World's Best Braised Cabbage

An overhead shot of the world's best braised green cabbage, carrot coins, and sliced onions in an oval casserole pan. Two hands are holding the handles with towels.

4.80 from 110 votes

World's Best Braised Cabbage

Molly Steven's recipe for the World's Best Braised Cabbage, is an amazing Whole30-friendly vegetable side dish that makes the lowly cabbage a star in its own right. It reheats great so make it ahead!

Prep Time15

Cook Time2 15

Total Time2 30

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cabbage, gluten-free, low carb, nom nom paleo, nomnompaleo, paleo, Vegan, Vegetarian, Whole30

Servings: people

Author: Michelle Tam

Ingredients

For greasing the baking dish

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil melted lard, duck fat, ghee, or coconut oil

For the cabbage dish

1 medium green cabbage about 2 pounds
1 large red onion or yellow onion, peeled and thickly sliced
2 large carrots peeled and cut in ¼-inch coins
¼ cup bone broth or vegetable broth
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil Melted lard, duck fat, ghee, or coconut oil also work.
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper optional
2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar

Instructions

Heat oven to 325°F / 163°C with the rack in the middle. Coat a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with 2 tablespoons olive oil or melted fat.
Lop off the tough stem end of the cabbage and divide it into 6-8 wedges. Keep the core attached so the wedges stay intact after the long cooking time. Don’t worry: The tough core will get super tender, too.
Place the cabbage pieces in a single layer in the greased dish – a little overlap is okay. Toss on the onion and carrots and drizzle with broth and ¼ cup of olive oil. Season well with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper (if using).
Cover tightly with foil and place in the oven.
Cook the cabbage undisturbed for 1 hour. Crack open the foil cover and carefully flip the wedges over. Reseal the dish tightly and braise for another hour or until fork-tender.
At this point, you can remove the cabbage to cool and store in the fridge until you’re ready to eat it (up to 4 days). When you’re ready to serve, crank the oven up to 425°F / 218°C and bake until browned (about 15 minutes).
Drizzle with aged balsamic vinegar and serve.

Video

Notes

You can definitely cook this dish ahead of time, store it in the fridge, and reheat it when you’re going to serve it. You can braise the cabbage for two hours in the oven and then take it out before the final step where the cabbage gets browned, uncovered, at a higher heat. At this point, you can keep the braised cabbage in the fridge for up to 4 days. When you’re ready to serve the dish, pop it in a hot oven to brown the top and add the balsamic acid right before you eat it.

Nutrition