Five dishes made from cabbage, excluding soups and pickles

It’s usually not the lack of recipes, but rather the fact that cabbage for sauerkraut comes in two forms: for soups and for pickling. We’ve gathered five dishes for different situations and discussed two mistakes that cause it to become watery and bitter.

Stewed cabbage floats in liquid and has a bitter taste. Cabbage is mostly water, and this water evaporates when heated. If it is placed on a cold pan and immediately covered, the moisture has nowhere to go, resulting in boiling instead of frying.

Salt works in the same way: cabbage seasoned with salt early releases its juices right away. Therefore, the pan is heated in advance, left uncovered for the first few minutes, and salt is added toward the end.

Heat is often added to later varieties, as well as to the stem and rough outer leaves, since these parts are easier to remove. The variety itself plays a significant role: early cabbage is loose and juicy, suitable for salads and quick frying, while late cabbage is dense, ideal for stewing, baking, and storage.

The shortest route from cabbage to dinner. The cabbage is sliced and placed in a well-heated pan without a lid to allow excess moisture to evaporate and the edges to lightly brown. Next, onions and carrots are added, followed by tomato paste or tomatoes, and only after that is the pan covered and the mixture cooked until tender.

Ingredients can be varied depending on what’s in the fridge: with sausages, smoked bacon, mushrooms, or dates in a richer version.

There’s no need to add water; the cabbage itself will provide enough moisture. If the flavor seems bland, a pinch of sugar added to the tomatoes along with a bay leaf can help, which should be removed later to avoid bitterness.

When feeding many people at once, a casserole is convenient. The main requirement here is that raw cabbage in the dish will release liquid, so it needs to be simmered or blanched first.

Next, the cabbage is mixed with ground meat or mushrooms, then poured with eggs mixed with sour cream or milk, and baked until a golden crust forms. There are many variations: with layers of potatoes, rice inside, or cheese on top.

It’s better to use a pan that isn’t too deep, otherwise the top will brown before the center is cooked. And if there’s still liquid at the bottom, the cabbage should be stewed for a longer time next time.

It’s a home-baked dish made from the simplest ingredients, and the entire result depends on the filling. The filling is prepared in advance and cooled completely, as hot dough will become soggy.

The classic filling is stewed cabbage with onions and a boiled egg. Yeast dough or ready-made puff pastry can both be used, and the pie can be open, closed, or in the form of small pastries.

First check: the filling should be dense, with no liquid at the bottom of the bowl. If there is liquid, it must be drained before adding the cabbage to the dough.

There’s plenty of cabbage, but no time at all. The shredded cabbage is stewed with carrots and onions until cooked, then completely cooled before being divided into portions and placed in containers or bags.

In winter, this preserved cabbage serves as filling for pies, a base for soups, or a side dish, eliminating the need to prepare it from scratch.

Green cabbage is also frozen, but after thawing it becomes soft and is suitable for stewing and soups rather than salads. It’s better to make small portions so it’s enough for just one dish.

Half an hour after dressing, the salad usually ends up floating in its juices. The cabbage is sliced thinly, gently squeezed with salt, left to sit, and the excess liquid is drained before dressing it.

From there, add ingredients according to taste: carrots and apples, green peas, cucumbers, and dill.

It is better to prepare it before serving. For salads, juicy varieties are used, while the dense, later-harvested heads are tougher, requiring more force and longer pressing.

The cut end starts to dry out and become stale on the very first day. It should be covered or wrapped, and the head kept in the refrigerator’s vegetable compartment, with the dried edge trimmed off in thin layers before cooking.

A whole head lasts longer than a cut one, so it is more convenient to cut off pieces as needed from a larger head.

It is not advisable to chop everything at once: sliced cabbage loses moisture much faster than a piece of the whole head.

The autumn cabbage stops being a problem when it has several clear destinations: a skillet, an oven dish, dough, the freezer, and a salad bowl. And the difference between watery cabbage and normal cabbage comes down to two things: a heated skillet without a lid at the beginning, and salt added toward the end.