Roasted Cabbage With Herby Green Sauce
Sasha Goreshtein is a Montreal-based home cook who calls hosting her love language and cooking her therapy. She grew up watching her mom cook, and now, as a mom herself, she's finding that spark again through experimenting with new flavors and gathering people around her table.
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Cabbage wedges roast until the edges char and sweeten, then take a cilantro-tahini sauce and a handful of toasted almonds — 158 calories and about 7 grams of fiber a serving.
Cabbage has a reputation problem. Most people see it boiled, shredded into slaw, or buried in a soup, and none of those do much to sell it. Roasting is the version that changes minds. Cut a head into thick wedges, give them oil and salt, and leave them in a 375°F oven long enough for the outer leaves to blacken and the inside to go silky — the sugars concentrate and the sulfur smell that puts people off cooked cabbage largely cooks away. A cilantro and tahini sauce goes over the top while the wedges are still warm, and toasted almonds go on last for crunch. Total hands-on time is about 15 minutes while the oven does the rest.
Why This Works
Cabbage is mostly fiber and water, which is why a serving of this lands at 158 calories while still filling a plate. About 80% of that fiber is insoluble — the kind that adds bulk and moves things along — and a serving here works out to roughly 7 grams, a good chunk of the 25 to 38 grams most adults are advised to get in a day. The tahini and almonds matter too: a little fat alongside the vegetable helps with absorbing the fat-soluble vitamins cabbage carries, vitamin K especially. And the Greek yogurt in the sauce does double duty, adding a bit of protein and keeping the whole thing creamy without any mayonnaise.
Nutrition (per serving)
| Calories | 158 |
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| Protein | 6g |
| Carbs | 20g |
| Fat | 8g |
Ingredients
For the cabbage
| Medium head green cabbage | 1 (about 1¾ lb / 800 g) |
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| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
| Salt | To taste |
| Black pepper | To taste |
For the green sauce
| Fresh cilantro | 1 bunch |
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| Garlic cloves | 2 |
| Lemon juice | Juice of ½ lemon |
| Plain Greek yogurt | 1 heaping tbsp |
| Tahini | 1 tbsp |
| Honey or maple syrup (optional) | 1 tbsp |
| Water, to thin the sauce | 1-3 tbsp |
For the topping
| Toasted sliced almonds, pine nuts, or chopped pecans | ¼ cup |
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Step-by-Step Instructions
1 Heat the oven
Preheat to 375°F and line a sheet pan with parchment.
2 Cut the cabbage
Quarter the head through the stem into 4 wedges, keeping the core intact so each wedge holds together.
3 Season
Arrange the wedges on the pan, drizzle with the olive oil, and season both cut sides with salt and pepper.
4 Roast
Roast uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the edges are deeply golden and charred, and a knife slides into the core with no resistance.
5 Blend the sauce
While the cabbage roasts, add the cilantro, garlic, lemon juice, yogurt, tahini, and honey to a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth, adding water 1 tablespoon at a time until it pours off a spoon.
6 Spoon the sauce
Spoon the green sauce generously over the wedges while they’re still warm, so it loosens into the crevices.
7 Finish and serve
Scatter the toasted almonds over the top and serve right away.
Notes & Tips
- Give the wedges room. Crowding the pan traps steam and you’ll get soft, pale cabbage instead of charred edges — use two pans if one is tight.
- Roasting hotter than 375°F browns the outer leaves before the core softens. If the edges are darkening too fast, tent loosely with foil for the last 15 minutes.
- Cauliflower works in place of cabbage. Cut it into thick slabs and check it around the 30-minute mark, since it cooks faster.
- Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days. The wedges reheat best in a hot oven or air fryer rather than the microwave, which softens the crisp edges.
- Double the sauce and refrigerate half. It thins with a splash of water into a salad dressing, and keeps for about 4 days.
Sasha Goreshtein is a Montreal-based home cook who calls hosting her love language and cooking her therapy. She grew up watching her mom cook, and now, as a mom herself, she's finding that spark again through experimenting with new flavors and gathering people around her table.
