Juicy and tender cabbage is sauteed with ground chicken and tasty seasonings. This low-carb and gluten-free dish comes together in just under 30 minutes and you wouldn’t believe how flavorful it is.
We like to add brown rice and grated carrot in the mix and enjoy a wholesome meal anytime during the week. Especially good for lazy busy weeknights. It's cheap too!
Ground chicken and cabbage skillet recipe is made for 2 or a maximum of 3 person servings which means less prep and cooking time and enjoying a fresh homemade meal from scratch.
There is a skip-to-recipe button in the top left corner along with a clickable table of contents list (just below) that will quickly take you to the part you are more interested in. Enjoy!
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Why It's Yummy
- Favorite one-pot skillet meal. A new way to enjoy cabbage. Cabbage is sauteed until softened in chicken stock, tomato paste, and seasonings. It's flavorful, and soft but not overcooked as I like my cabbage a little crunchy.
- Easy and Quick. This sauteed cabbage is more like a cabbage stir fry but is not your traditional southern-style fried cabbage dish.
- The recipe is similar to one of our famous inside-out egg roll in a bowl made with pork. But this one is even more simple and requires half the time.
Ingredients
My few comments on the ingredients + don't forget to read the Tips section!
The full recipe and ingredients can be found in the recipe card below this post.
You'll need simple ingredients, little time, and very minimal effort to make this chicken cabbage skillet.
That's why I love this versatile veggie, it can be enjoyed in so many different ways. It's easy and customizable in every way you can imagine.
- Cabbage - whereas I enjoy both green and purple cabbage, for this particular recipe you’ll need to use just one, regular green cabbage of any kind (younger is better). I wouldn’t use red cabbage or a mix just because the purple cabbage will dye the whole dish and make the color unappetizing.
- As a quick alternative to fresh cabbage, a precut bag of coleslaw mix from the store will work just fine too.
- Chopped Onion - I do like to add onion in many of my recipes, but this recipe is equally good without the onion. Feel free to skip it if you like to save some prep time.
- Tomato paste and sweet paprika spice are the stars of this dish. A good quality tomato paste goes along the way and can make the dish credibly tasty or ruin the whole flavor. Be sure to use good quality trusted brands, we like Italian tomato paste. The paprika gives the cabbage a very nice flavor and thanks to the paprika the dish doesn’t feel too bland.
- Lean Ground Chicken - for a super quick stir fry, I used ground chicken but my other favorite options are boneless skinless chicken thighs or legs. Dark chicken meat works best here as it is very moist and cooks up quite tender. It also gives a lot of fat and flavor to cabbage.
- Traditionally in Ukrainian cuisine, this dish is cooked with pork and sauteed in pork fat. But I like more lean versions or simply using ground pork instead of chicken. I have a similar recipe, try my egg roll bowl next which is made with ground beef.
- Carrots - optional but in our family cabbage and carrot kinda go hand in hand. The flavor combo just works for us. And usually, when cabbage is served without being cooked with carrots, it feels like something is missing. We like the sweet flavor and color that the carrot gives to the dish.
- I like to grate the carrot and add it either at the end of cooking or along with adding the cabbage. It’s totally up to you.
- Salt and black pepper - this dish needs a good amount of seasoning, especially salt. I add those a couple of times during cooking, first when frying the chicken and then for the seasoning of cabbage. Add a little in the beginning and increase once you follow the next steps. The amount of sodium also changes depending on which broth/stock you use.
Instructions
Heat up half a tablespoon of oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
Once the oil is hot saute the chicken until almost cooked through. Season with salt and black pepper. Set aside.
In the same skillet add more oil, over medium heat, and saute onion until soft.
Follow with cabbage and seasonings (I like to add more flavor by using seasoned homemade celery salt), tomato paste.
Stir and mix a couple of times and pour in the stock.
Cover with the lid and simmer the cabbage for 20-25 minutes until softened and flavorful. Return the chicken, and add rice and grated carrots.
Stir to combine and simmer for another 5 minutes or so until all the ingredients are warmed through.
Garnish with parsley and serve right away.
We like to serve this sauteed cabbage with fresh herbs (green onions, parsley, cilantro) and a dollop of sour cream or plain greek yogurt.
PRO TIP - to make this cabbage stir fry extra indulgent, add about a tablespoon of salted butter once you remove it from the heat. Delicious!
Looking for more ground chicken recipes? Try our kids favorite Chicken Zucchini Fritters, healthy Chicken Spinach Pizzas, and hearty Chicken Zucchini Casserole quick next time.
Serving Suggestions
This dish is the main course on it’s own if you add the rice as I recommend here.
Just like with our cabbage roll casserole, for extra hearty meal, we like to serve this skillet with one or two of the following:
- Greek salad or healthy cucumber salad
- crusty bread
- glazed carrots
- cauliflower
- air fryer potatoes
- roasted asparagus
- Air fryer roasted Brussels sprouts
- or for an extra hearty meal creamy mashed potatoes or steamed potatoes
Freezing And Storing Instructions
Although I am not a fan of reheating food this dish reheat quite well. This recipe is for 2 main dish servings but you can also stretch it out to 3 servings.
Any leftovers will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Reheat it low and slow on the stovetop with a little water or more chicken stock. Or microwave it for 2 minutes or so.
Easy Cabbage Recipes
ALL One Pot recipes.
If you love cabbage recipes, I have a delicious collection of 40+ Best Cabbage Recipes (featuring both green and red cabbage recipes).
Easy stir-fry dishes you can try next time.
I hope you'll enjoy this ground chicken and cabbage recipe, please leave a rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo of your food and tag me on Instagram @theyummy_bowl. I love seeing your creations!
Thank you for reading,
Love,
Julia
Ground Chicken And Cabbage Skillet
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups shredded green cabbage a bit thicker than coleslaw
- 8 oz ground chicken or boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs
- 2 tablespoons yellow onion diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or neutral oil for cooking
- ½ cup carrot medium grated
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 3 teaspoon tomato paste or more to taste
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- Parsley chopped
- ½ cup cooked brown rice or cauliflower rice
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat half a tablespoon of oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot saute the chicken until almost cooked through. Season with salt and black pepper. Set aside.
- In the same skillet add more oil, over medium heat, and saute onion until soft. Follow with cabbage and seasonings, tomato paste. Stir and mix a couple of times and pour in the stock. Cover with the lid and simmer the cabbage for 20-25 minutes until softened and flavorful. Return the chicken, and add rice and grated carrots. Stir to combine and simmer for another 5 minutes or so until all the ingredients are warmed. Garnish with parsley and serve right away.
- We serve this sauteed cabbage with fresh herbs (green onions, parsley, cilantro) and a dollop of sour cream or plain greek yogurt.
- PRO TIP - to make this cabbage stir fry extra indulgent, ad dd about a tablespoon of salted butter once you remove it from the heat. Delicious!
A new way to enjoy cabbage. Cabbage is sauteed until softened in chicken stock, tomato paste and seasonings. It’ flavorful, soft but not overcooked as I like my cabbage a little crunchy.
This recipe looks good, but in looking at the nutritional value the carbs just don't add up. They seem very high. I looked up cooked brown rice, 1/2 cup and it's only 23 grams of carbs, so not sure why the final carb count is so high for this recipe of 49. Could you maybe clarify, please?
Interesting! I just re-did the calculation through my recipe application plugin and actually, I chose for the calculation the uncooked rice instead of the cooked brown rice. So here's the difference. With cooked rice, it is half less carbs, indeed. Thank you for noticing, Laila!