Jamaican Cabbage and Shrimp
Quick stir-fried Jamaican cabbage and shrimp seasoned with aromatic spices and topped with sautéed bacon is a delicious side dish or main dish. A healthy option for quick and easy weeknight dinners with tropical Caribbean vibes.
Cabbage is very often overlooked, underrated, and often goes to waste. But don’t let it go bad and throw it away. Take that cabbage, or buy some at the supermarket, and turn it into something really tasty and fuss-free.
One of my favorite ways to prepare cabbage is to infuse it with smoked paprika. Oh yes! And bacon too! Everything is always better with bacon, right? Yes, this recipe calls for bacon, and bacon drippings might not be the healthiest of choices, but I tell you it really rocks!
Caribbean-Style Cabbage
This Jamaican cabbage and shrimp is a little spicy, super simple to make, and extremely flavorful. It uses familiar Caribbean ingredients: thyme, garlic, allspice, and scotch bonnet pepper, making it convenient for a crazy weeknight meal.
How to Make Jamaican Cabbage and Shrimp
Chop the cabbage, sauté the shrimp, fry the bacon, sauté the seasonings, add the cabbage, and simmer until tender. Enjoy.
Recipe Notes
- Omit the bacon for a pork-free option, but please do include smoked paprika if you love the smoky flavor.
- The scotch bonnet pepper is optional. I usually just throw the whole thing in the pot because I want the flavor, not the heat, so my little man can enjoy it too.
- Feel free to swap out the shrimp with protein of your choice or leave it out completely.
- Serve with rice or fried or boiled plantains.
More Spicy Caribbean Recipes to Try
Watch How to Make It
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Jamaican Cabbage and Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 small head cabbage, chopped (5-6 cups)
- 1-2 tablespoons (15-30g) cooking oil
- 1 pound (450g) large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- seasoning blend to taste (1-2 tablespoons jerk, Creole, or fish seasoning per pound of shrimp)
- 2-3 slices bacon, cut into 3-4 pieces
- 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
- 1 teaspoon (2-3g) smoked paprika
- 1-2 teaspoons (2-3g) fresh thyme
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 2 teaspoons (10g) minced garlic
- ½ medium onion, diced
- ½ medium bell pepper, diced (any color)
- ½ teaspoon (1-2g) ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon (3-4g) chicken bouillon (optional)
- salt and white pepper to taste (salt to taste usually runs around ½ teaspoon per pound of cabbage)
Instructions
- Slice or chop cabbage, and set it aside.
- Heat a large skillet with 1-2 tablespoons of oil. Add the shrimp and lightly season with salt and your preferred seasonings. I love jerk, Creole seasoning, or any herbs or spices on hand. Sauté them for 3-5 minutes, and set them aside.
- Turn the heat to medium, and fry the bacon until browned and crispy (3-5 minutes), then set aside. Leave 1-2 tablespoons of bacon drippings in the pan, adding more oil if necessary.
- Add the scotch bonnet pepper, paprika, thyme, green onions, garlic, onions, bell peppers, and allspice. Sauté for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
- Then add cabbage, chicken bouillon (optional), salt, and white pepper, stirring to incorporate all the ingredients. Let it cook for about 5 minutes or more, depending on preference or how you like your cabbage cooked.
- Adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve cabbage with sautéed shrimp and bacon on top or on the side.
Tips & Notes:
- One dear reader increased the spices, cooked the cabbage longer for more tender results, and mixed the shrimp and bacon in with the cabbage before serving. Thank you for sharing!
- Feel free to increase the shrimp for a hearty main dish.
- A couple of other readers substituted the bell pepper with grated carrot for delicious cabbage.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Do you have any recommendations to swap instead of shrimp for this? How would you prep chicken or something to put with this?
You can totally substitute shrimp with chicken, fish, and pork. I would cut the meat into bite-sized pieces, then season it with jerk or Creole seasoning, and saute it just until cooked through. Set it aside, then serve it on top of the cabbage just like you would the shrimp. Please let me know how it goes 🙂
This is an excellent recipe, but yours always are
Thank you, Christina :)!
Went a little heavier on the seasonings and onions because I love both! Also cooked longer so that cabbage was softer. Mixed bacon and shrimp throughout the dish instead of sitting on top. Oh yeh! Also used about a half pound more of shrimp. Excellent dish. Definitely will make again!
Loved it!! Very flavorful and filling!
Made this recipe tonight! I didn’t have a bell.pepper so diced up a couple of carrots to give it some color. Don’t think it changed the flavor any though. This recipe was amazing. Def making this again, next time with the bell pepper! 🙂
Thank you for trying out my recipe, Lisa! So glad it was a hit with you.
We could not stop eating this! Made some adjustments of course. Used a cast iron skillet. Made the bacon, then the shrimp, then the cabbage and added it all back together at the end with a pouch of precooked basmati rice. I didn’t have any sweet peppers so just left them out. No scotch bonnets but my kiddo doesn’t like heat so just left it out but made sure to add some good hot sauce (sudsy’s from the finger lakes in New York state). Fantastic! We will definitely make it again.
I’m glad that you love this as much as I do. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
I made an adulterated version of it. Not true measures. A little over on paprika and crushed garlic. Not sure I like the rosemary. Made 2-3. Ate half. Washed it down with another concoction. Summer Dew and Rumple Mince. Very good!!!
Glad you liked it! 🙂
I love the recipe, it’s my go to when I don’t know what to cook. It’s fast and easy. I don’t eat pork so I leave out the bacon. Just as good without it.
Great! Thanks for taking the time out to share this with us .
Love this recipe! Keep coming back to it. I can’t eat bell peppers and use shredded carrot instead!
so good!!
I noticed paprika in the ingredients list but not in the instructions. Where do you suggest adding the paprika?
Good catch. I already updated the recipe. You add the paprika along with the peppers and allspice. Thank you, Joshua.
Wonderful photos. Instead of using oils for sautéing, I fried the bacon first and used the bacon fat.
Sounds good, Joan! Thank you for making this recipe 🙂
A hit in our home every time!!
side dish? not for this old grangran. loved this one dish meal soooo much. love all the ingr.
I love this recipe. I like mine spicy so I added cayenne pepper
Nice! Glad to hear it worked out well
I REALLY want to try this, but I don’t quite understand the measurements that you used. Is there any way to get the recipe with regular measurements?
Hello there!
At the bottom of the recipe you have metrics measurement , have you checked it out?