Grilled Cabbage With Paprika-Lime Butter

By Ali Slagle

Grilled Cabbage With Paprika-Lime Butter
Joe Lingeman for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
4(223)
Notes
Read community notes

The ideal grilled cabbage is smoky and sweet, with crackly leaves and a core that yields to a knife and fork. To make that a reality and ensure it isn’t dry, tough or bland, soak the cabbage wedges in water and salt while the grill heats. The wet brine will soften and season every bit of the hardy vegetable (like in kimchi and sauerkraut). Once the cabbage is drained and over the grill’s flame, the water trapped in the crevices will steam the inner leaves, while the cabbage’s surfaces will crisp and brown. A smoky-citrusy butter melts into the wedges, adding richness and luxury, but a creamy dressing or a bright sauce would be great, too.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 1medium green, red or Savoy cabbage (about 2 pounds)
  • Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
  • ¼cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1teaspoon finely grated lime zest (from 1 lime)
  • 1small garlic clove, finely grated
  • ½teaspoon smoked paprika
  • Hot sauce or red-pepper flakes, to taste
  • Olive oil, as needed
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the grill to medium-high.

  2. Step 2

    Remove any wilted leaves from the cabbage, then cut through the root into 2-inch-thick wedges. Transfer to a large bowl or resealable plastic bag and add ¼ cup salt. Mix thoroughly with your hands to work the salt into the cabbage. Add 3 cups of water and stir to combine. Set aside, tossing occasionally, while the grill heats or up to 1 hour.

  3. Step 3

    In a small bowl, use a fork to mash together the butter, lime zest, garlic and smoked paprika. Season to taste with salt and hot sauce.

  4. Step 4

    When ready to grill, drain the cabbage and pat the outsides very dry. Drizzle with olive oil to coat. Clean the grill grates with a grill brush, then lightly grease the grates. Add the cabbage and cook, covered if using a gas grill, until the cabbage is floppy and deeply charred on all three sides, 6 to 10 minutes per side.

  5. Step 5

    Transfer to a platter or plates. While still hot, spread the cabbage with the paprika-lime butter.

Ratings

4 out of 5
223 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Chris

I love you too cabbage and so am sorry for causing your ignominious death by salt and fire. We did bury you dressed in your lovely lime butter.

monika vail

I love you cabbage. Skipped the soaking and still incredible, gives a bit more crunch which is nice. Sprinkle a little cumin too for more flavor

Kevin K

This is actually very good, but you have to brine in a salt bath for 1.5 hours to soften the leaves. Skip the grill and bake at 400F for 20 min instead. For the dressing, squeeze half the lime’s juice and add to the mixture for a more citrus flavor. Paired great with Chicken Paprikash.

Rhody Dave

Thought this would be a winner - my father liked fried cabbage, that my mother made with leftover cabbage. But this recipe was inedible. Crunchy? Cut with a knife and fork? I wanted to get up from the table and get the steak knives! Made me wonder if the Times actually tests recipes independently before publication. My view is that the only way this could work is if you par-cook the cabbage before grilling. And skip the brining! Just adds unnecessary sodium!

John R

Followed recipe 100%. Tough and tasteless. Threw recipe away and deleted file.

easy and tasty

Followed directions exactly and had no issues! Cabbage was both crispy and soft as described. Butter was great. Wondering if those who had issues maybe didn’t have the grill on the right temp or too thick of cabbage wedges

Jim C

Hate cabbage but this was good!

meinmunich

Incredibly yummy! At the first bite, family had the look of “whaaat? This is unbelievable!”, with their eyes widen. I only made a piece of two inches for each person and they were so sad that there weren’t more. Genius recipe. For the people who didn’t have the same great experience: maybe your cabbage was not properly scorched? I baked mine at 400 then broiled them to be charred. Salting for ample time is very important. No lime zest but only the juice. Still incredibly delicious. Thank you.

tracy morgan

If you don’t have time to soak the leaves for an hour or more I would slice very thinly the cabbage and stir fry it with the butter blend.

Liv

Oh cabbage, I'm sorry I couldn't soak you for long enough. I didn't know what I was doing. But I don't want to make excuses. I failed you. But I still ate you, with your lovely lime butter.

Henry

Recipe worked for me.

Simon

I added some cumin and brown sugar to the butter with great success. I also used toothpicks to hold the slices together. I know this is a great recipe because a lot of people in my family hate cabbage but really enjoyed this.

Heidi N

Good news: the toddler helped salt the wedges. Bad news: the toddler helped salt the wedges. Despite the inconsistent saltiness, wow, was this terrific! We left the salty wedges rest for about 30 minutes (no soaking) and grilled for the time indicated in the recipe, leading to a good mix of moist and burnt leaves. We're still brainstorming ways to eat this more, but honed in on cooked flank steak stuffed amongst the cabbage leaves. Looking into cabbage taco shells now...

Chris C

We cut the cabbage to wedges about 1" wide max on the outer edge, arranged them on a sheet pan, shook salt over each side as for fries, sprinkled water over them, let them sit for 20 minutes, and then rinsed them under a faucet before oiling and grilling. We cooked them over a hot charcoal fire for 2-3 minutes a side. They were nicely--but not predominantly--salty, with a good crisp sear on each side. Structural integrity became iffy at the end of grilling, so cut thicker if that's important.

PBNJ

It was raining so did this on a grill pan on the stove. Ridiculously good! It almost didn’t make it to the table since SO and I kept tasting! Did add the juice of the lime.

Serena

Really yummy! 3 cups of water didn’t cover my cabbage so I used more. I was hesitant to add salt to the butter mixture because of the salt brine for the cabbage, but I definitely think my butter mixture could have used more salt. I think it took more than 10 minutes to grill the wedges.

Ingrid

This was outrageously delicious.

easy and tasty

Followed directions exactly and had no issues! Cabbage was both crispy and soft as described. Butter was great. Wondering if those who had issues maybe didn’t have the grill on the right temp or too thick of cabbage wedges

garlicpup

Really needed the full 10 minutes per side to get it soft enough. Tasty tho

j

Loved it! Brined the cabbage for about half an hour. For two sides, I kept a lid on the frying pan I used to grill the cabbage, which nicely steamed the inside and still lightly charred the sides. Served it with mashed potatoes. A hit!

Christine L

Skip the soaking!!!!! Cut chunks to be an 1-1 1/2 inch thick, you will get more char and even cooking this way. Get grill to a high temp. Flavor is great if you double it. Yes, I recognize this is not the exact recipe but it turned out amazing. I found myself snacking on the leftovers hours later- still crunchy because we didn't soak.

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