Sausage and Cabbage Stir Fry Recipe: The Campfire One-Pan Meal

So you’re camping, it’s dinner time, and you’re staring at your cooler wondering if there’s literally anything better to make than hot dogs for the fourth night in a row.

There is, and it’s this Sausage and Cabbage Stir Fry recipe.

This campfire Sausage and Cabbage Stir Fry recipe transforms humble ingredients—sausage, cabbage, onions, and some strategic seasonings—into a legitimately delicious one-skillet dinner cooked over an open fire.

It’s the kind of meal that makes you look like you actually know what you’re doing in the wilderness, even though you’re literally just chopping vegetables and stirring a pan.

The best part? It takes about 25 minutes start to finish, dirties exactly one piece of cookware, and tastes like actual food instead of “survival rations we’re tolerating because we’re camping.”

No freeze-dried mystery packets, no canned sadness, just real vegetables and smoky sausage cooked over fire the way nature intended, except with way better flavor and significantly less risk of food poisoning.

Why This Recipe is Awesome

Let’s discuss why this campfire Sausage and Cabbage Stir Fry recipe is about to revolutionize your outdoor cooking game. First and most critically, it’s a beautiful one-pan situation.

Everything cooks in your trusty cast iron skillet, which means cleanup is literally just wiping it out with a paper towel and maybe some water if you’re feeling fancy.

No mountain of dishes haunting you from the picnic table, no scrubbing multiple pots with sketchy campsite water, no existential crisis about whether you brought enough biodegradable soap.

Just one skillet, one meal, one absurdly easy cleanup that leaves you more time to stare at the fire and contemplate existence.

Second, cabbage is the unsung hero of camping vegetables. It doesn’t need refrigeration for the first couple days, it doesn’t bruise when your cooler gets tossed around in the trunk, and it lasts infinitely longer than delicate greens like lettuce or spinach that turn to brown mush if you look at them wrong.

You can pack a head of cabbage on day one and confidently use it on day three without playing food safety roulette. It’s hardy, it’s cheap, and it travels like an absolute champion.

Third, this recipe is genuinely delicious—not just “good considering we’re eating it next to a fire” delicious.

The sausage renders its flavorful fat into the pan, the cabbage caramelizes and develops those crispy golden edges, the onions turn sweet and jammy, and everything picks up a subtle smoky char from the campfire.

It’s comfort food that happens to include vegetables, so you can convince yourself you’re being healthy while eating sausage cooked in its own fat. We love strategic self-deception.

Fourth, it’s remarkably hard to screw up. Campfire cooking is inherently chaotic—your heat source is literal burning wood doing whatever it feels like—but this Sausage and Cabbage Stir Fry recipe is incredibly forgiving.

Fire too hot and things browning too fast? Move the skillet to the edge.

Fire dying down and nothing’s cooking? Slide it directly over the hottest coals.

There’s no precise temperature you need to maintain, no delicate timing that ruins everything if you get distracted watching a deer wander past your campsite.

Fifth, it feeds a crowd efficiently without requiring you to babysit a campfire for an hour like some kind of wilderness short-order cook.

You can make enough for 4-6 hungry campers in one go, everyone eats hot food at the same time, and you still have energy left to actually enjoy the evening instead of collapsing from dinner exhaustion.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Here’s what to pack for camping stir fry excellence:

The Protein:

• 1 pound smoked sausage or kielbasa (pre-cooked is crucial—we’re not doing raw meat temp checks at a campsite)
• Alternatives: Andouille, chicken sausage, or chorizo all work beautifully

The Vegetables:

• 1 medium head green cabbage (about 2 pounds, choose a firm one without sad brown spots)
• 1 large yellow onion (or white, pre-dice at home if you’re a planning wizard)
• 3-4 garlic cloves (minced, or bring jarred garlic in a tiny container because practicality wins)

The Flavor Squad:

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil (olive, vegetable, whatever doesn’t leak everywhere in your camping bin)
• 1 tablespoon butter (optional but makes everything 47% better)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce (bring in a leak-proof bottle or use single-serve packets)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar, adds brightness)
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (amplifies that campfire smokiness beautifully)
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, for the heat enthusiasts)
• Salt and black pepper (pack in small containers or use those hoarded condiment packets)

Optional Add-Ins:

• 1 bell pepper (any color, sliced—adds color and sweetness)
• 2 carrots (thinly sliced for bonus vegetables)
• Fresh thyme sprigs (if you’re feeling gourmet about campfire cooking)

For Serving:

• Crusty bread or rolls (perfect for soaking up pan juices)
• Pre-cooked rice pouches (the heat-and-eat kind, camping convenience at its finest)
• Fresh parsley (chopped, for garnish if you want to look fancy)
• Hot sauce (for people who put hot sauce on literally everything)

Essential Equipment:

• 12-inch cast iron skillet (your camping kitchen workhorse)
• Long-handled spatula or wooden spoon (protects your hands from becoming toast)
• Cutting board and sharp knife (for campsite prep work)
• Heat-resistant gloves or thick towels (that skillet handle gets scary hot)

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Build a proper cooking fire. You need a solid bed of hot glowing coals, not massive roaring flames that’ll carbonize your dinner. Let your fire burn for 30-40 minutes until you have consistent red coals with just a few small flames.

If you’re using a camp stove, set it to medium-high heat. The success of this campfire Sausage and Cabbage Stir Fry recipe depends on having manageable, consistent heat you can actually control.

2. Prep your cabbage while the fire develops. Remove any questionable outer leaves that look brown or damaged. Cut the cabbage into quarters, slice out the tough core, and then slice it into thin ribbons about 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide.

If you pre-chopped this at home and brought it in a gallon ziplock bag, you’re a camping genius and can skip ahead. If you’re chopping it fresh at the picnic table, just aim for relatively even pieces so everything cooks at the same rate.

3. Slice your sausage into bite-sized rounds. Cut your smoked sausage or kielbasa into coins about 1/2 inch thick. If you’re working with a really thick sausage, you can halve it lengthwise first, then slice into half-moons so they’re not comically large.

Keep the pieces roughly uniform for even cooking. Try very hard not to eat half the sausage before it makes it to the pan (fine, one piece for quality control purposes).

4. Get that cast iron skillet screaming hot. Place your skillet on a grate over the hot coals, or directly on the coals if you don’t have a grate (cast iron was literally made for this abuse).

Let it preheat for 2-3 minutes until it’s properly hot. Test by flicking a tiny drop of water onto the surface—if it sizzles violently and evaporates immediately, you’re ready to cook. If it just sits there looking confused, give it another minute or two.

5. Brown the sausage first for flavor foundation. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to your hot skillet and swirl it around to coat the bottom. Add your sausage slices in a single layer and then resist every urge to mess with them.

Let them sit undisturbed for 2-3 minutes to develop a gorgeous brown crust. Then stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes until they’re browned on multiple sides and the fat is rendering out.

That sausage fat is going to flavor absolutely everything else in this dish.

6. Remove the sausage and guard that rendered fat. Use your spatula to transfer the browned sausage to a plate or bowl, but leave all that beautiful rendered fat in the skillet.

That’s not grease, that’s flavor liquid gold. If you have more than 2-3 tablespoons pooling in there, you can carefully pour some off into a heat-safe container, but definitely keep at least 2 tablespoons for cooking the vegetables.

7. Sauté your aromatics in the sausage fat. Add your diced onion to the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want them to soften and start getting golden and caramelized around the edges.

Add the minced garlic and cook for just 30 seconds to 1 minute until it’s fragrant and making everyone at the campsite jealous.

Watch your heat—if your fire is too aggressive and things are browning too fast or starting to burn, move the skillet to a cooler spot on the grate.

8. Add the mountain of cabbage and watch it shrink. Dump all your sliced cabbage into the skillet. Yes, it looks absurd. Yes, it’s practically falling out of the pan.

That’s completely normal—cabbage is like 90% water and will shrink down to about a quarter of its original volume as it cooks. Just start stirring it around, and within 2-3 minutes it’ll wilt dramatically and actually fit in the pan.

This transformation is one of the most satisfying parts of making this Sausage and Cabbage Stir Fry recipe and it never gets old.

9. Season everything with authority. Sprinkle the smoked paprika, red pepper flakes (if using), salt, and black pepper over the cabbage. Stir everything together to distribute the seasonings evenly throughout all that cabbage.

Let it cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes to prevent anything from burning on the bottom. You’re aiming for tender cabbage with some golden-brown, slightly charred edges.

Those caramelized crispy bits are where all the flavor concentrates.

10. Add the secret weapon flavor combination. Once your cabbage is tender and starting to get some nice caramelization in spots, pour in the soy sauce and apple cider vinegar.

Stir everything together thoroughly and let it cook for another minute or two. The soy sauce adds that savory umami depth that makes you wonder why everything tastes so incredibly good, and the vinegar cuts through the richness and brightens all the flavors.

This combo is the MVP move in this campfire Sausage and Cabbage Stir Fry recipe.

11. Reunite the sausage with the vegetables. Add your reserved browned sausage back into the skillet, stirring it into the cabbage mixture so everything mingles.

If you brought butter, add it now and stir until it melts into everything—it adds a richness that’s absolutely worth the precious cooler space.

Let everything cook together for 2-3 minutes so the sausage reheats thoroughly and all the flavors can meld into one cohesive, delicious situation.

Taste it and adjust seasoning with more salt, pepper, or soy sauce as needed. This is your dinner, make it perfect.

12. Master campfire heat management. Throughout this cooking process, you’ll need to actively manage your heat situation. If things are cooking too fast or starting to burn, move the skillet to the edge of the coals where it’s cooler.

If nothing’s happening and your vegetables are just sitting there unchanged, move it directly over the hottest part. This is the art of campfire cooking—it requires attention and adjustment, but that’s what makes you feel like a legitimate outdoor chef instead of just someone who can open a can.

13. Serve it up camping style. Let the skillet cool for about a minute (seriously, don’t touch that handle with your bare hand unless you enjoy second-degree burns), then either serve directly from the pan like the camping champion you are, or portion it out onto plates if you’re feeling civilized.

If you brought crusty bread, use it to soak up all those delicious, savory juices pooling at the bottom of the skillet.

If you packed those convenient rice pouches, heat them separately in boiling water and serve the stir fry on top for a complete meal.

Pro tips for success: Prep your onions and garlic at home and bring them in a sealed container—way less knife work at camp means more time for hiking or napping in your hammock.

Pre-measure all your seasonings into one small container or ziplock bag so you’re not juggling five different spice bottles while managing a campfire.

This Sausage and Cabbage Stir Fry recipe reheats beautifully, so make extra and enjoy it for breakfast the next morning with fried eggs on top.

If you have cooler space, pack a lemon and squeeze fresh lemon juice over everything before serving—it elevates the whole dish. And remember: campfire cooking is inherently unpredictable and that’s okay.

If things get a little more charred than planned or take longer than expected, just roll with it.

That’s all part of the outdoor cooking adventure and it usually still tastes amazing.