Cabbage with Apple & Onion is perfect for whipping together on a busy night, and it easily doubles to feed a larger crowd.
This one comes together in less than 10 minutes and is a good way to use up cabbage that’s sort of wilted or apples that have gotten a bit soft. It was the perfect accompaniment to some delicious pan-fried pork chops.
All you have to do is lightly cook the apples and onions together, then add the cabbage. At the end, I hit it with a dash of balsamic vinegar for a little tang to balance out the sweetness.
Cabbage with Apple & Onion isn’t a new recipe—it’s been here on the blog for two years—but it’s one that I’ve recently updated with brand-new, much more appetizing photography. We eat with our eyes first, right?
If you’re interested, here’s my free series on food photography tips: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. (Also, check out this ebook where I learned a lot of great food photo stuff!)

Cabbage with Apple and Onion
This Cabbage with Apple and Onion recipe is savory and takes ten minutes to make! It's Paleo and Whole30-friendly, so put it on tonight's menu!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp ghee or coconut oil
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 apple sliced
- 1/2 small cabbage sliced
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp caraway seeds optional
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and add the ghee.
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Add the onion and apple, cooking and stirring until the onions are translucent and the apple softened, about 5 minutes.
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Add the cabbage and cook about 3 minutes more.
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Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and cook for another few minutes until the vinegar has reduced a bit and everything is cooked through.
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Season with caraway seeds, salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe Notes
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33 Responses
This looks great! Looking forward to trying it, thanks…Frank
Let me know how it comes out 🙂
This was so delicious, thanks so much! Frank
Just had this for supper. Super easy to fix and Delicious.
Thank you very much.
I’ve grown up eating this dish. It was and still is a favorite. I believe it is an old German peasant dish that could be stretched to feed large families rather inexpensively. Try it with an authentic German sausage and fresh sliced pears or peaches. My Mom and Grandma always made the dish for family gatherings. Goes very well with pork roast or roasted duck, too.Grandma served it on a huge platter surrounding a beautiful pork roast sliced for serving. Of course to be truly authentic, you must serve slabs of fresh baked yeast bread and lots of home churned butter 🙂
Nice to have the recipe again. It brings back some fine memories.
Just stumbled upon this recipe, and it looks great. Do you suggest red or green apples?
I always do it with red because they’re a bit sweeter 🙂
Looking to feed about one hundred ladies at church women’s dinner. Would like a suggestion on red or green apples and red or green cabbage. Serving with pork loin and can you again suggest a vegetable thank you
I’d suggest green cabbage and probably red apple since they’ll be less expensive.
Have you ever had this raw like coleslaw? Maybe a few walnuts mixed in.
I haven’t had this particular one raw like slaw but I have a few slaws that are similar. Would be really tasty I think but maybe with less onion and making the onion very thinly sliced.
This is my 3rd week of paleo food, for the first time I genuinely didn’t miss potatoes 🙂 omnomnom
Turned out well! Thanks for the recipe. Simple way to get some cabbage in my diet!
So happy to hear that you liked it, Alex!
Just finished up a big plate very yummy! And helped me use up my apples and cabbage from the fall harvest. Thanks for sharing. <3
Perfect timing. Just trying to figure out a side dish for dinner tonight. I’ll be making this!!!
🙂
I’ve used a similar recipe for years now. The only exception is I usually will add some type of sausage (ground or link….italian or plain). It becomes a meal instead of a side. It is great tasting so anyone wanting to make it a main meal just add your favorite meat! 😀
Thank you for sharing this wonderful dish!
I just prepared it and enjoyed this combination.
Made it last night with pork chops. Perfect side dish! Everyone loved it. Planning to make it again for Christmas dinner with goose. Thanks for the recipe!
I have some waterless cookware and like the cabbage, apple, and onion recipe. Any suggestions for cooking waterless?
I have no idea what that means…sorry!
Can you use mustard?
Give it a shot!
This was very good. In addition I added some sliced carrots and a handful or two of raisins for color. I thought the blend was very good.
Has anyone tried freezing this and reheating it later? Does it turn out mushy after freezing?
I haven’t tried freezing it but I imagine it might get a bit mushy as cabbage is likely to do.
I prefer to use paleo friendly bacon drippings for the fat. It adds so much flavor.
You can definitely do that! That’s the beauty about cooking…so many ways to modify a recipe and use it to create something that’s perfect for your taste buds 🙂
Are the caroway seeds important? I have all the ingredients except those. I’m trying to save myself a trip to the store.
You can totally leave out the caraway seeds, Sarah 🙂
Do you peel the apples?
I don’t but you can if you’d like.