Low Carb Cabbage Carbonara Recipe - Lowcarb-ology (2024)

16 Comments / Main Dish, Quick and Easy Mains / By Katherine Peters / January 14, 2015 / 3 minutes of reading

Today I’m taking the “carb” out of carbonara with this low carb cabbage carbonara. Smoky bacon, salty Parmesan, and garlic give this dish its flavor. It is one of my favorite meals and I swear I like this better than the traditional kind with pasta. The cabbage has an uneven texture which helps hold the sauce — oh and that sauce!

For this recipe you’ll need: cabbage, bacon, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, parmesan cheese, heavy cream, egg, and pepper.

If you are in a hurry, feel free to Jump to the Recipe

The sauce is created by finishing the cabbage in just a little cream and then mixing an egg yolk into the rest of the ingredients. What comes forth is a silky, rich sauce that clings to each strand of the cabbage which clutches the bacon and Parmesan tightly to it. You have to taste it to believe it.

Be sure to take the ingredients off the stove before adding the egg or you’ll have scrambled egg in this and that’s not cool. I like to mix just a touch of cream in with the egg before I mix it into the cabbage to help ensure that there is no scrambling. Once you’ve mixed it up plate it and eat it immediately — this dish must be eaten right after it’s prepared.

Low-carb cabbage carbonara is quick to make — only about 15 minutes from start to finish. Yes. It is high in fat and calories – it’s probably not something you’ll want to eat on a daily basis. Well… you might want to but the calories might trip you up. If you have issues with eating raw egg yolk you can use pasteurized eggs — I don’t use them so I don’t know if there are any significant differences.

How much bacon fat you leave in the pan is kind of up to you. I leave all of it because this cabbage carbonara is a treat for me and I like it. Plus, the bacon I get doesn’t have gobs of fat. 3 Tablespoons in the pan is about what you need but you can use a little less or a little more if you want.

Cabbage and Onion Carbonara

Take the carb out of Carbonara with this delicious, rich dish! Wide cabbage shreds are sauteed in bacon fat, then mixed with a silky carbonara sauce and the crispy bacon. Finally it’s sprinkled with Parmesan. If you love carbonara you will love this.

Course Light Dinner/Lunch, Low Carb Main

Cuisine Italian

Ingredients

6 ounces cabbage cut in wide shreds
3 slices of bacon
1/8 teaspoon salt Pinch
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 ounce grated Parmesan grated – the fresh kind from the refrigerated section not the kind in a green jar!
2 tablespoons heavy cream save a teaspoon to beat into the egg
1 egg yolk eaten with about 1 teaspoon of the heavy cream
black pepper Freshly ground

Instructions

Dice the bacon and cook it until all the fat is rendered out.
Remove the bacon to a plate and add the cabbage to the bacon grease in the pan. If you have more than about 3 tablespoons of grease you may want to pour some off.
Add the shredded cabbage and saute, stirring often, until the cabbage is tender but not mushy – about 5 minutes.
Add the cream, garlic powder, and onion powder.
Simmer until the cream has thickened and almost disappeared, about 3 minutes. Don’t let it scorch.
Remove from the heat and add the beaten egg yolk, cooked bacon, and the Parmesan, stirring in quickly.
Spoon into a dish and top with remaining Parmesan and plenty of black pepper.
Eat immediately.

Notes

Protein: 36.5

Nutrition

If you liked this Low Carb Cabbage Carbonara Recipe you may also like…

Click on the picture or the name of the recipe to go straight to it, Low Carb Cheese “Grits”, Low Carb Copycat Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole, Low Carb Egg Noodles