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This vegan cabbage recipe is my favorite way to use that cruciferous vegetable. Squares of cabbage are roasted until they’re buttery soft and crispy around the edges. It’s also a great way to use any excess cabbage that you have, because the vegetable shrinks in the process. Vegan & gluten-free.
As I mentioned in my post for Chickpea Tacos, in preparation for a blog update, I’m revisiting and refreshing some of my classic recipes.
Today I’m flashing back to one of my all-time most popular posts – my crispy vegan cabbage recipe.
Crispy cabbage is made with only 3 ingredients: cabbage, oil, and salt. Yet, surprisingly it is the second most viewed recipe on my blog.
(The first? Cauliflower queso.)
Vegan cabbage recipe
I am a huge fan of cabbage, especially in sauerkraut-form. Tossed into stir-fries, steamed as a side, eaten raw in a salad, cabbage is always welcome in my book.
However, my husband is less of a fan. This crispy cabbage recipe changed all that. It turned David from someone who was underwhelmed at best by cabbage into a person who goes back for seconds.
Unlike kale chips, crispy cabbage is more of a side dish than a snack.
By cutting the cabbage into small to medium sized pieces and then roasting it, the cabbage gets wonderfully toasty around the edges (and sometimes a little burnt too). The inside becomes buttery.
Together that makes for mouthful after mouthful of delicious for next to no work at all.
A great way to use extra cabbage
Also, if you’re like me, you’ve occasionally bought a head of cabbage for tacos, and then wondered what you were going to do with the overflowing amount you had left.
This recipe is great because the cabbage actually shrinks by half in the roasting time. Two cups of raw cabbage becomes just a cup of crispy cabbage.
That means that if you’re cooking for a group, it’s best to err on the side of more cabbage, because it becomes a surprisingly small (but tasty) amount.
Just be careful not to overcrowd your baking sheet. You want it to roast, not steam.
When in doubt, use an extra baking sheet. Then roast on the upper and lower oven racks, taking turns to switch top/bottom halfway through.
This vegan cabbage recipe is an easy, anytime side. I especially like it as a side to salads, because there’s something about having something warm and toasty on the side to make salad feel a bit more like a full-fledged meal.
It’s served in the salad below with a few Gardein chick’n strips.
Crispy Cabbage
Ingredients
- 4 cups raw cabbage cut into small to medium-sized pieces
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Put half of the cabbage on each of the two sheets. Toss the cabbage on each sheet with 1/2 teaspoon extra virgiin olive oil and a pinch of salt. Spread the cabbage evenly across the sheets, so that it's not touching.
- Roast the cabbage for 17-20 minutes, stopping once halfway through to turn the cabbage and swap the top and bottom rows in the oven. Keep an eye on it for the last five minutes of roasting. Toasty brown and even a little burnt around the edges is good, but totally black is not. Remove from oven, salt to taste, and serve.
Shell says
This is so simple and looks so delicious! Do you have a tried and true method to flip the cabbage?
Cadry says
Thanks, Shell! I just use a spatula and try to evenly flip all of the pieces. I’ve even made it without flipping, though, and it turned out okay. It’s pretty forgiving!
Shell says
With kale chips I flip each individual piece of kale and that seems a little silly to me. I’ll use a spatula and let the magic happen.
Cadry says
Ha! Yes, definitely don’t stand in the way of magic. 😉
Eve-Marie says
Do you think this would work with napa cabbage?
Cadry says
I would think that it would be just fine with napa cabbage; although, I’ve never tried it. If you do, let me know how it goes!
River says
Oh, yes please! Yes to crispy cabbage! Cabbage is such an underrated vegetable, isn’t it? I love to eat massive mountains of shredded sautéed cabbage with other random veggies. Now I need to make a massive mountain of Cadry’s Crispy Cabbage! Alliteration for the win! 🙂
Cadry says
Cabbage is the unsung hero of vegetables. It never gets the love that kale does. I’m glad that you’re a fan, and I like your alliteration fest. If I was Guy Fieri, I could call this dish Triple C!
Susan says
I almost always end up with extra cabbage leftover in the fridge after recipes. Normally I just add it to a lunchtime stir-fry, but this looks a lot more fun and tasty!
Cadry says
Yes, I’ve had the same dilemma! Somehow cabbage seems to multiply after breaking open a head. Especially only cooking for two, it can be hard to get through all of it. Luckily, it keeps well!
An Unrefined Vegan says
I will have to try this method with my “underwhelmed” cabbage-eater :-). Great idea!
Cadry says
Good luck! I hope you have success!
Caitlin says
yessss. i love cabbage. i usually use it up by sauteing it or putting it soups. next time, i’m definitely roasting it.
Cadry says
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it, Caitlin!
Rob says
This looks so tasty! I will have to try it. When I have a lot of cabbage, I like to slow-cook two or three pounds of it with olive oil, onions, mushrooms and veggie stock for three hours or so, and it makes a great winter pasta sauce, especially over rigatoni or penne.
Cadry says
Wow, what a great idea! That sounds like a very delicious use of extra cabbage!
Rob says
Yes! I love it. The cabbage breaks down and caramelizes after a while — it’s a delight. Actually, maybe I’ll make that this weekend. With shoots starting to poke their heads out of the ground, there won’t be too many more chances for winter pastas (thank goodness).
cookeasyvegan says
Well, I have to say, as much as I love and use cabbage, I’ve never roasted it. It sounds delicious, though, and I happen to have an unused hunk of cabbage “gathering dust” in the refrigerator, so good timing.
Cadry says
Excellent! That’s often when I turn to crispy cabbage too. It’s nice to have a way to use up a bunch in a hurry. I hope you enjoy it!
Becky Striepe says
Oh man. Dave and Darrol don’t care for cabbage either. I’m going to see if this changes their tunes!
Cadry says
I hope it works out for your guys! David never took the slightest interest in cabbage before this recipe, but it turned his feelings around.
Hannah says
I love cabbage! My husband is weird about it, and only really likes it in stir fries. I bet he’d be into this though! We get so much cabbage in our CSA so I’m going to give this a try next time. 🙂
Cadry says
Excellent! I hope you enjoy it, Hannah!
janet @ the taste space says
I love simple recipes like this. I once made a soup with cabbage caramelized in the oven, very similar to this, but this way I could eat it more often. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Cadry says
Excellent! I’m glad to hear it, Janet!
Kylie @ FotV says
That looks absolutely scrumptious – and SO easy – right up my alley!! I never thought of roasting cabbage!
Cadry says
Thanks, Kylie! It’s a big favorite around here. If you try it, I hope you like it!
Kathryn Grace says
At our house, cabbage is king. Well, maybe ice cream is king. Cabbage is queen! We love roasted cabbage, but I’ve never roasted it all by itself. Definitely going to try this. I’m sure I’ll need two small heads or one large one, and we’ll enjoy every bite.
Cadry says
Haha! Cabbage & Ice Cream sound like wonderful royalty – just maybe not at the same time. 😉 I hope you enjoy the roasted cabbage. It’s a big favorite in our house.
Amber says
I LOVE cabbage! And I always get sad when there’s part of a head leftover and it goes bad. This is the best way to use it all up. And those little crispies are super addictive. Make these asap!
Cadry says
I’m so glad to hear it! Thanks for the feedback, Amber!