5 Trendy Techniques for Cooking With Cabbage

If your cooking goals for this year are anything like mine, they might include spending less on groceries while also cooking more at home. And trust me, those two goals are not incompatible.

To accomplish that, an important rule of thumb to remember is that the key to more affordable (and abundant) home cooking hinges on learning which ingredients will do a lot without costing half your paycheck. For example, canned beans are shelf stable, can be used in a variety of ways, and add inexpensive protein to your meals. Or, for when I need to feed a lot of people, I’ll often roast whole carrots before finishing them with a simple glaze — they look beautiful on a platter and don’t rack up a big bill.

Buying fresh greens on a budget can be challenging, especially if you’re cooking for a smaller household. A box of spring mix or bunches of tender lettuce like green leaf will go bad quickly, and are usually only eaten raw, so it may take longer to use them up. This is exactly why you’ll consistently find cabbage on my grocery list instead.

Related: 33 Refreshing Cabbage Recipes

Cabbage is one of the most affordable and long lasting greens you can buy. A whole head of fresh cabbage will last in the fridge for two weeks or longer when stored properly. They tend to be big, so if you only use half, just wrap up the other piece tightly in plastic wrap, store it in the crisper drawer, and it will likely last just as long. But the best part about cabbage is how versatile it is; you’d be hard pressed to run out of ways to use this hardy green. Social media has grown increasingly fond of cabbage over the past year, with content creators coming up with endless techniques for cooking with it. So to kickstart a year of celebrating all things cabbage, here are a few internet-inspired ideas for how to incorporate it into your meals.

Chopped salads

It’s possible that the most famous salad to hit the internet in recent years was Baked by Melissa’s (Melissa Ben-Ishay) salad with a vivid, creamy green goddess dressing. And it all starts with chopped cabbage. I love using cabbage in salads because it’s a heartier green, so it keeps me full for longer. Because cabbage is crunchy, it lends itself especially well to a chopped salad. It won’t lose its texture once diced, and it can even hold up to dressing overnight. So feel free to batch your cabbage chopped salads for the week.

Braised cabbage

Just like meat, slowly braising cabbage with liquid helps infuse it with flavor and yields meltingly tender leaves. It's also one of the easiest ways to cook the vegetable because it requires minimal chopping and most of the cooking is done in the oven, leaving you with a centerpiece-worthy dish or a standout side. Quite a few creators — like Brandon Skier, who went viral for his braised cabbage recipe in 2023 — recommend searing wedges before braising them, to achieve a caramelized exterior.

Fried cabbage

There is undoubtedly a wide variety of stir-fried cabbage dishes around the world, but when I say “fried cabbage,” I’m talking about a classic Southern side that everyone should know about — and luckily, content creators are bringing it to more feeds. Chopped cabbage and onions are sautéed in rendered bacon fat to create this simple dish, before being tossed with crisp pieces of bacon for texture. Different recipes may call for a variety of seasonings or other additions, but the core ingredients of cabbage, onions, and bacon typically remain the same.

Cabbage rolls

You can find stuffed cabbage all over the world in dozens of unique forms across different cultures — and that variety abounds on social media too. Search “cabbage rolls” or “stuffed cabbage” on Instagram and TikTok, and you’ll discover an endless array of recipes for tender leaves wrapped around fillings that usually include ground meat or tofu, aromatics, and seasonings, plus more optional additions like vegetables or rice. Quite a few renditions of stuffed cabbage (although certainly not all) come smothered in a bright tomato sauce — like the Dominican Niños Envueltos or Hungarian Töltött káposzta — while others might be finished with super savory soy sauce mixture.

Cabbage steaks

Before you scoff at the term “cabbage steaks,” I recognize that this cruciferous vegetable is not the same as a filet mignon. But rather this name refers to giving cabbage the steak treatment by slicing it into round, thick slabs. This creates a larger surface area, so more of the cabbage can brown and caramelize in the oven or on the stovetop, which is how you achieve the most flavor. Some creators are amping up the caramelization even further by baking the steaks with a marinade or glaze.

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