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These Baked cabbage wedges are one of those recipes that sounds too simple to be good — and then completely wins you over. Just four pantry ingredients, one baking sheet, and about 30 minutes in the oven. The inside goes tender and almost Creamy while the buttered breadcrumb coating crisps up golden on every cut edge. You’re going to want to make these on repeat.
Why You’ll Love These
Only 4 ingredients — cabbage, butter, breadcrumbs, and salt. That’s it, nothing you need to run to the store for.
Surprisingly good texture — the inside turns tender and almost creamy while the cut edges get a shatteringly crisp, golden crust.
Works as a side for almost anything — roast chicken, Pork chops, meatloaf, or even just alongside mashed potatoes on a weeknight.
Budget-friendly — a whole head of cabbage feeds four people for practically nothing.
Easy to customize — once you have the base down, it’s simple to riff on with different seasonings or browned butter.
About the Ingredients
Cabbage — A regular medium head of green cabbage. Nothing fancy. You want one that feels dense and heavy for its size. The ones that feel light or hollow don’t hold up as well into wedges. Don’t use savoy for this — the leaves are too frilly and loose and the wedges fall apart before you even get them to the pan.
Butter — Unsalted, melted. This is where I do not skimp. You need enough to really get into the layers of the cabbage. If you run out before you’ve coated all the wedges, melt a little more. It’s fine.
Breadcrumbs — Plain, dry breadcrumbs. I’ve made this with panko and the crunch is honestly spectacular — lighter, crispier — but the plain dry crumbs give you something a little denser and more old-fashioned, which is what I want when I’m making this dish in particular. I use whatever I have. Sometimes it’s a mix because I ran out of one kind.
Salt — Kosher salt, stirred into the crumbs. I do about a teaspoon but I’ve also just salted the finished wedges at the table, which works fine. Honestly I do it both ways depending on how much I feel like measuring things that day.
Ingredients
– 1 medium head of green cabbage — around 2 to 2½ pounds, more or less
– ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (possibly a little more if your head of cabbage is on the larger side)
– 1½ cups plain dry breadcrumbs — or panko, either one
– 1 teaspoon kosher salt, give or take
Let’s Make Them
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and brush or rub a little of that melted butter onto the foil — don’t skip this part, I skipped it once and spent twenty minutes scraping cabbage off foil with a spatula and it was not a good time.
Peel off any ratty or wilted outer leaves. Trim the very bottom of the core, but be careful not to cut too much — the core is what holds each wedge together, and if you remove it completely you’ll end up with a baking sheet full of cabbage confetti, which doesn’t look the same and doesn’t crisp the same. I learned this the hard way. Cut the cabbage in half right through the core, then cut each half into four wedges. Eight wedges total.
Put the melted butter in a shallow bowl. Mix your breadcrumbs with the salt in another bowl. Working one wedge at a time, brush or spoon the butter generously over all the cut surfaces — get it into the layers a little, not just on the outside face. Then press the wedge into the breadcrumbs on both cut sides, and pat so the crumbs stick. The rounded outside of the wedge doesn’t need much coating, just whatever crumbs happen to cling.
Set the wedges cut-side-up on the baking sheet, with a little space between them. Drizzle any remaining butter over the tops. Every last drop.
Bake for 25 to 35 minutes — mine usually take closer to 30. Halfway through, rotate the pan so everything bakes evenly. You want the crumbs deep golden and the cabbage tender when you poke the thickest part with a knife, but still holding its wedge shape. If you want them extra crispy, which I usually do, move the pan up to the top third of the oven for the last few minutes. Watch them closely. There is a very short window between perfect and burned, and I have been on both sides of it.
Let them rest for five minutes before you try to move them. Then use a spatula to scoop them onto a platter and drag all those toasted crumbs off the foil and scatter them over the top. Salt again at the table if they need it.
Variations Worth Knowing About
If you want to go richer, brown the butter before you start — let it cook in a little saucepan until it smells nutty and turns a light amber color, then use it for everything. It adds a depth that honestly might ruin regular melted butter for you.
Adding a little garlic powder to the breadcrumbs is a good move if you want a little more savory depth. I’ve done it. It’s good. Not what I reach for on a simple weeknight, but good in its own way.
You can also season more aggressively: black pepper, paprika, dried thyme. I’ve done all of these. The original with just salt is still my favorite, which probably says something about me.
One thing that doesn’t work: trying to use fresh breadcrumbs. Too soft, they go soggy before they go crisp. Stick with the dry kind.
Leftovers
These reheat better than you’d expect, though not perfectly. The crumbs soften overnight in the refrigerator. I’ve had the best luck reheating them in a 375°F oven for about ten minutes, which brings some of the crisp back — not all, but enough that they’re still worth eating for lunch the next day. I usually eat one cold standing in front of the refrigerator the next morning while the coffee brews, which is not something I’m recommending so much as confessing.
One More Thing
These have become a regular on the dinner rotation around here, and honestly they deserve to be. Simple food done right is hard to beat.
They’re very good with roast chicken. Also just on their own, honestly, if it’s one of those nights where you need dinner to be simple and warm and not require you to think too hard about anything.
Oven Baked 4-Ingredient Crispy Breaded Cabbage Wedges
Ingredients
- 1 medium head green cabbage about 2 to 2 1/2 lb
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted, plus more if needed
- 1 1/2 cups plain dry breadcrumbs or panko
- 1 tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with foil.
- Brush or rub a little melted butter onto the foil to prevent sticking.
- Remove any wilted outer cabbage leaves and trim only the very bottom of the core.
- Cut the cabbage in half through the core, then cut each half into 4 wedges, making 8 wedges total.
- Place the melted butter in a shallow bowl.
- In a separate shallow bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with the kosher salt.
- Brush or spoon melted butter generously over all cut surfaces of each cabbage wedge.
- Press each wedge into the breadcrumb mixture on both cut sides, patting so the crumbs stick.
- Arrange the cabbage wedges cut-side up on the prepared baking sheet with space between them.
- Drizzle any remaining melted butter over the tops.
- Bake for 25–35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the breadcrumbs are deep golden and the cabbage is tender but still holds its shape.
- For extra crispiness, move the pan to the upper third of the oven during the last few minutes, watching carefully.
- Let the wedges rest for 5 minutes before moving them with a spatula.
- Scatter any toasted crumbs from the pan over the top before serving.