The #1 Most Underrated Vegetable, According to a Food Editor

We are a veggie-loving house. My husband puts kale in his morning bowl of oatmeal, our daughter loves to make Japanese-style cucumber salads for an after-school snack, and our dinners are always packed with lots of vegetables. And while there are really no vegetables that my family doesn’t love, if I had to name the most underrated one, it would undoubtedly be cabbage.

The humble head of cabbage has so many great qualities. For starters, a whole head of cabbage comes in at a couple of pounds, which means I can make multiple dishes out of a single head. Plus, it can last a really long time in the fridge. Once I cut a head in half, I pop what I don’t use in a sealable bag with a paper towel to wick away excess moisture. Sure, the cut sides brown eventually, but I just trim away a thin slice then cut it as desired for that meal.

Raw cabbage adds crunch to so many meals. I sometimes prep veggies over the weekend so we can quickly make salads at lunchtime. I always thinly slice cabbage, as it adds a nice crunch and color (if I buy red) to our salad bowl. Since cabbage lasts way longer than salad greens, I can quickly mix up a slaw—either creamy or vinegary—to serve with dinner. Cabbage has also replaced lettuce on most of our taco nights. 

While raw cabbage is delicious, I may like it even more cooked, especially roasted. One of our go-to weeknight meals is a sheet-pan dinner with roasted chicken sausages, potatoes and cabbage wedges drizzled with chive-mustard dressing. (It’s one of our tween daughter’s favorite dinners.) And let’s not forget the main event, since we feature plant-based meals most nights of the week, cabbage steaks have become the star of our dinner plates—Cabbage Steaks with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce is a favorite. Cabbage is also great in stir-fries and fried rice.

It’s pretty great to have a love affair with cabbage. Not only is it an budget-friendly vegetable, coming in at less than $1 a pound at the grocery store I typically shop at, the health benefits of cabbage are wide-ranging. This cruciferous veg is packed with vitamins C and K, plus red cabbage contains anthocyanins, a potent anti-inflammatory phytochemical. Plus it’s a good source of another family of phytochemicals, isothiocyanates, which may help reduce your risk of certain types of cancer.

So do you have a head of cabbage in your fridge? If not, I hope I inspired you to pick one up next time you go grocery shopping.