This Instant Pot Cabbage recipe is the easiest and most delicious recipe for sautéed cabbage! The cabbage is cooked to tender, savory perfection and paired with onion, garlic, and best of all, bacon.

A large gray bowl filled with cooked cabbage, topped with crispy bacon.

Table of Contents

Why We Love It

Sautéed cabbage is a staple on St. Patrick’s Day, but it’s so good you’ll end up making it year-round! And this Instant Pot version is made super fast!

Using the Instant Pot means you only need 1 minute of cooking time!
The bacon gives the whole dish a big oomph in the flavor department.
The cabbage comes out perfectly tender and not mushy.
There are only 5 ingredients!
Cabbage is very budget friendly.

The cabbage comes out ultra savory, tender, and buttery, and it pairs beautifully with mains like Oven Baked Brats, Kielbasa, Pork loin, or Roasted Chicken. It even goes great with my Irish Farmhouse Vegetable Soup!

And because cabbage has health benefits like being low in calories and rich in vitamin K, folate, and B6, it’s a dish you can feel good about serving up.

Ingredients

Ingredients Notes:

You can substitute turkey bacon, but you’ll need to add 2-3 Tablespoons of butter or oil because it doesn’t render nearly as much fat.
I don’t recommend using pre-cut cabbage, because it’s usually shredded into very tiny pieces that will get mushy.
You can use either chicken or vegetable broth. I make my own vegetable broth In the Instant Pot!
Traditionally the Irish dish is cooked with butter, so feel free to substitute butter for the rendered bacon fat.
Because the bacon imparts a lot of salty flavor to the cabbage, I normally add little or no salt. Wait until tasting the finished dish before seasoning with salt, if desired.

Instructions

Process collage showing chopped cabbage, onions, and bacon.

Step 1: Do the prep work.

Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage. Cut the cabbage into 4 quarters (wedges), and then cut away the core. Roughly chop them into small pieces, about 1 inch in size.

Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Dice the uncooked bacon into small pieces.

A slotted spoon removing crispy pieces of bacon from the Instant Pot.

Step 2: Cook the bacon.

Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode. Add the diced bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crispy.

Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon and set it aside. Do not pour out the bacon grease.

👉 If you aren’t going to immediately continue on to the next step and add the vegetables, turn off the Instant Pot. This will keep the bacon grease from splattering.

Diced cabbage, onion, and garlic added to the Instant Pot.

Step 3: Saute and deglaze.

Add the cabbage, onion, and garlic to the Instant Pot. Saute in the bacon grease for 3-5 minutes, stirring often.

Pour the chicken or vegetable broth onto the sautéed cabbage. Use a wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom of the pan by scraping the brown bits from the bottom. This is where the flavor is at!!

The cooked cabbage with a wooden spoon inside the Instant Pot.

Step 4: Pressure Cook.

Close the lid, then turn the Instant Pot to High Pressure and set it for 1 minute. It will take about 15 minutes for it to get up to pressure and begin counting down, which is just the right amount of time to cook the cabbage perfectly!

As soon as the cooking time is done, very carefully turn or press the steam release valve to allow to steam to release. This is called a Quick Pressure Release or QPR.

Once all the steam has been released, carefully open the lid. Next comes the best part!

The plated cabbage tossed with crispy bacon in a bowl.

Step 5: Serve and enjoy!

Transfer the cabbage to a serving bowl or dish. Sprinkle it with a little pepper.

Just before you’re ready to serve, top the cabbage with the crispy bacon bits and toss everything together. This will help keep the bacon nice and crispy!

Expert Tips & Info

For crispy bacon: Wait until just before serving to add the crispy bacon.
Keto/Low Carb/Whole30: Use sugar-free, nitrate-free bacon.
To make it ahead: Chop all the vegetables and bacon up to 2 days in advance. Store covered in the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook.
To store leftovers: Transfer the cooled leftover cabbage to an airtight container or bag. Store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, per USDA.
To reheat leftovers: My favorite way to reheat sautéed cabbage is in a skillet. You don’t need to add oil to the pan. Simply saute the leftovers over medium for 4-5 minutes, until heated through.

Wooden serving spoons serving sautéed cabbage topped with crispy bacon.

More Irish Instant Pot Recipes

I’d love to hear about your experience making this recipe!
Please leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram @cookathomemom.

Plated sautéed cabbage topped with crispy bacon.

Print Pin Save

5 from 2 votes