3-Ingredient Cabbage Pasta
Cabbage pasta is a dish that I’ve grown up eating. My dad is the one that mainly makes it.
He’s always been a bit heavy-handed on the oil and salt, but the flavour from his food is great, of course. It’s fun watching him cook as he does it with such passion and enthusiasm.
Doesn’t happen too often these days, but I always look forward to when he cooks.
When I first decided to share this recipe, I was thinking about all the potential benefits of this cabbage pasta recipe.
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The one that kept coming up time and time again is how cheap this meal is. If you don’t have much money and need to feed lots of mouths, this is the perfect dish.
This 3-ingredient cabbage pasta can also be a quick recipe if you don’t cook the cabbage down as much as I do.
If you’re short on time, It can be done in around 20 minutes. I like to cook it longer to extract more flavour and get some caramelisation happening.
I wanted to show you what the cabbage looks like as it’s slowly cooking down in its own water, the salt helps with this process. The photo above was done partway through the second phase of cooking. It still needed around 20 minutes to cook down.
I cut the cabbage roughly so that it still has some substance as it cooks down. If you cut it into thinner strips, it will be more stringy and get lost. It will still taste great; it just depends on the texture you’d like to achieve.
What’s the difference between braised and sauteed cabbage?
When you braise the cabbage, you cook it for a longer period over a lower heat. This can be done in the oven or a crockpot for many hours. I’d do this with larger slices/pieces of cabbage.
When you saute something, it’s for a shorter period and done on higher heat. You’d normally do this with smaller, chopped-up pieces. This is what I’m doing with the cabbage. It was done on a higher heat for around 30 minutes with the lid on and off.
Can you use different types of cabbage in this pasta dish?
Yes, you sure can! It won’t taste the same, but if you only have a red cabbage in your fridge, use that instead. It will be sweeter than the green cabbage.
Besides the green and red cabbage varieties, the dish will be very different. I would stick to these two to get similar or the same results as this recipe.
Savoy cabbage will hold its shape much more and won’t give you the same results. If you want recipe ideas for savoy cabbage, you can find plenty in this roundup.
Cabbage pasta is quite a well-known dish in the Eastern part of Europe. There are a few different varieties, but this is how it’s done where I’m from.
I sometimes make it starting with some oil and then saute a diced onion before adding the cabbage and salt.
I used the more traditional method for this recipe as it’s easier to make. And as you know, only requires the 3-ingredients.
Why I love cabbage pasta so much
If these photos don’t do it justice and aren’t convincing, I want to assure you that the flavour is amazing and that it will quickly become a staple in your home as it has mine.
I always buy a large cabbage when I go to the weekly farmer’s market and have it as a backup meal when I’m feeling lazy and tired.
Even though I’ve chosen the farfalle (aka bow tie) pasta, you can use anything you like. I’ve made it many times before with penne, spaghetti, or fettuccine.
You can also make it with gluten-free pasta if you are gluten sensitive.
Other recipes you’ll love:
- Leek and Mushroom Vegan White Sauce Fettuccine
- Smokey Vegan Baked Mac and Cheese
- Tikil Gomen (Ethiopian Cabbage & Potatoes)
- Vegan Cabbage Rolls in Tomato Sauce
- Creamy Vegan Cauliflower Bake
- Vegan Pesto Pasta Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Broad Bean Pasta (Pasta e Fave)
If you try this recipe, let me know! Weโd love for you to leave a comment and rating below. If you want to go that extra mile, tag us on Instagram or share your photo of the recipe on Pinterest.
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3-Ingredient Cabbage Pasta
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6
Description
This vegan-friendly cabbage pasta recipe is delicious, easy, very cheap, and quick to make. Can feed lots of people with super simple ingredients.
Ingredients
- 500g / 1.1 pounds farfalle pasta (aka bow tie pasta or pasta of choice)
- 1 head of green cabbage, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon salt
- โ cup oil*
- Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- In the meantime, in a large pot on high heat, add in the cabbage and salt and place the lid on.
- Stir from time to time for it to cook down evenly. Cook with lid on for 10 minutes or until the cabbage is soft and has released water. At this stage, if the cabbage becomes too dry, add a splash of water to prevent burning.
- Remove the lid and continue cooking for a further 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add in the oil and stir well; this will help you achieve slight browning of the cabbage. Just make sure to continue stirring and that it doesn’t stick to the bottom, cooking for a further 10-15 minutes.
- Add the cabbage to the pasta and stir well, adjust seasoning (if more salt is needed to taste).
- Serve with freshly cracked pepper on top.
Notes
Oil: You can use olive oil, sunflower oil, rice bran oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, or grapeseed oil. I use the latter.ย
- Diet: Vegan
My Jewish grandmother made this all the time with just a few more simple ingredients; caramelized mushrooms & onions, caraway seeds, dill, and a dollop of sour cream! HEAVEN!!! Its been 75 years, soon I’ll be with her. (Only farfalle pasta will do and it must be sautรฉed all together in the pan.) Mama, I’m getting hungry!!!
I also planned on adding ingredients. Luckily, I read the comments and kept it simple. Definitely a keeper.
Glad you stuck it out till the end ๐ Thanks for the review!
Hi, Iโm from Croatia and we make pasta with cabbage or (krpice sa zeljem, as we call it here ๐ ). My mum makes it a bit differently but I like the method you use, letting the cabbage release the moisture first and oil later. I tried it today and I love it! I did do some small adjustments like adding a half a tablespoon of sugar to balance the bitterness of cabbage and since we usually fry cabbage after sautรฉing the onions, I did that too, but because I used your method I sautรฉed onions separately and added them to the cabbage when adding oil as well. It turned out great! Thank you for sharing your method I will continue using it for this dosh! โบ๏ธ
Best wishes from Croatia!
P.s I lived in Ljubljana for a few months during my exchange program and fell in love with it! ๐ฅฐ
Hi Barbara, thank you for sharing the changes you made and for the lovely review. I’m really happy you liked my method. Well, technically, it’s my dad’s! ๐ Oh, I miss Ljubljana so much. Hopefully will be going back again soon. Happy cooking!
Oh my. It took everything in my power not to add more stuff to the simple recipe. I was convinced there is no way this is going to taste good because thereโs not enough stuff in it. I was so happily wrong. I see why you make this a go to recipe. My husband, who is not vegan Loved it too. Thank you for sharingโค๏ธ
Haha I hear this all the time! Trust in the process ๐ I’m so glad you both loved it. Happy cooking! x
I grew up on โFried Cabbage and Noodlesโ. Mom and now I use wide egg noodles. Lots of pepper! So yummy!
Thanks so much for this lovely budget-friendly cabbage-pasta recipe, I love both!
For a little more color, would it make a real difference if I would use 1/2 green cabbage & 1/2 red cabbage?
I recently signed up with you and will be receiving your newsletter starting next Sunday. I also look forward to paging through the rest of your recipes on this lovely site.
Cheers from Wisconsin in the Upper Midwest of the U.S.
Hi Carol, welcome!
It will be a little sweeter but won’t affect the flavour too much – just the colour ๐ I hope you love it!
Have to say I was stunned by how good this tasted. Did it in a le creuset pot and will turn the heat down a little next time. Even though a bit frazzled it was delicious.
Hahaha glad you got a pleasant surprise! Thanks for the review, Donald ๐
Wow…I was not expecting to be so incredibly blown away by something so simple…and yet, I couldn’t stop eating this. I didn’t even know I liked cabbage before trying this! Life changing, ha! Thank you for sharing–definitely will become a regular staple!
Yay! So happy to hear you loved it, Erin! It’s a pleasant surprise this dish ๐ Thanks for the lovely review x
My husband and my mother in law love this cabbage pasta . I AIM tรณ please , it was good,
I’m glad they enjoy it! Thank you for the review x
Prepared this with red cabbage and added paprika and red wine vinegar to taste. Bliss.
That sounds delicious, Sophia!
Wow this was delicious! Received a giant Savoy cabbage in farm box this week and wasnโt sure what to do with it. This was perfect!
Farm boxes are the best! So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for sharing!
Delicious
I have just found out that cabbage pasta was a thing, about a week ago, and I finally got around to making it today. I love the simplicity of this recipe because it allows all sorts of variations. Anyway, absolutely delicious! Thank you for it. I will be making it again. ๐
Sorry, I only just saw this comment now! So glad you loved it! It’s a great staple quick and easy meal ๐
I have now learned how to caramelize cabbage, thank you! This was very delicious and definitely now a staple here as well. ๐๐ป๐ธ
So easy, isn’t it? Glad you enjoyed it ๐
I love all your post your recipes are super delicious and you really explain things so well in a step-by-step manner. Today I tried making this cabbage pasta recipe for my family and everyone really loved it thank you so much for the efforts you take for us.
Hi Supriya, thank you! I’m so glad that you find my recipes well written and helpful ๐ Wonderful to hear that you and your family enjoyed this cabbage pasta!
I’m so glad I found this recipe. I’m trying to empty my fridge before a house move this weekend and wondered what on earth to do with half a cabbage and a single portion of pasta.
Problem solved!
Perfect, I hope you enjoy it ๐ Good luck with the move!
Simple and delicious
This was perfect for chilly days or days where you want some comfort food. Made it exactly as is and it turned out so delicious. Will be adding this to my go to meals.
I ha e seen many type of recipe online it goes by the name haluski. Many of those recipes call for paprika so I did use that and used red cabbage which your recipe said is an option and that’s what I had. I just picked it from my garden yesterday still in excellent shape as they are so cold hardy!
Thanks for sharing! No better way than to use produce from your own garden ๐
Interested to know if this dish can be frozen and could I use red cabbage in place if green . Please send pm thanks .
Hi Norma, you certainly can use red cabbage instead of green. It won’t have the exact same flavour profile but it will still be very nice. I’ve never tried freezing it before myself, so, unfortunately, I can’t answer that from experience. I would say that it would be fine, however. Let me know how you go!
So easy and delicious!! I will definitely add this to the roster. I topped it with my vegan parmesan cause why not!
It really does work
I made this with red cabbage. I was tempted to add garlic and coriander seeds but stuck to the recipe except I only added 2 tbs of oil instead of 3 and a very heaped tsp salt instead of a tbs. As it was a red cabbage I felt it would be smaller than a green cabbage and therefore the oil and salt required would be a little less and I could always add more if needed. I think the amount of salt and oil I used were fine. Probably could have had a little more oil but it was fine with just 2 tbs. I liked it very much and so did my sister but it feels a little weird to use so few ingredients. I think I’ll try with some garlic and coriander seeds next time although it really doesn’t need improving as you say. Also, because it was red cabbage you don’t actually see the caramelisation and even though you can taste it I kind of felt cheated at not being also able to see it which probably sounds dumb but there you go. Thank you for this interesting low-number-of-ingredients recipe. I’m grateful for the idea that you can cook vegetables first before you add oil. If you cook a vegetable to release its water and then add oil I can see that it can caramelise better. I’ll try this with other vegetables.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen this recipe on the internet before! This is one of my favourite childhood dishes and I still make this cabbage pasta fairly often.
I always first saute 1 yellow onion in oil and caramelize it with a bit of sugar, add the cabbage, salt, vegetable stock and a splash of vinegar and let it cook down until the cabbage gets this beautiful golden color and no liquid is left in my pan. Season with salt, pepper and paprika. Add the pasta of Our choice and Bon Appรฉtit!
That’s awesome! Glad I’m not the only one that grew up on this ๐ Everyone has their own family recipe of this, yours sounds good too.
Just made this with cauliflower leaves and caramelised onion. Absolutely delicious!
Thank you!
Nice! Sounds delicious ๐
I was skeptical at first I must admit but tried it anyway and THANK U THIS IS SO GOOD , With many other veggie opportunities.
Iโve added chopped olives, 1 chopped tomato , subbed the oil for Aquafaba , 1 whole can chickpeas added, 1 clove garlic sautรฉed, Red onions sautรฉed in little pure maple syrup , Little bit of nutritional yeast sprinkled to my liking , black pepper as suggested and itโs so addicting, who would have thought!
Hi Angelique, I can understand your scepticism, but trust me, you don’t need to add anything to the original recipe. It just works! Having said that, your tweaks sound fantastic. If you do try it again, go with the three ingredients, and let me know what you think ๐
We found this very salty -should it be a tablespoon of salt? I cut down on that but the whole family thought it was still very salty. However I will be making this again as it was super easy and delicious. Next time Iโll use spring greens and cook for less time, as it went through a really vibrant stage. I can imagine kale also works well.
Sorry to hear you found this too salty, Ali. I haven’t had any issues with this but it depends on how much salt you like in your food. It does serve 6, so 1 tablespoon for that many serves is normally okay. I would start with half that next time and then salt to taste.
So simple and yet SO good
Glad you enjoyed it! ๐
That’s it??!! This is so damn simple ๐
I’ll definitely try! Thank you for sharing!
I know right?! So simple, you’re welcome! ๐