
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

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.
If you love the lemon and garlic combo, try our balsamic sautéed Brussels sprouts, garlic butter sautéed green beans, easy sautéed kale or this lemony sautéed spinach!
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.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
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

Don’t Miss Our Latest Recipes

Green Chile Chicken Quesadillas

How to Make Tender Juicy Meatballs

Our Favorite Chocolate Cupcakes (Naturally Vegan)

Ridiculously Easy Bean Salad

Chimichurri Cauliflower Steaks

Lentil Soup with Lemon and Turmeric
Tour Our New Kitchen

Your recipes look delicious and I can’t wait to try some!
Easy, affordable, and delicious! I don’t cook it down quite as long as recommended since I prefer the crunch and I halve the recipe to make it as my whole lunch. My kiddo eats every bite, too!
Just finished making and eating this.. very nice flavor to it..
Really tasty loved it
Made the lemon cabbage today.. OMG!!!! I’m in love with it
Lovely, I didn’t have a lemon so used cider vinegar, as mentionned in the recipe as an alternative and it was delicious! I’m actually making it for a second time at this very moment.
This was excellent! I usually buy cabbage to make lazy cabbage roll casserole. I ended up wanting a side for supper and stumbled across this recipe. It’s great! I think I may have added a bit more cabbage so I just added a bit of EVOO while cooking it down. Awesome! Quick and easy as stated! And Yummy! Thanks for the new veggie/side in the rotation!
Fabulous
Made this for my family last night and it was so good I added shrimp.
So easy and so delicious! The garlic and crushed red pepper lends flavor and heat, while the fresh lemon juice provides a fresh zing. I’ll definitely make this again!