A Love Letter to Cabbage: Cheap, Cozy, and Always There

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. Read a really boring disclaimer above to learn more!

I haven’t always been a cabbage lover. What really made me love cabbage was roasted Brussels sprouts. I remember trying them like it was yesterday.

Warm, garlicy, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and salty.

From then on, I was sold.

While not the cheapest vegetable, I fell in love with Brussel sprouts and wanted them every night. Whether it was with hot honey and balsamic vinegar or baked in a cheese sauce, I loved Brussels sprouts in every capacity.

Then… I found the humble cabbage—a HUGE brussels sprout.

This post is all about the uses of cabbage!

How Can I Use Cabbage?

Cabbage is honestly a great addition to many meals. If you’re a meat lover, Julia Child’s Cookbook, Mastering The Art of French Cooking, has great recipes for cabbage with various cuts of meat. I love this cookbook.

Click the link if you are interested! Otherwise, you can also get it from the Library or on Libby. If you don’t know about Libby, look into it! Best way to get books for free.

There are an infinite number of ways to use cabbage in your kitchen, but here are my favorites!

Cabbage Steaks

Cutting a thick slice of cabbage, seasoning it with a sauce or spices, and oil will make a great side dish that everyone will love.

Even simply oiling and sprinkling salt and pepper on the steaks will make a tasty and super inexpensive side dish.

You can even fancy them up with a homemade sauce to turn this into a main course!

Braised Cabbage

Julia Child’s recipe for braised cabbage is the best I have ever had. She notes that if you want red vegetables to retain their color, they have to be cooked with acid. Her base recipe for braised red cabbage has red wine, apples, chestnuts, and bacon.

This is very easy to do. Cook some fat with aromatic vegetables, such as onions and carrots, until softened. Then add your cabbage and cook for about 10 minutes. Then stir in your seasonings, cooking liquid, and let the cabbage cook for 3 hours.

This would make a fantastic side dish or an addition to a meal to bulk it up!

Meal Fillers

Speaking of bulking up meals, cabbage is a great meal filler.

My favorite thing to do is to cube up cabbage and put it in the air fryer with butter and seasonings. This can be added to almost any meal and helps to bulk up your more expensive ingredients.

This is the best way to get more vegetables in your meal, and make it more inexpensive per portion.

Add this to taco bowls, rice and chicken, or other simple meals to add an extra flavor and texture!

Kimchi

Joanna Gaines has an excellent recipe for Kimchi in her third volume of Magnolia Table. I highly recommend buying the book because she has a million great recipes, but if you are balling on a budget here is a good recipe as well!

Kimchi goes oddly well with lots of foods, so I’m told. But if you make a lot of Korean cuisine at home, add some kimchi into your kitchen as well. It is cheap, flavorful, and great for your gut!

The fermentation of kimchi is a huge added benefit to this dish.

Coleslaw

A staple recipe for every barbecue, we have coleslaw.

While fairly simple, coleslaw is also very tasty and inexpensive to make.

Oddly enough, my favorite coleslaw is the walmart package with the sauce and cabbage already chopped up. It is cheap, simple, and takes no thought to put together. Plus it adds a vegetable to meals that are typically focused on meat and carbs.

I have the mindset of what I need to add to meals and not what to take away. It is nice to have sides like coleslaw to have in your back pocket so that you can add some health to your meals.

Cabbage Dumplings

If you like dumplings, then you’ve eaten cabbage before. I love stretching meat with some veggies in a dumpling. It can take awhile to make, but it is a labor of love.

Dumplings can be super cost effective and a whole meal. They aren’t just an appetizer!

My favorite simple dumpling recipe is here. Budget Bytes is a great site for cheap and simple recipes. I cannot recommend it enough!

There’s not much else to say about dumplings because they are honestly so delicious and budget friendly.

This Post Was All About Cabbage

Now you can see why I love cabbages. They are super cheap, filling, and delicious!

Let me know in the comments what your favorite ways to use cabbage and if you’ve ever tried any of these.