Whole Roasted Cabbage

This Whole Roasted Cabbage is one of the most flavorful and festive vegan dishes you can make. Deliciously spiced and cooked until it's tender, you'll love how this dish turns out.

During the holidays, most people are serving turkey, ham, and other meat-centered dishes. But there are so many festive and delicious vegan alternatives, like this Whole Roasted Cabbage. Not only does it look amazing when it comes out of the oven, golden brown from the brushed plant-based butter and spices, but every bite is tender and tasty.

My secret for making this Whole Roasted Cabbage so scrumptious is that I remove the core from the cabbage and spoon spiced butter inside. While it's baking, those spices seep into every cabbage leaf, infusing the flavors throughout rather than just on the outer leaves. Paired with whole potatoes that bake along with the cabbage and garnished with fresh herbs to give a boost of flavor, this is going to become one of your go-to holiday dishes. Let's talk about what you'll need for this recipe.

Video Tutorial

What you'll need

• Cabbage. Medium or small cabbage would work best here.
• Potatoes. I like to add potatoes around the cabbage. Other veggies, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, mushrooms, and celery (or a mix of those) could be used instead.
• Plant butter. You can use your favorite plant butter, or even olive oil instead.
• Spices. Garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, red pepper flakes (for heat), and salt.
• Herbs. Use your favorite fresh herbs to garnish this beautiful dish. I chose to use rosemary.

How to make Whole Roasted Cabbage

1. In a small dish, mix the melted butter with the spices.

2. Pull and remove the outer leaves from the cabbage. Wash the cabbage and pat it dry. Carefully remove the core to expose and access the inner leaves.

3. Place the cabbage upside down on a large cast-iron skillet or a baking dish. Using a spoon, spread about three tablespoons of the spiced butter along the inside walls where the core used to be. It's okay if some dribbles out.

4. Arrange the potatoes around the cabbage and brush them with the spiced butter, reserving about 2 tablespoons of that butter for later.

5. Cover the whole skillet with aluminum foil, and bake at 400°F for 1 hour.

6. After the hour, remove the foil and flip the cabbage core-side down. Brush the cabbage with the remaining spiced butter. Return the skillet to the oven and bake for another 25 minutes, or until the cabbage has browned nicely and cooked through.

7. Garnish with fresh herbs, like rosemary sprigs, and serve.

Pro Tips

• Adjust the cook time for the cabbage size. When you place your whole cabbage in the oven for an hour to bake, that time is based on the size of the cabbage (mine was small-medium). If you are making a really small cabbage, 40 minutes would be enough, but larger ones may need more than an hour.
• Check your cabbage for tenderness. The best way to know if your cabbage has cooked enough is to remove the foil and stick a wooden skewer inside. If it goes in fairly easily, then you can move on to the next step of brushing on the spiced butter and browning.
• Choose the right vegetables. While other vegetables can be used, if you're cooking potatoes alongside the cabbage, you need to make sure their size is right for the cook time. Small potatoes should be left whole and larger ones cut in half. Otherwise, they will either be underdone or overcooked when the cabbage is ready.

What to Serve this Roasted Cabbage with

• Mushroom Sauce. This delicious Vegan Mushroom sauce is one of my favorites for this dish because the earthy, creamy flavors pair so well with the buttery cabbage.
• Crusty bread. This Whole Roasted Cabbage tastes wonderful with some crusty warm bread. You can even use some of the leftover spiced butter on it if you like.
• Vegetables. Beautifully roasted vegetables taste great here, or if you didn't go with potatoes in your skillet, these Vegan Scalloped Potatoes are perfect as your side dish.
• Pasta or Grains. Serve this alongside your favorite pasta or other grains, like Spinach Rice, quinoa, or couscous.
• Proteins. Try Whole Roasted Cabbage alongside this Amazing Lentil Chili or pan-fried tofu.

How to Store Leftover Cabbage

To store any leftover Roasted Cabbage, place the cooled cabbage and vegetables into an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will stay fresh for up to 5 days. If you want to save it longer, cabbage can also be frozen for up to 12 months. Just let it cool before placing it in a ziplock freezer bag, making sure to get as much air out as possible. Then reheat it in the oven or on the stovetop with some plant-based butter.

This Whole Roasted Cabbage is so flavorful and perfect for special dinners, and especially the holidays. This recipe is easy to make, but imparts so much flavor into the cabbage that ever mouthful will taste amazing. You'll surely wow your family and guests with this festive and delicious dinner.

Here is the yummy Mushroom Sauce recipe. It's really easy to make!

More tasty recipes to try:

• Roasted Cabbage Steaks
• Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
• Easy Baked Cabbage
• Garlic Roasted Cabbage
• Cabbage Soup