Bacon and Smoked Sausage Cabbage Skillet with Cornbread

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Bacon and Smoked Sausage Cabbage Skillet with Cornbread

August 29, 2026


Original Smoked Sausage, Cabbage, and Bacon

Turns out cabbage gets a whole lot more exciting when bacon and smoked sausage show up to the party.

One skillet, thirty minutes, and it uses two items in the Butcher Special. The bacon renders first and leaves its drippings behind. The smoked sausage browns in them. Then the cabbage and onion go into the same pan and cook down in all of it, and everything comes back together at the end.

Cornbread on the side, and that’s a supper that costs almost nothing and disappears completely.

Cabbage Cooked Right Is a Different Vegetable

Cabbage has a bad reputation earned entirely by people boiling it.

A head of cabbage is about 92 percent water. Boil it, or cover the skillet and let it steam, and all that water stays in the pan, so the cabbage goes limp and gray and tastes like the smell most of us associate with it. That’s not what cabbage is. That’s what water-logged cabbage is.

Cook it uncovered, in a wide pan, hot enough to drive the water off. Once the moisture evaporates, the pan gets hot enough for the edges to caramelize, and cabbage turns sweet and nutty. It’s the same transformation that happens to onions, and it takes about the same amount of attention: stir it occasionally, then leave it alone long enough to brown.

Salt at the end, not the beginning. Salt pulls water out of the cabbage, which is the opposite of what you want while you’re trying to get the pan dry.

And don’t cut it too fine. Rough two-inch pieces hold their shape and give you tender centers with browned edges. Shredded thin, it collapses into something closer to sauerkraut without the tang.

Cooking it in bacon drippings isn’t just for flavor, either. The fat conducts heat into the cabbage far better than a dry pan, so the browning happens faster and more evenly.

Our Smoked Sausage and Which Flavor to Use Here

We’ve been making smoked sausage for a long time, and there are fifteen flavors in the case at any given time. It’s already fully cooked when you buy it, which matters for this recipe: you’re not browning it for food safety, you’re browning it because the edges get crisp and the rendered fat goes into the cabbage.

For a dish like this, four work especially well:

  • Original — the straightforward choice, and it lets the cabbage and bacon lead
  • Jalapeño & Cheddar — heat and melt against the sweetness of the cabbage
  • Beef — deeper and richer
  • 3 Cheese — the one people are surprised by

There’s also Sweet Fire, Apple, Blueberry, Pineapple, Red Deer and Alligator and Pork if you want to get further from the beaten path. Many of them ship nationwide in 7- and 14-pack coolers.

Slice it on a bias, about a half inch thick. More surface area on the pan means more browned edges.

Bacon and Smoked Sausage Cabbage Skillet with Cornbread

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4 to 6

You’ll Need

  • 1 package Lil Butcher Shoppe Smoked Sausage, sliced
  • 1 12 oz. package Lil Butcher Shoppe Bacon, chopped
  • 1 medium head green cabbage, chopped
  • 1 large yellow onion, sliced
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1 box cornbread mix
  • Milk and egg as required by the cornbread package

Let’s Cook

  1. Prepare the cornbread according to the package directions.
  2. While it bakes, add the chopped bacon to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until browned and crisp.
  3. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving a couple tablespoons of bacon drippings in the skillet.
  4. Add the sliced smoked sausage and cook until browned around the edges. Remove it from the skillet and set aside with the bacon.
  5. Add the cabbage and onion to the same skillet and toss in the bacon drippings.
  6. Season with garlic powder, paprika and black pepper. Hold the salt until the end.
  7. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender and beginning to caramelize around the edges.
  8. Return the smoked sausage and bacon to the skillet and toss everything together. Cook for another three to five minutes, until hot. Taste and season with salt.
  9. Serve with big slices of warm cornbread.

Turns out cabbage gets a whole lot more exciting when bacon and smoked sausage show up to the party.

That’s the Whole Butcher Special

Bacon and smoked sausage are the last two items in this week’s $59.99 Butcher Special — and if you’ve cooked along all week, that’s eight items turned into seven completely different dinners:

Tips from Behind the Counter

Use your biggest skillet, or work in two batches. A whole head of cabbage looks like far too much when it goes in and cooks down to about a third of that — but only if it has room. Piled deep in a small pan, it steams.

Don’t pour off all the bacon drippings. Two tablespoons is the target. If your bacon rendered more than that, save the extra in a jar for green beans, cornbread or eggs.

Chop the bacon before you cook it, not after. It renders more evenly and you skip cutting hot bacon with a knife.

Add the bacon back at the very end. Any longer in the pan and it goes soft. You want it to stay crisp against the tender cabbage.

Make the cornbread in a cast iron skillet with a little bacon grease preheated in the bottom. That’s how you get the crisp edge, and it costs nothing extra.

A splash of apple cider vinegar at the end wakes the whole skillet up. Optional, but try it once.

Ways to Change It Up

  • Add sliced potatoes for a heartier, one-pan version.
  • Throw in a diced bell pepper with the onion.
  • Add red pepper flakes or Cajun seasoning for heat, or use the Jalapeño & Cheddar sausage and let it do the work.
  • Serve it over rice to stretch it further.
  • Use the leftovers for breakfast with a fried egg on top. This is not a joke and it is very good.

One Stop for Sunday Supper in Hattiesburg

Bacon, smoked sausage, cabbage, onion and cornbread mix: All one trip. Our shop at 1910 Broadway Drive is a butcher counter and a grocery, so a whole skillet supper is one stop.

We’re closed on Sunday, so this one is a Saturday shopping trip. We’re open Saturday until 5:30.

We’ve been family owned and operated in Hattiesburg since 1991, and making smoked sausage since 1994. Along with the fresh meat counter, the case is full of homemade cooking that’s already done for you.

Want the specials before everybody else? Text Butcher to 601-281-6633 to join our VIP text program.

Hours: Monday–Tuesday and Thursday–Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Closed Wednesday and Sunday.

Phone: 601-261-2765

Address: 1910 Broadway Drive, Hattiesburg, MS 39401 — get directions or reach out

Outside the area? Our smoked sausage ships nationwide, and you can find us on the shelf at stores across Mississippi and the Gulf South.

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