Looking for a delightfully easy & delicious side dish? Make this roasted cabbage recipe in the oven. It’s buttery soft and crispy around the edges. Vegan & gluten-free.
I am a huge fan of cabbage in all of its forms.
Sautéed in stir-fries, steamed as a side, eaten raw in coleslaw or a salad, and of course, fermented as sauerkraut.
But one of my all-time favorite ways to prepare it has to be this easy roasted cabbage recipe. It’s like the cabbage version of kale chips.
It is made with only 3 ingredients:
- Cabbage.
- Oil.
- Salt.
Don’t let the simplicity fool you!
Roasting bite-sized pieces of cabbage in the oven makes it brown and crisp around all of the edges. On the inside, it’s buttery soft and melts in your mouth.
Cabbage steaks, like cauliflower steaks, are having a moment right now. But I prefer cabbage cut into bite-sized pieces. Smaller pieces means more crispy edges, and that’s the best part.
Great way to use leftover cabbage
If you’re like me, you’ve occasionally bought a head of cabbage for vegan fish tacos on Taco Tuesday.
Then on Wednesday you’ve wondered what you were going to do with the overflowing amount you had left.
This roasted cabbage recipe is ideal because it shrinks by half in the roasting time. Two cups of raw becomes just a cup of cooked.
How to make this recipe
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cut a head of cabbage in half. Cut out the center core at the base.
Chop the remaining cabbage into medium, bite-sized pieces. Don’t worry about them being perfectly uniform.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Put two cups of chopped cabbage on each baking sheet. Toss the cabbage with oil and a pinch of salt.
(Since the cabbage shrinks a lot, don’t go overboard with the salt. There will be a smaller amount of surface area after it’s done. So the salt will be more condensed as well.)
Be careful not to overcrowd your baking sheet. If it’s too overloaded, it will steam instead of roast. It’s still fine to eat, but you’ll lose that perfect mix of crisp & soft.
Roast for 17 to 20 minutes. Stop once halfway through to stir, so that it is evenly browned.
And rotate the baking sheets. Move the one that was on top to the bottom and vice versa.
What to serve with this easy side dish
Roasted cabbage is great with seitan and mashed potatoes. (Pictured here, I used slices of Field Roast Celebration Roast.)
It’s also a wonderful with any of the following:
- Eggplant parmesan sandwich
- Vegan zucchini lasagna in the air fryer
- Vegan French dip sandwich with au jus
- Chicken-style vegan pot pie
- Vegan pierogi (instead of sautéed kale)
- Pierogi-style vegan quesadilla with ranch dressing
- Vegan skewers
Easy roasted cabbage recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups raw cabbage cut into medium-sized pieces
- 1 teaspoon organic canola oil or other neutral-flavored oil, divided
- 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 ½ teaspoon oil and a pinch of salt. Spread the cabbage evenly across the sheets, so that it's not touching.(Be careful not to over salt. The cabbage will shrink as it cooks, which means the salt will have a condensed surface area.)
- Roast the cabbage for 17-20 minutes, stopping once halfway through to flip the cabbage pieces with a spatula.Move the top baking sheet to the bottom, and the bottom to the top for even roasting. 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 and serve.
Nutrition
Content, recipe, and photos updated February 2020. Originally posted February 2012 with the recipe name “Crispy Cabbage.”
Shell
This is so simple and looks so delicious! Do you have a tried and true method to flip the cabbage?
Cadry
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
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
Ha! Yes, definitely don’t stand in the way of magic. 😉
Eve-Marie
Do you think this would work with napa cabbage?
Cadry
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
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
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
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
Yes, I’ve had the same dilemma! Somehow it 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!
Caitlin
yessss. i love cabbage. i usually use it up by sauteing it or putting it soups. next time, i’m definitely roasting it.
Cadry
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it, Caitlin!
cookeasyvegan
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
Excellent! That’s often when I turn to this recipe too. It’s nice to have a way to use up a bunch in a hurry. I hope you enjoy it!
Hannah
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
Excellent! I hope you enjoy it, Hannah!
janet @ the taste space
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
Excellent! I’m glad to hear it, Janet!
Kylie @ FotV
That looks absolutely scrumptious – and SO easy – right up my alley!! I never thought of roasting cabbage!
Cadry
Thanks, Kylie! It’s a big favorite around here. If you try it, I hope you like it!
Kathryn Grace
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
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
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
I’m so glad to hear it! Thanks for the feedback, Amber!