabbage and noodles. Then we put a large dollop of cottage cheese on top when serving, which makes this a complete meal, and one of our favorites though not the healthiest.
100% easy and delicious. We added a dollop of sour cream and it was even better.
Delicious. I happened to have half a cabbage, noodles, and some sweet Italian sausage in fridge and went looking for Beth’s controversial (!), but really excellent Halusky recipe. It is gone! But found this and I like this one too. I like them both!, and need to just jog my memory for things rather than always looking recipes up. (I remember that Halusky recipe now.) Anyway, this was good and satisfying. Another great recipe by Beth. Thank you.
My mother who was 100% Hungarian made this for lunch a lot. My boys when they were little loved it. Unfortunately I lost the recipe and since her passing I could not find a recipe close enough to hers to try. I will be making this one for Lent this year many times. Thank you.
Pescetarian here — any thoughts on a seafood dish this would make a good side for?
Any Fish would be excellent. I actually use Cabbage and noodles for a side dish to almost any meal. I however would Not mix any type of meat with the recipe. For me, true cabbage and noodles has Only Cabbage, Noodles, Butter Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper. Also I use a food processor with the small shredding blade and run two heads of cabbage thru it along with 10 ounces of Extra Wide no yolk noodles.
This is so delicious and easy! After trying it the first time, I made it 3 more times that month. I just couldn’t get enough.
I have t tried it yet but planning on it soon like maybe next week .
Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Add some caraway seeds to this!
My sister makes this all the time- but she adds kielbasa and calls it “bubble and squeak” although it’s really not as there are noodles, not potatoes. It’s easy and delicious and cheap to make. I love this take on it – easy, cheap and delicious.
Ha love it! Thanks for sharing Sheila.
I’ve also made this with sauerkraut instead of the fresh cabbage, and added some sliced kielbasa. I think I need to try it with a fried egg though.
Oh that sounds like a fun swap. And always yes to trying with an egg!
My family makes a similar dish we call NBC, Noodles, Bacon, and Cabbage.
Delicious, feeds many for cheap!
Yes perfect!