Dijon Pork Meatballs with Caraway Creamed Cabbage

These super moist and flavorful pork meatballs with Dijon mustard and pretzels pair perfectly with creamed caraway cabbage. Add Dijon Pork Meatballs with Caraway Creamed Cabbage to your family's menu one day soon, and then get ready to hear the applause.

How to Make Dijon Pork Meatballs with Caraway Creamed Cabbage

This Dijon Pork Meatballs with Caraway Creamed Cabbage recipe came about as I was doing a freezer, fridge, and pantry raid, trying and use up some ingredients that had been left behind in the shuffle of everyday life. The results were better than anything I could have planned, and I feel confident you'll think so too.

From time to time, there is a desperate need for me to reevaluate what's in our large freezer in the basement. I hate to admit it, but things pile up in there because I'm not as organized as I should be, and instead of taking inventory of what's already in there before going grocery shopping, duplicate items are purchased. All because I was too lazy and unorganized to check before heading to the store.

This Dijon Pork Meatballs with Caraway Creamed Cabbage recipe came about after a much-needed case of inventory taking, and freezer purging. With the ground pork and bulk pork breakfast sausage being seriously close to a bad case of freezer burn, I knew I had to rush into action. Thankfully I was able to resuscitate them and happily give them back their second chance at life. Well, so to speak ... 😉

As a binder for the meatballs, I decided to use some pretzels from the bottom of an opened bag we had in the pantry. I put them in a zip-top bag and crushed them lightly them with a rolling pin. And since pretzels and mustard go so well together, it was a no-brainer for me to add a good amount of Dijon mustard for that tangy flavor that compliments and cuts through the fattiness of the meat and rounds out all the other flavors.

In a large bowl, mix together ground pork, bulk pork breakfast sausage, salt, pepper, caraway seeds, garlic powder, onion powder, Dijon mustard, crushed pretzels and brown sugar. Form into meatballs and bake on a rack in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

While the meatballs bake, saute shredded cabbage in butter and olive oil. Add sliced red onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage cooks down by half.

Stir in salt, pepper, caraway, allspice and brown sugar. Continue cooking for and additional 10 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in heavy cream, Dijon mustard and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Heat through.

Serve the baked meatballs over the creamed cabbage and enjoy!

Dijon Pork Meatballs with Caraway Creamed Cabbage Recipe

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Dijon Pork Meatballs with Creamed Caraway Cabbage

Renee Goerger

These super moist and flavorful pork meatballs with Dijon mustard and pretzels pair perfectly with creamed caraway cabbage.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Calories

Ingredients

  

• ▢ 1 pound ground pork
• ▢ 1 pound bulk pork breakfast sausage
• ▢ 1½ teaspoons kosher salt divided
• ▢ ½ teaspoon pepper divided
• ▢ 3½ teaspoons caraway seeds divided
• ▢ pinch allspice
• ▢ 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• ▢ 2 tablespoons onion powder
• ▢ ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, divided
• ▢ ½ cup crushed pretzels
• ▢ 2 tablespoon brown sugar divided
• ▢ 1 head green cabbage cored and shredded
• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter
• ▢ 1 medium red onion sliced
• ▢ ½ cup heavy cream
• ▢ 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Tools

• ▢ 1 large bowl
• ▢ zip-top bag for crushing pretzels
• ▢ rolling pin for crushing pretzels
• ▢ baking sheet
• ▢ aluminum foil to cover baking sheet optional
• ▢ baking rack to fit in baking sheet optional
• ▢ large skillet

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, mix together the ground pork, pork breakfast sausage, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons caraway seeds, garlic powder, onion powder, ¼ cup Dijon mustard, crushed pretzels and 1 tablespoon brown sugar.
• Shape the meat mixture into balls the size of golf balls.
• Place the meatballs on a prepared baking sheet with a rack (optional) and bake the meatballs in a preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.
• While the meatballs cook, saute the shredded cabbage with the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Stir in the red onion, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
• Cover and continue cooking (stirring occasionally) until the cabbage reduces by half.
• Once reduced, stir in 1½ teaspoon caraway seeds, allspice and 1 tablespoon brown sugar.
• Continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes.
• Reduce heat to low and stir in the heavy cream, 2 teaspoons Dijon and the apple cider vinegar.
• Remove the meatballs from the oven.
• To serve, spoon the meatballs over the creamed caraway cabbage and enjoy!

Notes

The salt in this recipe is just a guide. If you're watching your sodium intake, please feel free to cut back on the amount used.
If you're a big fan of allspice, please feel free to add more than just a pinch. Adding a touch more will give extra warmth (spice) to the entire dish. Just remember to taste as you go.
The apple cider vinegar at the end is optional, but it will add a brightness to the completed dish that is quite remarkable.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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