Skillet Roasted Cabbage with Caraway Seeds & Lemon Recipe

I’ve been looking around the internet and have seen dozens of roasted cabbage recipes. All of them were prepared in the oven. This makes sense because “roasting” is the action of cooking something in an oven or over an open fire. The thing is, what I’ve also been finding is a lot of “pan roasting” recipes. I get a bit confused with the terminology because, it seems to me, pan roasting is the same thing as pan frying. The only difference is pan frying uses a minimal amount of fat in the process. But then again, so does pan roasting. It’s times like these I sure wish I knew what people were talking about. I looked up the definitions and I think I know what I’m referring to. They came from the dictionary and Wikipedia.

Cook’s Country calls this recipe Skillet Roasted Cabbage. They claim their method uses a better way to caramelize the wedges of cabbage and infuse them with the flavor of the sear as well as the butter. I tend to agree with them, because, as you’ll see below, there is a bit of basting that goes on and that always helps with the flavor of the final dish.

The Recipe

There aren’t many steps to the recipe. It’s fairly quick and tastes great. I recommend this for a quick weeknight side dish or something to enjoy at a picnic. The pieces of cabbage soften nicely during the cooking process and the browned areas are extremely tasty. I was surprised with this recipe because I’ve never even thought of cooking cabbage like this. It’s on my list of favorites now.

Ingredients

Serves: 6

1 Head Green Cabbage (on the smaller side)
6 Tablespoons Water
2 Tablespoons Regular Olive Oil
Regular Table Salt
Ground Black Pepper
4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
4 Tablespoons Parsley, Chopped
1 Teaspoon Caraway Seeds
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

Step-by-Step Instructions

The reason the head of cabbage should be on the smaller side is because all the cut pieces need to fit in the 12 inch skillet. The head of cabbage I purchased was too large and I was only able to fit 5 of the 6 pieces into the large skillet. I was forced to use one of my smaller pans to cook the final piece. That worked fine, but it was another pan to clean afterward.

Cut Cabbage & Add to Skillet

The method of slicing the head of cabbage matters. In order for each wedge to stay together, you’ll need to be sure each piece has part of the core attached to it. In order to accomplish this, you can cut the head in half from the core to the top. Then, cut each wedge from the core as well. After that, add the pieces (flat side down) to a 12 inch cast iron (or whatever type of pan you have) skillet.

Cook the Cabbage

Starting off, you can warm the skillet over medium heat. While that is happening, add 4 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil to it. Also, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of regular table salt over all of the wedges. Let this combination cook for about 15 minutes or until the water has fully evaporated. It’s only once the water is gone that the cabbage begins to brown on the bottom. I continuously (and carefully) lifted the wedges to see how far they’ve browned.

Once the bottoms have browned nicely (again, the darker the brown, the more the flavor), go ahead and flip them over to their other flat side. Then, add 2 more tablespoons of water and let cook for another 5-8 minutes, until that side has browned.

Once both sides have colored nicely, go ahead and cut the unsalted butter into 4 pieces and scatter them around the pan.

Right after that, sprinkle the 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds, the 4 tablespoons of chopped parsley and a nice coating of ground black pepper over everything.

Baste the Wedges

After all the above ingredients have been added and the butter is melted, you can tilt the pan so the butter collects in one area. Then, take a spoon and scoop the butter and pour it over the wedges. This is going to add a lot of flavor to the interior of each wedge.

Once that’s finished, remove the skillet from the heat and sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice over the wedges. You can continue to baste if you want. I think that would add even more flavor.

The Final Dish

I’m definitely going to prepare these roasted cabbage wedges again. I think the method was fast and easy and the final dish was well worth it. As I mentioned, I’ve never eaten something like this, so I’m excited to add it as one of my favorites.

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