Let’s get this out of the way: Cabbage is hot girl food. There, I said it. Sure, maybe your first touchpoint with it was that overly sweet, commercially-produced cole slaw that came on an obligatory side of a sandwich at a deli or diner, and I would like to singlehandedly blame that for cabbage’s fall from status.

But I’m here to change your mind (and your life, and your kitchen). There are countless redeemable qualities to this cruciferous veggie, including its shelf life (ridiculously long), its price (about $1 to $3 per head, according to the Food and Drug Administration), and its versatility. Don’t trust me? I asked experts including food stylists, cookbook authors, and culinary tastemakers—the people *most* tapped into food trends—their opinions of cabbage. And, guess what: Cabbage is all the rage, again. 

What are the types of cabbage?

Closely related to broccoli and cauliflower—also in the brassica family of vegetables—green, red, Napa, and Savoy cabbage are the most common types you’ll come across at the grocery store. (Fun fact: Because of the vegetal classification, bok choy and turnips are also considered to be in the cabbage family.) 

But we are talking about cabbage cabbage here. The hefty bulk of hearty leaves, stocky on the bottom and gently ruffled on top, real platonic-ideal-of-cabbage type cabbage. 

Green and red are a little similar in size and flavor—slightly sweet when cooked—and can be interchangeable in most recipes, though red cabbage tends to be a bit sturdier. Thanks to the compound anthocyanin, which creates that vibrantly purple-red color it’s known for, when cooked, red cabbage can also leech color into whatever you’re cooking it with. Add an acid, and it’ll even turn blue.

More oval-shaped than round, Napa stands out for its color: Pale yellow. It’s also most commonly found in kimchi because of its tender leaves, ideal for absorbing brine, and mild flavor ready to take on whatever you pair it with. 

Savoy—an Italian varietal—best for cabbage rolls as it’s the most pliable, also boasts being the most sweet and tender of all the cabbages. It’s sometimes confused with green cabbage, and can be used mostly the same, but you can easily tell the difference by the weight of a head. Savoy cabbage will be less dense, therefore a little lighter, because the leaves aren’t as tightly packed as a head of green cabbage.

What are the benefits of cabbage?     

Cabbage has been linked as far back as Ancient Rome around 1000 BC, where it was considered a table luxury, and frequent users claimed it could cure baldness. Wild, but unfounded. It also gained a flare of popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries across Europe, especially for sailors, as they used it to ward off bouts of scurvy, thanks to its high vitamin C content (this one is real and proven).

What it *also* has is a lot of vitamin K (which contributes to bone health and blood coagulation), and a respectable amount of folate and vitamin B6, great for supporting brain and nerve function, especially for pregnant people.

Besides physical, nutritional benefits, there’s also monetary and cooking value as well. Emily Saladino, a writer, editor, and recipe developer, loves it because: “For my money it's a great value ingredient—there’s so much cabbage in each cabbage.” 

Especially in a time where you may be more grocery bill conscious, a whole head of cabbage can last a few weeks, even when cooked, unlike some other leafy greens. (Looking at you, spinach.) Truly, I cannot count all the times I have purchased cabbage, forgot about said cabbage, and then remembered the cabbage only to find it still there in the crisper, awaiting instruction. 

Gabriella Stern, a food stylist and recipe developer, also loves it because it “is one of the few fresh feeling vegetables at the greenmarket all year round, and there’s so many kinds.” Basically, it’s plentiful, readily available, and has a lot of variety. If only my dating apps could provide the same kind of value.  

Is cabbage better for you raw or cooked?

Frankly, it depends on what you’re trying to unlock. Red cabbage, for whom some say is the most nutritionally dense because of the aforementioned anthocyanins (often linked to reducing the risk of heart disease), do decrease when hit with heat. But, it’s not a substantial enough value that you should only eat it raw, though it looks gorgeous in a slaw. 

When cooked, it makes the fiber content more easily digestible, which, for Emi Boscamp, senior food editor at TODAY Food and author of TODAY Loves Food, is a huge benefit. “People write it off as fart food,” she laments. But, when cooked, it’s gentler on your gut. Also when cooked, the bioavailability—aka how well your body can absorb or use a nutrient—increases for both vitamin C and iron.

If served raw, there are also benefits. Antioxidants—good for preventing cell damage from free radicals—are more readily available in raw cabbage. Though, like said above about vitamin C, may not be as easily digestible. Same for the fiber content: There’s more of it, but that may not be ideal for some people.

Basically, since there are so many ways to consume cabbage anyway, whatever way you choose to use it, there are great benefits. 

Ok so, how do you cook with cabbage?

According to Saladino, “it's so versatile.” And I have to agree. “You can cook it until it's silky, chop it for crunch, or stuff and simmer it into a hearty meal,” she says.

Kate Ray, a culinary instructor and recipe developer, likes to “cook it forever (like an hour) in a bit of bouillon broth,” she says. “And it gets so meaty.” Boscamp cautions that there are some recipe examples of cabbage swapped for pasta/pizza dough/etc that “really perpetuates carb-phobia,” and are honestly not the best use of cabbage anyway. But cites that it holds up to other techniques, like this cabbage parm recipe from Hetty McKinnon, that “slaps,” she says. 

How do I cook thee? “Let me count the ways,” says Asha Loupy, recipe developer and editor for Diaspora Co. Loupy loves that one head of cabbage can span across multiple mealtimes. “I usually use it as the main ingredient in two big meals, and the rest to bolster other meals,” she says.

Some other recipe examples from Loupy include:

• Diced into big chunky pieces and stir-fried with garlic, then finished with a little butter and soy sauce. Perfect with rice or noodles and a jammy egg. 
• Thinly shredded and sautéed with sliced kielbasa and caraway and tossed with pasta, butter, and “an epic amount” of parmesan.

Stern seconds this: “I love sautéeing green or napa cabbage in oil until it gets so soft and ribbony and then finishing it off with sesame oil,” she says. “Then I eat it with udon and it feels like a really quick meal.” 

But cabbage doesn’t always *have* to be the star. It can also be a supporting player in dishes:

• Shredded in tacos, wraps, and sandwiches
• A quick curtido (cabbage relish) for pupusas or quesadillas
• Diced, chunky pieces seared and simmered with some beans, broth, and Calabrian chile paste, served spooned over garlic-rubbed toast with lots of parmesan + good extra-virgin olive oil.

The TL;DR is that cabbage is a transformer of a vegetable; it can be anything you want it to be. “I like that cabbage can morph into so many forms,” says Loupy. “From crunchy-crispy to sweet 'n' slumpy... can you tell I like cabbage?”

How to store cabbage?

Cabbage, if stored properly, can last up to three weeks in the fridge. Yep, three weeks, according to the FDA. Keep it in a ziplock bag, or an airtight container, if sliced up. (I doubt you have a container large enough for a head of cabbage, but if you do, more power to you.) Stern likes reusable, beeswax wrappers, so she can “just kinda lob off a quarter of it and the rest lasts.”