Melting Cabbage and Onions
The Most Delicious Way To Enjoy Cabbage
Even if you are not a fan of cabbage, you will DEVOUR this Melting Cabbage and Onions. It’s cabbage quarters with sweet onions slowly braised in a savory broth made from meat drippings, brown sugar, garlic and caraway seeds with mustard to add a zesty tang.
Melting Cabbage and Onions is a pretty popular recipe that goes back decades that I began making when I started baking my corned beef instead of boiling it. I needed a way to make the tender cabbage that usually boils with the corned beef.
My Oven Baked Corned Beef is our staple for Saint Patrick’s Day and the Melting Cabbage is the PERFECT side for corned beef or any roasted meat.
Who Needs Math When Cooking?
I do not know math. I realize that I am probably off when I call these cabbage quarters in the recipe card below.
We can call them cabbage wedges. For reference, I included the picture above so that you can see the approximate size of my cabbage chunks.
My roasting pan fit eight of these. Do not get too hung up on the size or amount of the cabbage. It is all going to come together.
You do need to be sure to sear these cabbage wedges as best you can. This adds a great and smokey flavor to the whole dish.
Some of the larger pieces of the cabbage will fall off. I use these to line the bottom of the roasting pan before adding my cabbage wedges.
Work In Batches
It is likely that you will not be able to sear all of your cabbage wedges at once. This is just fine, you can work in batches.
Add the ones that are seared to the roasting pan and then sear some more. You can see from the picture that the cabbages are seared but not fully charred.
You just want to add a slightly smokey taste to the dish.
Save Those Drippings
I made my corned beef and then wanted to make this cabbage the next day. I saved the drippings from the corned beef to use in this Melting Cabbage recipe.
If you do not have drippings you can just use all-beef broth.
You do not want the cabbage covered completely in the broth you add to the roasting pan. It will depend on the size of your cabbage wedges.
You may need to adjust the amount of the broth. The broth should come up to about 3/4s up the sides of the cabbage.
This is so the cabbage and onions caramelize on the top and braise and steam underneath.
Some Great Meats For This Side
I have a lot of great recipes on this site that would be the perfect partner for this cabbage side. Roasted meats are the perfect pairing and I already linked to the corned beef earlier in the post.
Below is a list of some other great Tipsy recipes that you will love to pair it with
Melting Cabbage and Onions Recipe
Quartered cabbage seared in olive oil, then baked up with sautéed onions and garlic in a savory beef broth. The cabbage comes out tender and delicious.
Ingredients
- 1/2 large head of green cabbage cut into 8 "quarters"
- 1 large yellow onion, sliced
- 4 to 6 cloves of garlic, smashed
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- Approximately 3 cups of beef broth *when I am making this with any roasted meat, like corned beef, I reserve and use the meat drippings and adjust the amount of broth I use
- 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tablespoon of caraway seed *optional
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- Garlic salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Cut your cabbage head into 8 wedges. Some of the leaves will come off, I use those to line the bottom of my roasting pan.
- Add the olive oil to a skillet and get it hot but not smoking. Add your cabbage wedges and sear for 5 minutes on both sides. They should have a char but not be burned. Keep an eye on these as they sear. You may have to work in batches. Add the seared wedges to the cabbage leaf lined roasting pan.
- When you are done searing, add the butter to the skillet and add your sliced onions. Sauté for 15 minutes, season with the garlic salt and pepper, then add your garlic cloves. Sauté for another ten minutes.
- Add the caraway seeds and sauté until toasty but be sure not to burn. Add the brown sugar and combine with the garlic and onions.
- Add the broth and any meat drippings you have as well as the mustard.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Pour all of this over the cabbage wedges. *You do not want the cabbage covered completely in the broth you add to the roasting pan. It will depend on the size of your cabbage wedges. You may need to adjust the amount of the broth. The broth should come up to about 3/4s up the sides of the cabbage.
- Heat your oven to 375 degrees and bake for one hour. SOME of the liquid will evaporate but you can serve liquid with the cabbages and onions or use a slotted spoon to serve and leave the broth. You can also freeze the broth to use later to make soup.