Lemon Garlic Sauteed Cabbage
One of my favorite cabbage recipes! See how to make delicious sautéed cabbage with fresh lemon and garlic. Simple, quick, and delicious! Jump to the Quick and Easy Sautéed Cabbage Recipe or watch our quick video below showing you how we make it.
Watch Us Make The Recipe
My Favorite Way to Cook Cabbage
This is a simple, delicious, and healthy recipe for cooking cabbage. It’s also my go-to method. If you have never sautéed cabbage before, you need to start.
As the cabbage cooks in the pan, it wilts, turns tender, and becomes sweet. Cabbage may sound like a boring side, but this is one of our favorite sides to make.
Cabbage is underrated and is a nutrient powerhouse. It’s good for you with high levels of vitamin C, is antioxidant-rich, and has been shown to have anti-inflammatory benefits.

We love cabbage in many forms, but our favorite way to cook it is to saute it in a little fat on the stove. In this easy recipe, we stay on the healthier side and cook the cabbage in olive oil, but you can swap the olive oil for other fats. Try butter, coconut oil or nut oils like walnut. You can even cook a few pieces of bacon before the cabbage and use the rendered bacon fat for extra flavor — we do this for our easy bacon fried cabbage recipe.
Making The Recipe
Making this cabbage recipe could not be simpler. Heat some fat in a skillet, add shredded cabbage (I’ve shared my tips for shredding cabbage below), a bit of salt and pepper, and the cook until wilted and sweet.
Simply sautéed cabbage cooked with olive oil, salt and a bit of pepper is quite delicious, but when we have them in the kitchen, we love to add minced garlic and fresh lemon juice.
The garlic adds flavor, and the lemon brightens up the dish. If you don’t have a lemon, apple cider vinegar is an excellent substitute.
How to Shred Cabbage
I love shredded cabbage in this recipe. Here’s how I do it:
- Remove any tattered or bruised outer leaves.
- Cut the cabbage into quarters, and then cut out the core.
- Slice the cabbage quarters into thin shreds. You can hand shred with a knife (like in the photos below), use a mandoline or use your food processor shredding attachment.


More Easy Cabbage Recipes
- Leftover cabbage? Try our popular recipe for coleslaw with a creamy dressing. Or for a mayonnaise-free coleslaw, try our coleslaw with cilantro and lime.
- We add cabbage to our healthy homemade vegetable soup. It’s delicious.
- Here’s another way to cook cabbage! Our Ham and Cabbage Soup is easy to make and tastes incredible.
- If you love the garlic and lemon combination, try our 10 Minute Bok Choy Recipe.

Lemon Garlic Sauteed Cabbage
- PREP
This easy, healthy recipe for sauteed cabbage is delicious. As the cabbage cooks in the pan, it wilts, turns tender, and becomes sweet. Cabbage may sound like a boring side, but this is one of our favorite side dishes to make. White cabbage is our favorite for this, but other cabbage varieties will work. Keep in mind, though, that Napa cabbage will release more moisture and won’t brown as nicely in the pan.
You Will Need
2 pounds white cabbage, core removed and shredded (10 cups)
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or more to taste
Half of a lemon, cut into wedges
Directions
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage, garlic, red pepper flakes, and the salt. It might seem like too much cabbage for the pan, but as it cooks, the cabbage will wilt down.
Cook, stirring occasionally until the cabbage is tender and some of the cabbage begins to turn a light brown; 10 to 15 minutes.
Squeeze the juice from 2 lemon wedges over the cabbage. Taste then adjust with more salt, pepper, and lemon juice as needed.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- To shred the cabbage, quarter the cabbage through the core, and then cut out the core. Cut each quarter crosswise in half and finely shred. Rinse and spin or pat very dry.
- This cabbage recipe is excellent with onions, add them to the pan at the same time as the cabbage.
- Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

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Can you add chopped onion to this or would it ruin the recipe?
Anne, Onion would be a lovely addition.
Excellent accompaniment to simply-cooked (butter, lemon, oven) sea bream and I hate cabbage.
Refreshingly different from the other cabbage recipes that I’ve tried. Enjoyed it.
In a rush, I accidentally bought cabbage instead of iceberg lettuce. Now I’m happy I did because I tried this recipe and loved it. Added plant-based chop meat and it was a full meal! Thank you for the recipe!
After a session at the gym, Home late and HUNGRY, under covid restrictions and unable to nip out to the shops. last item in the fridge … the cabbage… Weirdly this recipe filled the spot. What a gorgeous simple meal. Definitely going to make this again! Next time I think I might do it with falafel.
This was great and simple. Made it again and added white beans and finished with breadcrumbs and parmesan and it was a meal.
Thanks for this recipe it was good and quick to throw together. I also added shredded carrots to it and served it with brown rice.
Simple and delicious. Paired with grilled marinaded flank steak and a garlic kale Israeli Couscous. Loved the tang of lemon with the spice of the red pepper flakes.
Made this tonight and really enjoyed it.. Even my husband, who is not a cabbage fan, liked it a lot. I added a bit of bacon fat I had on hand and some extra lemon. It was so good!
So delicious!! Thank you