A Guide to the Most Popular Types of Cabbage—and How to Cook With Them

Cabbage is affordable, long-lasting and nutritious. It can keep well in the fridge for weeks and provides fiber, vitamin C and vitamin K.Different varieties of cabbage offer different textures and uses. Some types work better for raw dishes, others for cooking or fermenting.Discover recipes featuring some of the most popular types of cabbage.

Cabbage is having more than a moment. The versatile cruciferous vegetable is everywhere right now, from supermarket shelves to top-tier restaurants. “It’s the year of the cabbage,” affirms Diane Aboushi Saleh, who runs Halal Pastures Farm in New York. She loves cabbage because it’s hearty, delicious, and can be grown and enjoyed year-round. “It’s a crop that has kept generations alive, feeds a family, sustains people, and it’s enjoyable!”

Cabbage is likely not going anywhere anytime soon. The leafy vegetable is often priced lower per pound than many of its produce counterparts, lasts for weeks in the fridge when left whole, and is packed with nutrients like Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and fiber.

Plus, cabbage can take on a range of flavors and cooking styles—and comes in hundreds of varieties with distinct flavors and textures. So plain old cabbage never actually has to feel plain, old, or boring.

Ready to explore? Here are some of the most common types of cabbage to know and enjoy:

Tendersweet Cabbage (Green Cabbage)

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“Cabbage is distinguished primarily by appearance,” says Saleh, noting that the leaves, color, and texture really define what a cabbage will taste like. Tendersweet is your iconic cabbage—round, light green, pretty mild, and amenable to any coleslaw, salad, soup, or cabbage recipe you have in mind.

“Tendersweet is the traditional cabbage we all think of,” says Saleh, “It’s a round cabbage, so you can peel off the leaves. It has a nice crunchy flavor, and keeps its texture when cooking.”

TRY IT!

Addictive Cabbage & Pork BowlsGrilled Cabbage Wedges With Caraway DressingBest-Ever Corned Beef and CabbageCaraflex Cabbage

Shaped like a cone, this cabbage can also be called “torpedo cabbage” or “triangle cabbage.” Trader Joe’s sells a variety called “dew drop cabbage.”

“All cabbage is on the mild and sweet side, but caraflex is especially sweet,” Saleh adds. “Smaller cabbages are more intense in flavor. I’ve found that with certain varieties of vegetables, the smaller ones are more potent.”

“I remember seeing the Caraflex variety at my local farmers market and thinking, wow, that’s a really chic-looking cabbage—a sentence that’s probably never been uttered before,” says GH recipe editor Susan Choung. “Now it’s become my go-to cabbage for reasons beyond its supermodel looks. It’s sweeter, more tender, and quicker to cook than other varieties. When I cook a Caraflex, it doesn’t stink up the house with that sulfurous smell (to put it politely). And it’s usually smaller and lighter than those bulky heads of green or red cabbage, so carrying it home is much easier. It really shines raw in salads and slaws, too, since it’s less bitter and less “cabbage-y” than many of the other kinds out there.”

Savoy Cabbage

Also called formosa, savoy cabbage has leaves that are round, rigid, and look like a flower. “Savoy cabbage is beautiful looking, the flavor is milder, and it can be too pretty to cut up,” says Saleh. This makes savoy a great option for whole-leaf cabbage dishes, like stuffed cabbage. Napa cabbage, the Chinese version of savoy cabbage, is quite similar and can be swapped and used in the same ways.

TRY IT!Red Cabbage

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Often more purple in hue, red cabbage is a popular style of cabbage to eat raw. “It holds its shape well, and the color won’t bleed into a salad, like a beet,” Saleh says. Anthocyanin polyphenols, the compounds that give the cabbage its natural color, are antioxidants, which can be helpful for their anti-viral and anti-cancer qualities.

“Red cabbage is a fantastic variety because it’s so hearty and versatile,” says GH food producer Tina Martinez. “Its firm texture holds up really well in cooking, making it great for stir-fries, but it’s just as good fresh where its crisp bite and beautiful color brighten up salads. It’s also one of the best cabbages for pickling—the flavor develops wonderfully and adds a tangy crunch to so many dishes. It’s simply a reliable, flavorful cabbage that works across a wide range of recipes.”

TRY IT!Red Dragon Cabbage

A hybrid of red cabbage and Napa cabbage initially developed in South Korea, this beautiful oblong leafy cabbage is hot pink or maroon. Farms like Halal Pastures has it on the docket to grow in the coming cabbage season, as cabbage becomes more of an aesthetic and culinary interest. Red dragon is certainly decorative, and can be chopped into ribbons for stir fries, fermented into kimchi or sauerkrauts, or sliced into salads.

Saku Saku

This Japanese flat cabbage is requested by Greenmarket shoppers in New York City, so Halal Pastures ordered the seeds and plans to grow it. “It’s award-winning for flavor and supposed to be one of the best Japanese varieties out there,” Saleh says. “When there’s a hype behind a vegetable, we’ll grow it and compare it to other varieties.” It can be enjoyed raw, and adds nice freshness and crunch to salads, slaws and sandwiches.

Filderkraut

This German conical cabbage is long and leafy, and yes, used in fermented dishes like sauerkraut. “I love to make a salad out of it, and it retains its crispiness. My kids love it when I cut it and chop it up with ground beef and rice, the sweetness pops out when you caramelize it,” suggests Saleh. “Get out and enjoy your cabbage!”

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