Hello. It never occurred to me that one day I would be enthusiastically posting cabbage recipes for all the world to see. But oh! if I could only explain to you just how enthusiastic I am about it now it’s happening. Because if you don’t care for cabbage – heck, even if you hate cabbage – then this Pork Chops with Bacon and Cabbage recipe is for you. This is not your Mother’s cabbage. Oh, heck no.
I had planned to write something else along with this post, but when I got here – in front of the screen, with my fingers poised above the keys – I couldn’t keep my mind from wandering back to last Friday, or, as it shall henceforth be known – The Day Justin Realized He Liked Cabbage. You see, there’s bacon with this cabbage, and as everyone knows, bacon makes everything taste better. There’s succulent pork chops with this cabbage. There’s onion and a creamy sauce with this cabbage. This Pork Chops with Bacon and Cabbage is one stinkin’ awesome way to eat cabbage, people. I *urge* you to make it. I adore a good bit of Brassica but even I wanted to find a quiet corner with this particular pan of cabbage goodness.
There’s another more practical upside to this Pork Chops with Bacon and Cabbage recipe. Just. One. Pan. And it’s easy. Oh, and did I mention it is delicious? I would hate you to think that this was some normal, cabbage-y dish. The cabbage is tender, not soggy. The pork chops are juicy, not dry. The bacon is just awesome. The pan, I might mention, gets exceedingly hot – please proceed with caution.
It’s what would generally be described as a hearty dish – substantial and giving considerable satisfaction and nourishment. Yes. All of that. Plus, it’s KETO / LCHF / LowCarb. Of course it is. All the best food is. Real whole food. Nutrient-dense food. Food as it was intended to be eaten. YUM.
I served this Pork Chops with Bacon and Cabbage straight out of the pan with a beautiful Zucchini & Tomato Salad. It added some lovely color to the proceedings. I also threw together a rather exciting green salad, but that went untouched because we were all {happily} full of cabbage. I was lucky enough to have one portion of Pork Chops with Bacon and Cabbage left over, which I re-heated and ate for lunch the next day. The sauce was slightly thick & the cabbage slightly softer, but it still tasted like the best piece of cabbage ever.
There were some other things I was thinking about as I sat down to type this, and I’ll mention them because they’re just so exciting to me, although they had absolutely nothing to do with cabbage.
1. Blueprints.
2. My kitchen.
3. Non-load-bearing walls.
4. A sledge-hammer.
5. Laughing a lot.
In that order.
Now, off you go to make your own scrumptious pan of Pork Chops with Bacon and Cabbage.
Pork Chops with Bacon and Cabbage
Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 40 mins | Total time: 55 mins | Serves: 4
What You Need
- 2 TBSP coconut oil or avocado oil
- 4 pork chops (I used thick boneless chops, but bone-in would also work)
- Coarse sea salt and ground black pepper
- 4 strips bacon chopped into ½ inch pieces
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 1 head green cabbage (about 2 ½ lbs. / 1120g) cut into 8 wedges & the core removed (leave just enough core to stop the wedges falling apart)
- 1 ½ tsp. konjac flour / glucomannan powder
- 3 cups / 24 fl oz. unsweetened thin coconut milk (from a carton)
What You Do
- Preheat oven to 400F. Set a large heavy roasting pan across two burners; add the oil and heat.
- Season pork chops with salt and pepper; brown on one side, 3 to 5 minutes. Flip and brown the other side. Transfer to a plate.
- Place cabbage wedges cut side down in the roasting pan and cook until light golden, about 6 minutes. Flip and cook until slightly tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the plate with the pork chops.
- To the roasting pan add the bacon; cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the onion; cook until softened, 5 minutes.
- In a small bowl, rapidly whisk the konjac flour with a little of the coconut milk to make a smooth slurry.
- Add the rest of the milk to the roasting pan with the bacon and onions.
- Add the konjac flour slurry and stir the sauce constantly, until thickened, about 4 minutes.
- Season with sea salt and pepper, then nestle the pork chops & the cabbage wedges into the sauce in the roasting pan.
- Transfer pan to the oven.
- Bake until pork is cooked through, about 10 minutes. If using thick boneless chops, cook for about 15 minutes.
Top Recipe Tips
- To increase the fat, replace ½ cup – 1 cup / 4 fl oz. – 8 fl oz. of the coconut milk with heavy cream (double cream).
- Check out the Ingredients Guide for information on ingredients.
- Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?
Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links
- Come laugh and learn with us over at The Kitchen Podcast
- Come hang out in The Keto Kitchen Facebook Group
- For lots more great recipes check out our scrumptious cookbooks!
Podcast Episodes
THE PorkchopComing from the porkchop herself, I must admit, this porkchop was more than a porkchop. Tender and juicy of course, but accompanied by THAT cabbage was a-m-a-z-i-n-g! I am not afraid to go to the store and buy a head of nutrient packed cabbage anymore! Thank you!!
carrieSo glad that you loved it! Who knew cabbage could taste so good?!
Andrea CollierI was thinking that you could use arrowroot starch (it’s gluten free and I have been using it in place of corn starch and it has been successful in the past)
I was thinking that i could use hemp milk or almond milk instead, I have a sensitivity to dairy. I will probably give the hemp milk a try first because it’s creamier and has less flavor.
Thanks for the recipe!
carrieHi Andrea!
Thanks so much for stopping by! I am working on cornstarch / flour alternatives and will provide ASAP for each recipe. Arrowroot does not do well with dairy and is also a starch with 100% carbohydrate, so may not be the best option. Also, arrowroot would not do well here because the baking would make it break down again and the sauce would be runny.
I am also working on milk alternatives. Hope to have updates for the recipes very soon! However, Jonathan advised that a small amount of cornstarch to thicken is not an issue and does not make this inSANE.
This really is a delicious recipe. Let me know how your version turns out!!
ggtexsHi Carrie, do u think we can use the garbanzo bean flour you have been using in recent recipes to thicken this one? thanks!
carrieYes! I have been sucdessfully interchanging garbanzo bean flour and corn starch. You may find you need a little extra bean flour. Let me know how it goes!
I also checked on arrowroot and that is as “bad” as cornstarch, even though it is gluten free. It is the starch that is the problem.
Thanks for the reminder – I forgot to update the Pork Chops and Cabbage recipe!
ggtexswell I looked high and low for the garbanzo bean flour here and couldnot find it. Then I tried to make it with my coffee grinder and…well lets say I will be using cornstarch! 😉
carrieOh my! Bob’s Red Mill make garbanzo bean flour which is sold in many grocery stores and you can also order it online. I am sorry you had an oops with grinding your own, but the image in my mind did make me giggle.
Cornstarch in this tiny quantity is not an issue. Use of a small amount of cornstarch to thicken sauces is Jonathan Bailor approved!
DrTuskMade this tonight, although with 7 pork chops rather than 4. And I went to the store specifically to get bacon, and then forgot while I was there! I added mushrooms in with the onions, and overall was pretty happy with the recipe. Thanks!
carrieDrTusk: Oh, you HAVE to do it again with bacon! THe bacon version ROCKS!! I thought about adding mushrooms initially – I think they would be a great addition. Let us know how the bacon version turns out…
Mary RutkowskiI have not made this yet but I have been told it is beyond awesome ! I’m wondering, could you use vegetable broth instead of milk ? Hmmm, probably NOT – it would not be a creamy sauce if you did that, right ? I DO intend to try this – with the milk since I have no dairy concerns. I happen to LOVE cabbage so it will be a winner for me, I’m sure.
carrieHi Mary! Yes, you could use vegetable or chicken stock instead of milk, but I don’t think it would be as good as a creamy sauce. You could use unsweetened coconut or hemp milk instead, but if you have no issues with dairy, I’d stick with that for this one. Let us know how it turns out! I have to say – it was a huge hit. Enjoy 🙂
Justin "The BIG Guy"WOW. WOW. WOW! This was so good. I am now a big fan of cabbage.
MoniqueWould it be possible to make this receipe in a slow cooker ?
regards
carrieHi Monique, I am not a slow cooker expert. I would worry about the sauce breaking down if heated for that long of a period. I would be nervous to try it. If you do, let us know how it turned out!
Thank you for swinging by!
Zucchini and Cherry Tomato Salad » Carrie Brown | Marmalade and Mileposts[…] have no clue they are eating an uncooked vegetable. I dished this up alongside a bubbling pan of Pork Chops with Bacon and Cabbage. Even the die-hard cabbage-hater that I served it up to is now a Cabbage Convert. (Justin […]
Mazie SturmanI cooked this today it was wonderful thank’s so much I’m loving trying new recipes ..
carrieGO, Mazie! I love this recipe too, I just don’t make it because I’d be eating it for a month of Sundays!! I need to invite some people over 🙂
Mazie SturmanThere is only two of us so I did half the ingredients but it was amazing !
JanIs the coconut milk from a can or from a carton? Looks yummy!
carrieJan – from a carton!
ElleHi Carrie I am new to all this and live in London. What is garbanzo flour and what can I use instead if I can’t find it? Is corn flour allowed?
Thanks. Have just ordered your veggie book, but had to get it from Amazon.com so won’t see it for around three weeks 🙁
Keep up the good work. Where are the beet root recipes you mentioned in the podcast too please?
carrieElle – garbanzo bean flour is chick pea flour. We don’t do cornflour. THANK YOU for your book support – hugely appreciated! Beet Soup: https://carriebrown.com/archives/21827
sharonaThis is such a great recipe and I don’t even like cabbage. I accidently used vanilla flavored coconut milk and oh my goodness it gave this recipe a great flavor where you ask yourself “what is that amazing flavor?” i also used gaur gum as I did not have garbanzo bean flour. Yummy thank you Carrie!
JerryHello Carrie,
While reading this recipe along with the beginning article, the following were my thoughts:
1. How gracious you are.
2. How helpful you are.
3. I will try the recipe next week.
4. After reviewing the blueprints about your kitchen, you decided the sledge-hammer the existing walls in order to put up non-load bearing-walls. Upon doing so,you laughed a lot.
carrieThanks for your kind words, Jerry! To clarify – there were non-load-bearing walls taken out with a sledge hammer that made me laugh a lot, but there were no new walls put up. I am wall-less.
DianeMade this for the second time tonight. I forgot just how wonderful this dish is. I know when I bring in leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch, everyone will ask for a taste. Better bring a big dish.
Eve OrrI made this this evening and it was wonderful, as usual. I used two alterations that made it easier, I thought, so thought you might like to hear about them.
Instead of using a roasting pan across two burners on the stovetop (not a good idea on a ceramic cooktop like mine), I used my large electric skillet/griddle for all the stovetop cooking. Then when it was time for the oven, I just put the lid on the skillet, turned the temperature down, and let it simmer for 10 minutes. It worked beautifully.
I also didn’t have any thin coconut milk on hand, so I used a can of coconut milk and thinned it with water to make 3 cups. It seemed to work just fine. I love the gravy this recipe makes!
carrieGreat hacks, Eve!
Brad CadyThis sounds amazing. I’ll be trying it tomorrow. I need some suggestions, though. My wife can’t have casein and my son can’t do coconut. Would almond milk or hemp milk work ok?