➡️ Jump to Recipe ⬅️
Looking for a delicious and easy side dish? Try these roasted cabbage wedges! Purple roasted cabbage is a beautiful side dish and is the most delicious way to reap cabbage’s wonderful health benefits. I like purple cabbage better than green because of its natural sweetness and superior health benefits, but you could use green cabbage here also. Roasted cabbage wedges pair great with grilled meat, pork chops, wild rice, or root vegetables.
Why Should I Eat Cabbage?
Cabbage is one of the cruciferous veggies, a group that includes broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, bok choy, arugula, Brussels sprouts, collards, watercress and radishes. These guys are super anti-inflammatory above all, and that’s important because inflammation is a main cause of disease, aging, and pain. Cabbage is low cal, low carb (so it’s a great keto vegetable), and high in fiber and disease-fighting antioxidants.
Although all cabbage has health benefits, I like purple (AKA red) cabbage better, and it boasts a few added health benefits over green cabbage due to its deep color. As a general rule, the more brightly and deeply colored the fruit/vegetable, the higher the phytonutrients and antioxidants.
Cabbage Health Benefits
- Purple cabbage contains powerful anti-inflammatory compounds called anthocyanins that give it its vibrant purple color. These plant pigments are flavonoids that offer a reduced risk of heart disease, arthritis, and chronic disease. (source)
- Purple cabbage is high in potassium which is good for blood pressure regulation.
- Cabbage (both green and purple) is packed with nutrients: It’s high in vitamin C, vitamin K (necessary for heart health and blood clotting), fiber, and minerals.
- Cabbage (and all cruciferous veggies) are high in sulforaphane which is anti-inflammatory and great for detox support.
- Cabbage and all cruciferous are high in indole-3-carbinol: Studies indicate that indole-3-carbinol prevents the development of estrogen driven cancers including breast, endometrial and cervical cancers. (source) That means it helps your body detox excess estrogen to prevent estrogen dominance which can cause hormonal cancers and PMS.
- Purple cabbage has double the iron and vitamin C over green cabbage, and its purple-red hue tells you its richer in antioxidants than the lighter colored varieties.
You’re probably used to seeing red cabbage raw as a garnish or in cole slaw. Beware that raw cruciferous are harder to digest than cooked and produce a lot more gas (read: make you fart). I love cabbage braised (here’s my recipe), but roasting is the most delicious way to make it. Roasting brings out the natural sugars, and it gets all caramelized for a deeper flavor. Not only does it look beautiful, but it’s a great way to get cabbage into picky eaters.
How to Make Roasted Cabbage Wedges
First off, choose you a good looking purple cabbage (again, you can use green but purple is better) and remove the tough outer leaves.
Preheat the oven to 425 and cover your cookie sheet in parchment paper. Next, slice off some round discs.
Put the discs on your parchment-covered cookie sheet. I usually cut them in half to make more room, but you could certainly leave them whole. I usually fill up a couple cookie sheets. Remember it’ll shrink up when it’s roasting.
Next, drizzle both sides of the wedges with olive oil and sea salt. Make sure you get them good and covered with olive oil. (I use this one for roasting).
Pop them in the oven to roast. Flip them halfway through with tongs. You don’t want them to get too brown, but you do want them a little brown around the edges for a nice caramelized crunch.
When they’re finished, remove from cookie sheet and arrange on a platter.
They’ll be a combo of crispy and tender.
So delicious! I served these with ginger-sesame grilled salmon. They’re also a great accompaniment to a vegetarian meal. The leftovers are just as good and you can eat those cold or even toss into a salad. Enjoy!
Roasted Cabbage Wedges
Equipment
- Cookie sheet
- Parchment paper or silpat
Ingredients
- 1 head purple cabbage. Green is fine too.
- extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.
- Remove tough outer leaves from your head of cabbage.
- Slice off as many discs as you want to make. You can cut them in half to arrange on cookie sheets if the discs are too big.
- Slather both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Roast them for about 20 minutes, then flip them with tongs.
- Roast for about another 20 minutes or until they're slightly brown and caramelized on the edges.
- Transfer to platter and serve!
Pin it!
Mary Vance is a Certified Nutrition Consultant and author specializing in digestive health. She combines a science-based approach with natural therapies to rebalance the body. In addition to her 1:1 coaching, she offers courses to help you heal your gut and improve your health. Mary lives in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe in Northern California. Read more about her coaching practice here and her background here.