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Kielbasa and Cabbage Noodles

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These hearty sausage and cabbage noodles are quick and easy to make and bursting with rich savory flavors.

Every winter, I find myself craving some version of sausage and cabbage. But these noodles may be my favorite recipe yet! ♡

We’re going unapologetically BIG on savory flavors here, beginning with a rich sauté of smoky bacon and garlicky kielbasa. Then we’ll add in a huge pile of chopped green cabbage and cook it down until tender. Then everything everything gets tossed together with chewy egg noodles in a simple tomato-paprika sauce until each bite is evenly coated and bursting with flavor. It’s total comfort food and truly couldn’t be more delicious!

The recipe comes together quickly (especially if you chop as you go) and is easily adaptable with whatever type of sausage and noodles you love best. Feel free to also add in any other leftover veggies you have on hand that might sound good. And while I love the paprika and caraway included in the recipe below, you could also play around and take the seasonings in a Cajun or Italian direction instead if you prefer. There are lots of fun ways to customize this one.

So the next time you’re craving a hearty meal of sausage and cabbage, grab some noodles too and give this recipe a try!

Kielbasa and Cabbage Noodles Ingredients

Here are a few quick notes about the ingredients you will need to make this kielbasa and cabbage noodles recipe:

  • Egg noodles: Egg noodles add chewy texture to this dish and perfectly soak up the flavors in the sauce. I’m partial to using curly wide egg noodles, but feel free to use any other variety of egg noodles or other type of pasta that you prefer.
  • Kielbasa: This Polish sausage is famous for its garlicky, smoky flavor. Slicing it diagonally helps to maximize the surface area of each piece, adding even more flavor as it cooks and browns.
  • Cabbage: Green cabbage softens as it cooks and soaks up the flavors of the smoky bacon and seasonings. I prefer roughly chopping the cabbage into bite-sized pieces, but you can also shred it (or purchase pre-shredded cabbage) if you prefer a different texture.
  • Bacon: Bacon adds delicious extra layers of smoky, salty flavor to the dish. To maximize flavor, I recommend sautéing the other ingredients in the leftover bacon grease. But you’re welcome to sub in olive oil if you prefer less bacon flavor.
  • Onion and garlic: Onion and garlic serve as the simple aromatics for this dish, adding an extra layer of savory flavor to the dish.
  • Chicken stock: Chicken stock (or you could sub in vegetable stock) serves as the base for our broth.
  • Tomato paste: Tomato paste gives the sauce a foundation of rich, tangy, sweet tomato flavor which pairs nicely with the seasonings.
  • Seasonings: Smoked paprika and caraway seeds serve as the dried sesasonings for the sauce, along with salt and pepper, adding smoky, earthy and anise-like flavor. If you don’t have caraway seasonings in your pantry, no worries, you can just leave them out.
  • Apple cider vinegar: Finally, we’ll add a splash of ACV to the sauce to balance out the rich flavors with a hint of tanginess.

Recipe Tips

Detailed step-by-step instructions are included in the recipe box below. But here are a few additional tips to keep in mind when making this recipe:

  • Slice the kielbasa on a diagonal. Slicing the sausage on a diagonal into bite-sized pieces increases the surface area for browning, adding extra caramelized flavor to each bite.
  • Don’t overcook the cabbage. The goal is to cook the cabbage until it is soft but not soggy, so that it still adds a hint of texture to the dish.
  • Add the noodles just before serving. In order to avoid soggy noodles as well, be sure to cook the noodles until they are *just* al dente and toss them with the rest of the dish immediately before serving.
  • Season to taste. Finally, don’t forget to give everything a quick taste just before serving to see if you’d like to add any extra salt and pepper (and/or smoked paprika or caraway).

Recipe Variations

Here are a few more variations to this cabbage noodles recipe that you’re welcome to try:

  • Add extra veggies: Sauté some extra veggies along with the cabbage, such as bell peppers, broccolini, carrots, green beans, mushrooms or zucchini.
  • Add mustard: If you’re a fan of mustard, a generous spoonful of Dijon would also be delicious mixed into this dish.
  • Add different seasonings: Instead of the smoked paprika and caraway, you could season the dish with Cajun seasoning or Italian seasoning.
  • Add beer: Use beer (I recommend a light pale ale or wheat beer) in place of chicken stock as the base for the broth.
  • Make it spicy: Add your desired amount of crushed red pepper flakes when sautéing the cabbage.
  • Make it gluten-free: Use gluten-free egg noodles (or another type of gluten-free pasta) to make this recipe gluten-free.

More Cozy Noodle Recipes

Looking for more noodle recipes to try? Here are a few of our favorites:

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Kielbasa Cabbage Noodles

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  • Author: Ali
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
  • Total Time: 40 mins
  • Yield: 4 to 6 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 8 ounces uncooked wide egg noodles
  • 5 slices bacon, diced
  • 1 pound kielbasa, diagonally sliced into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 small white onion, diced
  • half of a medium green cabbage, roughly chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
  • 1 1/4 cups chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

Instructions

  1. Prep pasta water. Bring a large stockpot of generously-salted water to a boil.
  2. Cook the bacon and kielbasa. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick sauté pan, fry the bacon over medium-high heat until lightly crispy. Transfer the bacon with a slotted spoon to a clean plate and set aside. Add the kielbasa to the pan and sauté in the remaining bacon grease, flipping and tossing occasionally, for about 5-7 minutes or until it is lightly browned on all sides. Transfer the kielbasa with a slotted spoon to the plate with the bacon and set aside.
  3. Cook the onion. Add the onion to the pan with the remaining bacon and sausage grease and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. 
  4. Add the noodles. Add the egg noodles to the water and cook according to package instructions, stirring occasionally, until just barely al dente. (Don’t overcook!) Drain.
  5. Cook the cabbage. While the noodles are cooking, add the cabbage, garlic, tomato paste, smoked paprika, caraway seeds (if using) and a generous pinch of salt and pepper to the onion. Sauté, waiting 2-3 minutes between stirs so that the cabbage on the bottom can lightly brown and caramelize, for about 8 minutes or until the cabbage is tender and caramelized to your liking. Add the chicken stock and vinegar and stir to combine.
  6. Combine. Once the noodles are ready to go, add them to the sauté pan (or if that pan isn’t large enough, you can combine everything instead in the stockpot) and gently toss to combine. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
  7. Serve. Serve immediately and enjoy!

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7 comments on “Kielbasa and Cabbage Noodles”

  1. Nutritional Content available? Looks like the perfect fall quick dinner!

  2. Ali, I have missed some of your posts, or perhaps you just started them again. I’ve always enjoyed them and followed you through Barcelona and more. I viewed your FB page and it’s so full of memories! It’s a lovely account of your short life (short because you’re still so young). I look forward to more.

    About this recipe; sausages are my husband’s favorite food, and he grills some daily. Kielbasa is one of my favorite sausages since I prefer spicy flavors. Sometimes I use them for cooking, and will definitely make the Kielbasa Cabbage Pasta. Our Italian side craves pasta, my Spanish side craves spice, and I use cabbage even in soups for an additional, inocuous vegetable everyone eats.

  3. Do you use the commercial type egg noodle (like Creamette brand) or a more “Amish style” thicker egg noodle? Thank you!!

  4. I was just wondering what I would make with some smoked linguica sausage that I bought at a farmers market on Saturday. I think this will work well together. Thanks for the idea!

  5. This reminds me of a Hungarian dish I grew up on: pasta shells with chopped cabbage fried in bacon fat, and lots of black pepper. My mother always served it with ham. These days I do the same basic dish, cabbage sautéed in bacon fat, with kielbasa, but minus the pasta since I try to be low carb. It’s amazing how tasty such a simple dish can be. I highly recommend that people try your version.

  6. Are the nutritional facts available?

  7. Made this for lunch today and it was surprisingly good. Even my picky eaters ate it up. Thanks for such a creative and easy fall recipe.