Haluski (buttery cabbage and noodles)
Sweet, buttery fried cabbage and onions tossed with egg noodles and lots of black pepper, the Eastern European comfort dish that turns a head of cabbage into dinner.
- 40 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $1.25 a serving
- 500 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- ½ head green cabbage, about 1½ lb
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 12 oz smoked kielbasa, sliced into coins (optional)
- 5 tbsp butter, divided
- 12 oz egg noodles
From your pantry
- 4 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 500 calories, 14 g protein, 71 g carbs and 18 g fat, and costs about $1.25 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No green cabbage? Red cabbage or coleslaw mix works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No smoked kielbasa? Precooked chicken sausage works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No egg noodles? Fettuccine or penne works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Cut the cabbage into quarters, cut out the hard , and slice it into 1-inch pieces. the onion.
Core. Coring means cutting out the hard center of things like apples, peppers or cabbage. That center is tough and woody, so it’s the part you throw away.
How you’ll know: What’s left is all tender flesh, with no hard, pale center.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
If you’re adding kielbasa, brown it in a large dry over medium-high heat, 4 to 5 minutes, until and hot through. Move it to a plate.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min 30 sec
Food safety: Raw pork sausage is done at 160°F and raw chicken or turkey sausage at 165°F. Precooked sausage just needs heating until hot all the way through.
3 tablespoons butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, 5 minutes, until soft.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Add the cabbage and 1 teaspoon salt. It will pile high but shrinks as it cooks.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: Use your biggest pan. If it won’t all fit, add half, let it wilt a few minutes, then add the rest.Cook, stirring every few minutes, 15 to 18 minutes, until the cabbage is soft, sweet and in spots.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium heatTimer: 16 min
Dolly’s tip: Let it sit between stirs. The brown edges are where the flavor is.While the cabbage cooks, bring a large pot of water with 1 tablespoon salt, cook the noodles as the package says, and .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heatTimer: 7 min
Add the noodles, the rest of the butter, the kielbasa and the pepper to the cabbage and until everything is glossy.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Medium heat
Taste, add salt if it needs it, and serve hot with extra black pepper.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
