Cabbage Is Officially Cool Again — Here’s How Chefs Make It Taste Incredible

For those of us who grew up in the 20th century, cabbage can evoke memories of a waterlogged side or flavorless soup. After enduring those sulfurous dishes of your youth, you might’ve written cabbage off completely. 

In recent years, however, the cruciferous vegetable has received a glow-up on restaurant menus, where it might be roasted or grilled to a toasty char and served as a shareable appetizer or a satisfying vegetarian main.

“Cabbage really shines when you focus on a few core elements: caramelization, aromatics, salt, a touch of sweetness, and acid,” says Ming Pu, chef-owner of TANA in Louisville, Kentucky. “Those components are what transform it from something people tolerate into something they actually crave.”

Deborah Mullin, director of culinary at Little Saint in Healdsburg, California, says to treat cabbage like the star rather than an afterthought. “While it is often treated as a commodity vegetable or a familiar home-cooking staple, steamed or boiled into mushy submission, we treat cabbage with the same care and respect as any primary ingredient on the plate,” she says. 

If you haven’t made a lot of cabbage at home, now is the time: According to Pinterest Predicts, cabbage will be “the new kitchen MVP” this year. 

Here’s how to cook cabbage like a chef.

Prep for success

Start by choosing the right cabbage for cooking. Dense varieties, like a standard green or red cabbage you can find in your grocery store, will work well while ones with looser leaves, such as napa, may not hold their shape during the cooking process. 

Before applying any heat, it’s important to prep your cabbage properly, explains Alex Green, executive chef of Mileta in Lexington, Kentucky. “I like cutting cabbage into wedges or thick steaks (at least one-inch thick), always leaving just a bit of the core attached to help it hold together through our aggressive cooking,” he says.

“Seasoning is also super important with cabbage. It needs more salt than people think. It’s dense and full of water. Seasoning early helps pull out moisture and concentrate flavors.”

Roast then braise

“I find cabbage responds especially well to high-heat cooking, which drives caramelization and tempers its raw bitterness,” says Mullin. If you’ve ever tried to simply grill or broil cabbage at home, you may have run into the challenge of the outer leaves burning before the interior gets properly tender. One way to get around this is roasting cabbage first then finishing it in a slow braise.

“In one of our standout autumn preparations using Caraflex cabbage, we begin by deeply charring the cabbage, then follow with a long, gentle braise in an aromatic, apple cider–based liquid,” says Mullin. “This process softens its structure while allowing it to absorb layered flavor.”

At TANA, Pu makes a Taiwanese-style cabbage that follows a similar method of charring then braising. “We start by hard-searing the flat surfaces (wedges or quarters) to build deep caramelization, which brings out the natural sweetness of the cabbage. From there, we deglaze the pan with white wine and add chicken or vegetable stock along with aromatics like shallots, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. We cover the pan and gently braise the cabbage for about 15 to 20 minutes, just enough to soften the inner layers while keeping the texture in the outer leaves.”

Consider finishing off the heat

For Nick Wilber, executive chef of Muchacho and Tiger Sun in Atlanta, growing up with a German grandmother meant cabbage was a staple. “The true secret to success lies in what happens after it leaves the heat,” he says. “High-intensity grilling creates a beautiful crust, but it often leaves the interior raw and the char overly aggressive.” 

Instead of braising the charred cabbage, you can simply drizzle it with olive oil and lemon juice, then wrap it in foil and let the residual heat gently steam it for 5 to 10 minutes. “This after-cooking phase softens the dense core and mellows the bitterness of the carbon, balancing the flavors perfectly. The goal is to let the carryover cooking time transform the intensity of the char into a deep, smoky sweetness.”

Beware overcooking

Whether you choose to finish your charred cabbage in a braise or simply wrap in foil and let residual heat steam the interior, it’s critical not to overcook it. “Overcooking is where cabbage loses people. When it turns fully soft or mushy, it loses its sweetness and structure,” Pu says. After he braises cabbage wedges, he finishes them very briefly in a 450°F oven to deepen the caramelization.

Layer flavors

Cabbage benefits from fat, says Green. “Cabbage loves fat and carries it beautifully, whether it is butter, oil, or animal fat. Brown butter is a personal favorite. I’ll add butter to the pan just as the cabbage starts to brown and by the time the cabbage is finished cooking, the butter will be beautifully browned and waiting to be spooned over the top, so it cascades through the layers of leaves.”

In addition to fat, a vibrant, acidic sauce is an easy pairing for cabbage, chefs say. Pu finishes his Taiwanese-style cabbage with black truffle and soy vinaigrette, along with crispy garlic or shallots. 

Mullin finishes the apple cider–braised cabbage with a plant-based maple-mustard butter and spiced apple brittle. “Together, these elements create contrast — charred edges and silky interiors, sweetness and bitterness, creaminess and acidity — elevating the vegetable from a supporting role to something rich, satisfying, and central to the plate,” she says.