Raise your hand if you love cabbage! *raises hand*
I do. I friggen love cabbage and it’s become a staple in this house. My usual go-to for something quick and easy has been unstuffed cabbage because it’s so tasty! One of my other favorites is actual stuffed cabbage, which isn’t on the blog yet, but that will change one of these days.
Today, I’m sharing a recipe for spicy shredded cabbage! A Greek inspired braised dish spiced with cinnamon and cloves! It’s super easy to make, healthy, and delicious!
For this recipe, use a medium-sized cabbage that weighs two pounds and it will give you 8-9 cups of shredded cabbage. To shred the cabbage, you can use a chef’s knife and slice it thin or if you have a mandoline handy, you can use that! Your choice. I love my mandoline when I want evenly sliced foods, but I found using a knife for this was enough.
This cabbage dish is vegan and paleo friendly depending on the stock you use for braising. Alternately, you can use water. I normally use chicken stock because I almost always have some handy.
For spices and such, I use a whole cinnamon stick, whole cloves, Hungarian hot paprika, and a bay leaf. If you don’t have cinnamon sticks or whole cloves, you can substitute for them using the ground form of these spices:
- 1 cinnamon stick = 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 clove = 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Because two to three cloves are used in this recipe, you would add 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (maybe a tiny bit more to be closer to the three whole clove equivalent.
Make sure you remove these before serving!
This spicy shredded cabbage makes a great side for beef and lamb especially! Though really, you can eat this with whatever your heart desires. Go make some and tell me how it came out. 😀
- 1 medium cabbage (about 2 lbs)
- 1 medium onion, sliced (3 cups)
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 2-3 whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ½ teaspoon Hungarian hot paprika
- 1 cup stock or water
- Remove outer leaves and core from cabbage.
- Using a chef's knife or mandoline, shred the cabbage and set aside.
- Heat oil in a large saute pan or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Saute onions until soft, about five minutes. Add cabbage a handful at a time, stirring a bit to coat with the oil.
- Add tomatoes, salt, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, and paprika. Cook for two minutes while stirring.
- Add the stock and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for twenty-five minutes.
- Remove lid and turn the heat to medium-high. Continue to cook for five to ten minutes, until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
- Remove the bay leaf, cloves, and cinnamon sticks.
- Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Very tasty! I combine it as a garnish to braised pork.
Yessssss, that sounds delicious!
And just in time for all the cabbage on sale for St Patrick’s Day!
I currently have in my pantry smoked paprika. Do you think that would work for this recipe or is the Hungarian Hot Paprika necessary?
The smoked paprika could be interesting! It will give the dish a different taste, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Hungarian paprikas in general tend to be a little richer and somewhat sweeter. You could experiment and see how it turns out!
I finally got around to making this tonight, and it’s so good!! I did end up buying the Hungarian Hot Paprika because I wanted to try it as it should be. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but it is overall a much sweeter dish than I was anticipating (I guess “spicy” in the title made me wary, being somewhat a spice wuss haha). Deeeelicious!
Yay, this is awesome! Yeah, the “spicyness” is more about the cinnamon and cloves and not so much the heat of the dish. I’m glad you enjoyed it! <3
Oh Yeah! I’m raising my hand! I was raised on anything and everything cabbage! It’s one of my favorite things. This recipe sounds amazing and I can’t wait to try it.
Yay for cabbage! I hope you love the recipe!
This sounds so delicious and like a perfect side dish! Ahhh, can’t wait to make it!!!
Thanks, Sarah!
This looks and sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks!
My hand is raised very high! LOVE cabbage and this recipe sounds especially tasty! Thank you!
Yasssss, cabbage is the best! Thanks, Valentina!
Oh wow! This is such a great way to add some flavour to cabbage. I’ve been loving how affordable cabbage is and this is a great way to make the cheap veges delicious! Thanks! 🙂
Thanks, Ariana. I hope you make it and love it!
Yum! I have never tried this cabbage but it sounds delicious! I will have to save this to make later!
Thanks, Sam! I hope you try it!
Hi Marissa! I love cabbage, steamed, boiled, stir fried…it is so versatile as it picks up whatever spices you add! I am not a personal fan of cloves bur a little is okay and I wonder what a touch of nutmeg might add? Glad you are back!:)
Hi Dorothy! I think nutmeg could be a tasty addition. I’m curious how it turns out if you try it!
Growing up, I hated cabbage. It was one of those dreaded vegetables I’d try to feed to the dog (unsuccessfully). Interestingly enough, my dogs now will eat just about any vegetable. When I met my in-laws, I had cabbage cooked entirely different ways from my childhood and I discovered I liked it. And my kids like cabbage too. I’ll be trying this…pinning!
I understand! I felt the same way about brussels sprouts growing up and now it’s one of my favorites. I’m excited for you to try this recipe out; let me know how you and the fam liked it!