Oh, we knew what was coming for dinner the moment we stepped through the door after school. Cabbage. Cabbage braised for an hour until all the life was let from it. Cabbage, with its distinctive aroma that lingered, and lingered. Oh the memories!
Little ways around it
Mother made it edible by adding a drizzle of vinegar and butter, lots of it, just before serving. Sometimes we added even more butter, just because. We actually liked a lot it if she cooked potatoes and carrots along with it, and added even more butter, but mostly it was a side dish unto itself that announced itself boldly.
A humble hero
Oh the much maligned! Cabbage was, and still is, one of the cheapest vegetables to grow or buy locally. You can still get one as big as your head for little money, and they keep a long, long time in the refrigerator, even if you cut into them. Need a mound of coleslaw? How about a cabbage soup, they were all the diet rage for a while. For pennies a serving, braised cabbage is still a good deal, and is one of the most nutritional vegetables around providing Vitamin C, A, and K, magnesium, potassium, folate, fiber, antioxidants, and phytonutrients, too many to name! Anti-inflammatory, great for your heart, a cancer preventative, and blood sugar regulator. What’s not to love?
We’ll add a few twists
The thing is, if you’ve grown up with lots of cabbage, it’s probably lost any alure. It’s not sexy, it’s common, especially if overused, overcooked, and overdone. But all that can be fixed, I promise, especially if you add some friends to the party.
Overcooking is the enemy
The strong cabbage aroma is caused by the release of its sulfur content as it cooks, and the longer it cooks, the more release of this unpleasantness. Overcooking is probably the worst offender, so roasting, stir-fry, and steaming are good techniques. Cooks back in the day tended to overcook just about every vegetable, that’s how it was done before them, although I think sometimes it was just a matter of putting the cabbage on to cook and kind of forgetting about it while everything else grabbed the attention of the cook!
Always a remedy
Older cabbage also has more sulfur, so keep that in mind, although at the end of winter, you’ll have little choice. There are a million ‘remedies’ out there to reduce the bad smell – addition of onions, spices, turnips, bay leaves, baking soda, and copious amounts of black pepper.
Let’s invite some friends to the pot
While I often roast my cabbage or toss it in a stir-fry, still time around I wanted to braise my cabbage, have a lovely bowl of it on the Sunday table, but without a kitchen that smelled bad. First, I decided to add a few friends to the party. After a quick trip outside to the garden, I harvested some lovely Swiss chard, a fennel bulb, parsley, kale, and sprouting broccoli which I saved for another meal. I stripped the greens from the stems of the chard and saved them for later in the week. The stems, and the fennel, I cut into strips to mimic the texture of the cabbage shreds. I chose purple cabbage rather than green simply because the deeper color has more minerals, and it’s awfully pretty. Even after cooking, it was a lovely lavender to purple. A large leek added the onion element, and for spice I chose not only crushed fennel seeds, but some Chinese five-spice as well because it is so luscious to inhale. A diced sweet apple added a bit more interest, both in texture and taste.
Toss it all in the pot and let it be
I used my homemade vegetable stock for braising. I had it on hand, but just plain old water will do as well. The best thing about this recipe? Just toss everything in the pot and let it tend itself.
At the end
A finish at the end with lemon juice (I could have used vinegar like mom, but I had a lemon just waiting to be used) and a spritz of extra virgin olive oil, and all is good.
It all works out
The results? A delicious side dish that filled the house with a delicious aroma. Just as it finished cooking, I turned it off and left it for a bit while we walked the dogs, and when we came back into the house, the smells were inviting, homey, warm.
Most definitely not stinky.
Braised Cabbage with Leek, Fennel, and Apple
- 1 small head of purple cabbage, sliced thin
- bulb of fennel, sliced thin
- 1 large leek, cut into similar sized strips
- Stems of Swiss chard, kale, or spinach, cut into strips (optional)
- Three or four leaves of kale, torn
- 1tsp. crushed fennel seeds
- 1 tsp. Chines five-spice
- Salt and pepper, of course, to your taste
- A bay leaf, if you like
- 1 quart water or vegetable stock
- 1 sweet apple, diced
- Juice of one lemon
- Parsley for garnish
Prep all your vegetables and add everything to a large soup pot except the apple. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer, and cook just until the cabbage is just tender. No overcooking, remember?
Add the apple and cook for another three or four minutes, until they soften. Taste for salt and pepper, remove from heat, then add the lemon juice.
Place in serving dish, spritz with a bit of olive oil, and garnish with parsley if you have it.
Yes, you can add some butter if you like! Mom would approve.
© Copyright 2025– or current year, The New Vintage Kitchen. Dorothy Grover-Read. Unattributed use of this material and photographs is strictly prohibited. Reposting and links may be used, provided that credit is given to The New Vintage Kitchen, with active link and direction to this original post.
Supporter of: Slow Food Fair Trade USA Northeast Organic Farmers Association EcoWatch Let’s Save Our Planet No Kid Hungry Hunger Free Vermont Environmental Working Group World Central Kitchen Sustainable America Seed Savers Exchange Global Plastics Laws
Save the Children Vermont Farm to Plate
Our posts and images are created by a human, not by AI. We like it that way!
Surprise Snowstorm
This week, our ‘flurries to an inch’ turned out to be a bit more. However, two days later, all gone and the hardy yellow roses still had a couple of blossoms!
Thank you, Dorothy, for the wonderful collection!
Joanna
You are very welcome my friend!
I stir fry cabbage with bacon but not too often. I like it a lot but we are not best buddies! Your mauve dish looks scrumptious. All the things I like – just not too often. 😂
Mary :))
Well, enjoy it while you can! Even if it is now and then!
Mmmmmm
Yes!!!
I love cabbage – especially roasted. But, I’ve never had it braised. This combination sounds delicious!
Thank you Shashi! Oh, I love it roasted too, served up with mashed potatoes, one of my favorites.
Another wonderful warming seasonal dish, Dorothy . . . and thank you for championing cabbage, I LOVE it! 😊 A favourite recipe here at this time of year is very similar to yours: red cabbage, onion and apple braised with sultanas, walnuts and mixed spice (or cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves) then finished with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Delicious.
Great to see so many fresh bits and pieces still coming out of your garden, enjoy them before winter sets in!
After the snow, I knew there would be kale and chard, but I was delighted to harvest more broccoli, the fennel bulbs, and sorrel, and the herbs are still going strong.
I will definitely use balsamic next time around, my mom would applaud you! And I just love those apples with the cabbage, such a nice combination.
I’m sure you are still finding treasures in your new garden.
Heavens – I was born in the north of Europe – what else did we have to eat all winter but root vegetables and cabbage which kept remarkably well in the cold cellar 🙂 ! Love the read of your ingredients but more so the look of your finished dish . . . shall copy it all down . . . You are getting your first snows – we Down Under are just about to have the first cyclone up north . . . nature . . .
Yes, this the time of cabbage and beets and turnips and carrots and potatoes and rutabagas, but we have the wonderful onions to liven them up!
I love reading about the changes of seasons in the opposite hemisphere! Reminds me that there will be spring here too, after the long, dark days…
You nailed it, Dorothy. The memories come flooding back. 🍂🌾🧡
With a bit of a smile on our faces! Dear mom!
I like coleslaw, does that count? 🙂 We had some flurries last week but just enough to see out the window, and that was it. What we’re dealing with more than anything is wicked winds.
Coleslaw does indeed count, in fact, I’m working on a post for an autumn slaw right now!
Well, you see what our ‘flurries’ amounted to!!! We had some big winds too, but those have finally quieted down.
I’ve been wondering what to do with the purple cabbage left over from another recipe. This fits the bill perfectly! It sounds (and looks) quite scrumptious, Dorothy.
We are in very warm spring mode here. Here’s hoping your roses last a little longer…
Thanks Carolyn! Enjoy that wonderful cabbage.
I keep thinking, well, this must be the last rose of the year, but then a few more open up when the sun comes out. Such a joy!
I love cabbage. I sautee it with onions, stuff it, put it in soup, boil it and roast it. I love it!
I’m with you Nancy! I love it all those ways too, and roasted with a bit of garlic. Yum!!!!
I keep a head of cabbage in my crisper wrapped in a cotton towel. You’re right, it keeps forever! Great quote at the end, too.
Thanks my friend! I think I always have a cabbage tucked away too!
Cabbage is a seasonal favorite. I enjoy colcannon with the addition of bacon.
With or without bacon, colcannon is delicious, and definitely needs butter!
I love braised cabbage and I love that smell!
It’s such a humble but delicious veggie!
Not for the vegetarians in the house, but have you ever braised cabbage with bacon? It’s every bit as good as it sounds!
I haven’t! But the bacon lovers would go nuts for it.
It’s sensational, sis!
My mother never cooked cabbage, as I’m sure we refused to eat it, but I can still smell my grandmother’s house and the scent of boiled cabbage which lingered and lingered….
Yes, it’s probably still lingering there…
Yes! Hard to get that smell out!
I recently discovered “cone” cabbage at our Farmers Market and fell in love with it. It’s mild like Napa cabbage. So far I’ve used it in coleslaw but this winter I plan to cook with it.
I’ve found that too, quite a delicious conversation piece!
Your cabbage and friends sounds like a way to improve the taste, though I like cabbage by itself as well. I do not recall a smell when Mother cooked it, and we did have it fairly often. While I was on St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea, the doctor, who was formerly from Russia, made Russian soup with potatoes and cabbage one night and I really enjoyed it!
I like it by itself too, but it’s really nice with the group of friends!
Hi Dorothy, There is an essential oil, Purification, from Young Living, that eliminates odors. It helps to diffuse Purification when cooking fish, Indian food, or cabbage.
Oh, so interesting! Never heard of it!
You’re so right! Overcooking is what kills cabbage. Your dish, with all the different veggies and spices, is definitely a much better option! 🙂
Thank you! I try to be really careful with it now, and the house smalls sweet!
Hi Dorothy, I love the quote by Ken Follett. Practical advice. We need food. And a delicious veggie treat you have served up today. (Although I can imagine a few pieces of cooked speck or bacon would be a fun variation to try another day). But today, I am inspired to braise some cabbage with leek carrot, bay leaf, spinach and fennel seeds, adding a dash of vinegar or lemon juice and loads of butter. – The German genetics of my husband will approve of the plentiful butter addition.
Thanks always for your wonderful recipes and hints. They are truly an inspiration that I enjoy absorbing into my regular cooking regime.
Thank you so much Amanda! It’s really a bowl of delicious, and mom would not have spared the butter! She’d probably add bacon, or maybe old fashioned salt pork!
Braised to perfection, this looks like the best of autumn in a dish!
Thanks, Mary! It certainly tasted like lovely autumn!
We all love cabbage of all types raw or cooked, roasted, stir fried or braised any which way another lovely recipe Dorothy 🙂 x
Thank you Carol! It’s all good!
That is autumn in a bowl! beautfiul
Thank you so much Natasha! Love these fall flavors.
LOVE cabbage! What a delicious combination Dorothy.
Thank you Diane! It was delicious!
Yum! I love cabbage any which way, and I’m the weirdo who doesn’t even mind the aroma if it’s been braising all day. Haha
And, my dear friend, how about those boiled Brussels sprouts?
😂
I adore cabbage! You’re so right about the cooking. I remember way back when I was hardly more than a kid, I decided to make corned beef and cabbage in the slow cooker. I just dumped everything in and left for work. I swear nearly everyone in the building complained, lol!