Cabbage NEVER tasted so GOOD!

Backyard Chef — Rick

Ingredients

• Pork sausages (store-bought) — number unspecified
• Potatoes — peeled and cubed
• Onion — diced
• Carrot — sliced or cubed
• Cabbage — chopped / roughly cut
• Garlic — a little, mashed (to taste)
• Cooking oil — a little (for frying)
• Butter — a little for sautéing + additional cold butter for dumplings (grated)
• Stock / broth — a splash to start (beef gravy powder used as an optional boost)
• Seasonings: salt, black pepper, dried thyme, sweet paprika
• Worcestershire sauce — a little splash
• Tomato purée — 1 heaped tablespoon
• Water — a little for boiling sausages and for dumpling dough

Dumplings

• Self-raising flour
• Salt
• Butter (cold, grated, to substitute for suet)
• Water (to bring to a loose dough)

Optional / substitutions

• Stock cube or gravy powder (beef gravy powder for extra flavor)
• Caraway seeds (optional)
• Herbs mixed into the dumpling dough for herby dumplings
• Use self-raising flour + grated cold butter instead of suet for dumplings

Equipment and prep notes

• Large frying / shallow pan with a lid (lid important for steaming dumplings)
• Bowl for prepared vegetables and another for mixing dumpling dough
• Grater (to grate cold butter)
• Board and knife for chopping/slicing sausages
• Fork to test potato doneness

Method — step-by-step

1. Prep the vegetables

   • Peel and cube potatoes; dice onion; slice or cube carrot; chop cabbage; mash a little garlic.
   • Place prepared veg together in a bowl.

2. Pre-cook and brown the sausages

   • Put sausages in a thin pan with a little water and a bit of oil. Briefly boil so they swell/fill (helps prevent bursting).
   • When the water mostly evaporates, fry in the oil until browned (about 5–6 minutes total), turning frequently.
   • Remove, slice into chunks (Rick cut each into roughly four pieces) and set aside.

3. Build the stew

   • In the pan, melt a little butter and sauté the diced onion until soft; add garlic to cook off rawness.
   • Add carrot and potatoes, then cabbage.
   • Add a splash of stock/broth and season with dried thyme, salt, pepper, sweet paprika and a dash of Worcestershire sauce.
   • Stir in one heaped tablespoon tomato purée.
   • Return the sliced sausages to the pan and stir through.

4. Simmer before adding dumplings

   • Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 15–20 minutes until potatoes are “softish” but not falling apart.
   • Note: the vegetables will release liquid, so you don’t need much extra stock.

5. Make the dumplings (while the stew simmers)

   • Put self-raising flour in a bowl with a little salt.
   • Grate cold butter into the flour to replicate suet; rub/distribute until breadcrumb-like.
   • Add water and gently bring together to form a loose dough. Do not overwork — keep it loose to avoid heavy dumplings.
   • Divide the dough into the desired number of dumplings and shape gently (do not squash).

6. Cook the dumplings

   • Place dumplings on top of the simmering stew and cover with the lid.
   • Cook for about 15 minutes without lifting the lid.
   • After 15 minutes, check — dumplings should be cooked and light.

Serving

• Serve straight from the pot as a family-style, comforting one-pot meal.
• Dumplings sit on top of cabbage, sausage and veg. Rick describes them as “lightweight” and the stew as hearty and inexpensive.

Chef tips, technique cues & common mistakes

• Briefly boil sausages before frying to prevent bursting and to maximize filling.
• Grate cold butter into the flour to simulate suet for dumplings.
• Don’t overwork dumpling dough — overworking makes them stodgy.
• Don’t squash or compress dumplings when forming them; keep them loose.
• Once dumplings are in, keep the lid on and do not lift for the ~15-minute cooking time.
• Keep added liquid moderate — vegetables (especially cabbage and potatoes) will release liquid as they cook.

Variations

• Add caraway seeds to the stew for extra flavor.
• Make herby dumplings by mixing fresh or dried herbs into the dumpling dough.
• Boost flavor with a stock cube or beef gravy powder.
• Substitute suet with grated cold butter and self-raising flour for dumplings.

Measurements: the original source gives few exact quantities — the only specific amount stated is “one heaped tablespoon tomato purée.” Other ingredient amounts are qualitative; follow proportions to suit the size of your pot/family or to taste.

Presenter / source

• Backyard Chef — Rick (video presenter)