Boiled cabbage leaves with simple seasoning like salt and pepper and drizzled with melted butter or olive oil is one of the most simple, healthy and nutritious vegetable side dishes you can make for any meal, if you like cabbage! I used white cabbage for this tender cooked cabbage recipe, you can use white cabbage or green cabbage whichever you have at home.

boiled tender cabbage leaves
You can easily make boiled cabbage leaf wedges on stove top using a large pot or pan. I will also include instructions on how to boil cabbage in the instant pot presssure cooker.
Boiled cabbage is a Southern delicacy which is usually flavored with bacon bits or bacon fat, but this is a meatless vegetarian boiled cabbage recipe without bacon or any meat but it's delicious!
This boiled cabbage wedges are super easy to make at home, takes very minimal ingredients, soft in texture but not mushy, this makes a great cabbage dish for dinner or lunch or any holiday party if you are looking for a simple vegetable side dish to go with your meals.
how long to boil cabbage wedgeson stove top?
You just need to boil the sliced cabbage wedges for about 4 to 5 minutes (or couple minutes longer) on stove top using a pot or pan to make the perfect, fork tender boiled cabbage. Once the cabbage is boiled enough to your preference, transfer the boiled cabbage to a serving dish immediately (careully, using long tongs) to avoid over cooking of the cabbage and season with melted butter or olive oil, salt, pepper etc!
more delicious & easy cabbage recipes:
- how to cook cabbage on stove top - fried cabbage
- buttered cabbage in instant pot
- cabbage and eggs breakfast scramble
- vegan cabbage tomato soup
So here is how you can make easy, delicious and simple boiled cabbage for a nutritious side dish.
how to make boiled cabbage?
We use the following ingredients to make boiled, buttery cabbage at home.
ingredients used to make boiled cabbage
- cabbage ½ of a medium sized cabbage head
- salt adjust to taste
- black pepper ½ teaspoon or as needed
- melted butter or olive oil 1 tablespoon
- water as need to boil the cabbage (I used about 3 cups)
step by step instructions
- Wash the cabbage very well, discard any leaves that are not fresh.
- Slice the cabbage into wedges with the core of the cabbage intact, or the leaves can fall out.
- In this recipe, we are using only half of a medium sized cabbage. I had about 6 to 8 wedges from half of the cabbage.
- Place the sliced cabbage wedges inside a pot or pan. It is good idea to keep them in a single layer, but it's fine if some of them overlaps with other pieces.
- As we boil the cabbage, it becomes easy to layer them as they turn soft.
- Add water and enough salt, bring the water to a boil.
- Once the water boils, cover the pot with lid, simmer in medium heat.
- In about a minute, you can use a long spatula to press the cabbage slices so they will fit into a single layer, if needed, and boil the cabbage for about 4 to 6 minutes until the cabbage is tender.
- By this time, cabbage will turn soft (if needed you may boil for about a minute longer).
- Immediately transfer the boiled cabbage to serving plates (using long tongs), drizzle with melted butter or olive oil and season with black pepper powder and salt.
- Enjoy delicious, soft boiled cabbage as an easy, nutritious vegetable side dish with any meal for lunch or dinner!
instant pot boiled cabbage
- Making boiled cabbage in instant pot is even more easier!
- Instead of 3 cups of water, you just need about 1 cup of water in instant pot.
- Once you have added water in the instant pot, place the sliced cabbage wedges in a single layer (you may place them directly in the inner pot like we do here or you may place them in the rack or steamer, but keep in mind that the if you steam the cabbage, it's going to take slightly longer than placing directly in the water).
- Also sprinkle some salt.
- Close the instant pot with lid in sealing position, cook in high pressure for one minute.
- Once the cooking is done, wait for a natural pressure release of 5 minutes, then carefully do a gradual, controlled manual pressure release to avoid overcooking the cabbage.
- Once the pressure is all released, carefully open the lid and with the help of long tongs, carefully transfer the boiled cabbage to a serving dish.
- Season with salt, pepper and melted butter or olive oil and enjoy!
how to store leftover cooked cabbage?
If you are not serving this on the same day or if there are leftovers, you can transfer the dish to air tight food containers and store in refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Since the cabbage can develop an unpleasant odour as they are stored for longer time, it is a good idea to place lemon slices or lime slices on top or sprinkle some lemon juice if you like which will help.
You can read more information about how to store cooked cabbage here.
Below you can get the recipe for boiled cabbage in detail.
Boiled Cabbage - Seasoned Buttery Tender Cabbage
Ingredients
- ½ medium sized cabbage
- salt adjust to taste
- ½ teasooon black pepper or as needed
- 1 tablespoon melted butter or olive oil
- 3 cups water or as need to boil the cabbage
Instructions
- Wash the cabbage very well, discard any leaves that are not fresh.
- Slice the cabbage into wedges with the core of the cabbage intact, or the leaves can fall out.
- In this recipe, we are using only half of a medium sized cabbage. I had about 6 to 8 wedges from half of the cabbage.
- Place the sliced cabbage wedges inside a pot or pan. It is good idea to keep them in a single layer, but it's fine if some of them overlaps with other pieces.
- As we boil the cabbage, it becomes easy to layer them as they turn soft.
- Add water and enough salt, bring the water to a boil.
- Once the water boils, cover the pot with lid, simmer in medium heat (in about a minute, you can use a long spatula to press the cabbage slices so they will fit into a single layer, if needed) and boil the cabbage for about 4 to 6 minutes until it turns soft.
- By this time, cabbage will turn soft (if needed you may boil for about a minute longer).
- Immediately transfer the boiled cabbage to serving plates, drizzle with melted butter or olive oil and season with black pepper powder and salt.
- Enjoy delicious, soft boiled cabbage as an easy, nutritious vegetable side dish with any meal for lunch or dinner!
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