These easy cabbage recipes are healthy, quick, and absolutely delicious! These cabbage sides, soups, and dinners will keep you feeling full for hours, help support a healthy body, and save you money at the grocery store.
Recipes with Cabbage
While cabbage doesn’t usually get a highlight reel or constant praise, recipes with cabbage are some of the most popular! This hearty, healthy vegetable is a favorite due to its versatility, nutrients, and ease of use. You can find a quick cabbage recipe to fit your cravings in this helpful list!
Add it into your morning routine with this delicious Cabbage Hash, or pack some cabbage in your lunch with this Egg Roll in a Bowl. Whether you wrap it in bacon or put it in a soup, you’re going to love finding new ways to eat this healthy veggie!
Why you should eat cabbage
- Inexpensive – Green cabbage routinely takes the top spot when it comes to bang for your buck! It’s one of the cheapest vegetables you can buy, and it often goes on sale year-round in many areas. It doesn’t go bad quickly, meaning you don’t waste your money if you’re too tired to cook for a night or two!
- Accessible – You can find cabbage at nearly any grocery store in the United States. It’s not difficult to find in most areas, the cost is low enough that it can be worked into your grocery budget easily. It can last a couple weeks when stored properly, so it’s the perfect vegetable for anyone who only makes a couple grocery store trips a month!
- Versatile – Cabbage can be eaten raw, cooked, or even ferminted. It holds up great in soups but also gets nice and tender with just a little time in the air fryer. The flavor easily works with so many different types of cuisines and diets. You can have cabbage in several different ways without getting sick of it!
- Healthy – When it comes to nutritional value for your money or calories, cabbage wins every time! It’s low in carbs, calories, fat, sodium, and cholesterol. It’s high in Vitamins C (healthy brain and immune system), K (healthy heart and bones), and Folate (healthy cell growth especially for pregnant people). Cabbage is believed to be great for digestion, an anti-inflammatory, can reduce the risk of certain cancers, and keeps your heart healthy.
FAQs about Cabbage Recipes
Cabbage is a common ingredient in many parts of the world, but it can still be intimidating to work with something if you’re new to it. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about cabbage:
Can cabbage recipes make you healthier?
It looks like there are loads of healthy benefits that come from including a good amount of cabbage in your diet! Each raw cup of green cabbage has just 22 calories with 1 gram of protein, 5.8 grams of carbs, and 2.5 grams of fiber (so 3.3 net carbs). It will keep you feeling full, helping you consume fewer calories and possibly assist in weight loss.
All the vitamins and minerals in cabbage help your body operate at its best. Cuciferous vegetables like cabbage are believed to help reduce inflammation that can damage cells and lead to life-threatening illnesses. The Vitamin C helps promote collagen production, boosts your immune system’s ability to fight off illness, and helps your body absorb and use the iron you consume. Cabbage, especially when ferminted, fuels the good bacteria that can be found in our gut, helping us stay regular, too!
The high levels of Vitamin K help keep osteoporosis at bay, giving you healthy bones and helping your blod to clot the way it should. Cabbage also contains antioxidants to help fight against cancer, potassium to help lower blood pressure, and both phytosterols and fiber to help lower your “bad” cholesterol. In general, cabbage is a superfood that is worth adding into your daily diet!
Is cabbage the same thing as lettuce?
No. Cabbage and iceberg lettuce look similar, but they are actually in two different plant families. Green cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable (it, broccoli, cauliflower, and even kale all come from the same family) while iceberg lettuce is from the asteraceae family (related to artichokes and daisies, actually). While they are both healthy, low-calorie foods, cabbage has more vitamins and nutrients than lettuce (though fun fact: iceberg lettuce has almost 5x as much Vitamin A as cabbage!).
Cabbage leaves are tougher and hold up better in soups and under direct heat. You’ll get a stronger peppery flavor from the cabbage while iceberg lettuce has a more neutral, bland flavor (likely due to the high water content). Overall, cabbage is more nutrient dense than iceberg and holds up much better in cooked recipes.
How do you store cabbage to make it last?
Cabbage has a lifespan longer than most veggies, often lasting 2 weeks when the head in wrapped tightly in plastic and stored in the crisper drawer in your fridge. If you’ve cut your cabbage,
How do you know when cabbage has gone bad?
If the cabbage leaves feel slimy, look wilted, or have a strong odor, it has probably started to spoil. Fresh cabbage should smell a little bitter, earthy, somewhat peppery and sulfuric. If it starts to smell sour, like decay or ammonia, then you should discard it. Old cabbage will start to turn grey and black on the edges instead of bright green.