These Developments Will Educate You Learn how to Cook dinner Cabbage

In case your cooking objectives for this 12 months are something like mine, they could embrace spending much less on groceries whereas additionally cooking extra at house. And belief me, these two objectives usually are not incompatible.

To perform that, an necessary rule of thumb to recollect is that the important thing to extra reasonably priced (and ample) house cooking hinges on studying which elements will do so much with out costing half your paycheck. For instance, canned beans are shelf secure, can be utilized in quite a lot of methods, and add cheap protein to your meals. Or, for after I must feed lots of people, I’ll typically roast complete carrots earlier than ending them with a easy glaze — they give the impression of being stunning on a platter and don’t rack up an enormous invoice.

Shopping for recent greens on a price range could be difficult, particularly if you happen to’re cooking for a smaller family. A field of spring combine or bunches of tender lettuce like inexperienced leaf will go dangerous rapidly, and are normally solely eaten uncooked, so it might take longer to make use of them up. That is precisely why you’ll constantly discover cabbage on my grocery checklist as an alternative.

Cabbage is likely one of the most reasonably priced and lengthy lasting greens you should purchase. A complete head of recent cabbage will final within the fridge for 2 weeks or longer when saved correctly. They are usually huge, so if you happen to solely use half, simply wrap up the opposite piece tightly in plastic wrap, retailer it within the crisper drawer, and it’ll possible final simply as lengthy. However the perfect half about cabbage is how versatile it’s; you’d be arduous pressed to expire of how to make use of this hardy inexperienced. Social media has grown more and more keen on cabbage over the previous 12 months, with content material creators arising with infinite methods for cooking with it. So to kickstart a 12 months of celebrating all issues cabbage, listed here are a number of internet-inspired concepts for methods to incorporate it into your meals.

Chopped salads

It’s potential that essentially the most well-known salad to hit the web lately was Baked by Melissa’s (Melissa Ben-Ishay) salad with a vivid, creamy inexperienced goddess dressing. And all of it begins with chopped cabbage. I like utilizing cabbage in salads as a result of it’s a heartier inexperienced, so it retains me full for longer. As a result of cabbage is crunchy, it lends itself particularly properly to a chopped salad. It received’t lose its texture as soon as diced, and it will possibly even maintain as much as dressing in a single day. So be happy to batch your cabbage chopped salads for the week.

Braised cabbage

Similar to meat, slowly braising cabbage with liquid helps infuse it with taste and yields meltingly tender leaves. It is also one of many best methods to cook dinner the vegetable as a result of it requires minimal chopping and many of the cooking is finished within the oven, leaving you with a centerpiece-worthy dish or a standout facet. Fairly a number of creators — like Brandon Skier, who went viral for his braised cabbage recipe in 2023 — suggest searing wedges earlier than braising them, to realize a caramelized exterior.

Fried cabbage

There’s undoubtedly all kinds of stir-fried cabbage dishes around the globe, however after I say “fried cabbage,” I’m speaking a few traditional Southern facet that everybody ought to find out about — and by chance, content material creators are bringing it to extra feeds. Chopped cabbage and onions are sautéed in rendered bacon fats to create this straightforward dish, earlier than being tossed with crisp items of bacon for texture. Completely different recipes could name for quite a lot of seasonings or different additions, however the core elements of cabbage, onions, and bacon sometimes stay the identical. 

Cabbage rolls

You will discover stuffed cabbage all around the world in dozens of distinctive types throughout completely different cultures — and that selection abounds on social media too. Search “cabbage rolls” or “stuffed cabbage” on Instagram and TikTok, and also you’ll uncover an infinite array of recipes for tender leaves wrapped round fillings that normally embrace floor meat or tofu, aromatics, and seasonings, plus extra elective additions like greens or rice. Fairly a number of renditions of stuffed cabbage (though definitely not all) come smothered in a vivid tomato sauce — just like the Dominican Niños Envueltos or Hungarian Töltött káposzta — whereas others could be completed with tremendous savory soy sauce combination.

Cabbage steaks

Earlier than you scoff on the time period “cabbage steaks,” I acknowledge that this cruciferous vegetable isn’t the identical as a filet mignon. However relatively this title refers to giving cabbage the steak remedy by slicing it into spherical, thick slabs. This creates a bigger floor space, so extra of the cabbage can brown and caramelize within the oven or on the stovetop, which is the way you obtain essentially the most taste. Some creators are amping up the caramelization even additional by baking the steaks with a marinade or glaze.