Caramelized Cabbage with Capellini, White Beans, & Lemon (vegan & gluten free)

This caramelized cabbage with capellini makes a super cozy and comforting winter meal! Thinly sliced cabbage is cooked down until caramelized and jammy then tossed with capellini, lemon, parsley, and white beans. If you weren’t a cabbage fan before, this gluten free and vegan recipe will surely convert you!

Do you ever get your hands on a really lovely ingredient and feel like you need to make something extra-special to honor it? Well that’s what happened with me recently with an incredibly gorgeous head of cabbage! Since I do community content creation for a couple of local farms, I get to take home some of the produce they grow each week. A couple of weeks ago, this stunning Verza Moretta di Veronella cabbage was harvested for a photo. And, lucky me, I got to take it home!

This cabbage variety is particularly lovely because it has savoyed (crinkly) leaves that blush a deep purple on the exterior as the weather cools down. As you peel away the outer leaves, the interior ones are a pale yellowish-green. And, since we’ve had a least one frost this winter, the flavor was so lovely and sweet! To play up that sweetness, I used this zucchini compote I posted back in the summer as inspiration. I thinly sliced the cabbage and cooked it down with vegan butter, thyme, shallots, and garlic until it was soft and caramelized. Then, I tossed it with cooked capellini, lemon, parsley, and white beans for added protein. I really wish you could have been there as I cooked it because it smelled absolutely divine!

Why You Should Make This Caramelized Cabbage with Capellini

• It will blow your mind that something as unassuming as cabbage can taste this good!
• It’s the perfect way to cook down that head of cabbage that’s been tumbling around your produce drawer for a while. Though the recipe only calls for half a head, you can easily double it and enjoy this caramelized cabbage in other dishes!
• It’s gluten free and vegan and requires only 10 ingredients!
• It’s everything you want in a filling winter dish: savory, hearty, and balanced with a punch of brightness from the lemon and parsley.

What You Need to Make This Recipe

• Cabbage – any variety will do! In the recipe I call for half of a large head but if you have a rather small cabbage, you can use the whole thing.
• Shallot & Garlic – these help to form an aromatic base for the caramelized cabbage and add a hint of sweetness.
• Vegan Butter – helps to caramelize the cabbage while also carrying the flavors of the dish. If you don’t need to use vegan butter, feel free to use an equal amount of regular butter.
• Fresh Thyme – adds a lovely herbal element to the cabbage that makes it super delicious and cozy.
• Sea Salt – seasons the dish and balances the flavors.
• Capellini – I used a gluten free capellini because I prefer it’s thinner shape over spaghetti. You can use capellini, spaghetti, or even fettucine. Use whatever you prefer here!
• Lemon – fresh lemon zest and juice add some brightness that lifts the dish and keeps it from being too heavy.
• Parsley – like the lemon, the parsley adds a nice brightness to the dish along with its lovely fresh herbal flavor.
• White Beans – add a creamy element along with some protein. I used cannellini beans but you can use navy beans, great Northern beans, or even lima beans.

How to Make Caramelized Cabbage

The key to caramelizing your cabbage lies in finely chopping it and exercising patience! To prepare your cabbage, you’ll cut it in half. You only need one of the halves for this recipe. Remove and discard the core of the cabbage (you’ll see it down by the stem end). Then, you’ll cut the cabbage half into 4 wedges. From there you’ll finely chop each wedge.

Now that you’ve chopped your cabbage, you’ll heat a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add your butter (I know it seems like a lot but trust me!) and let it melt. Then you’ll add your shallots and cook until they’re translucent. Add your garlic and thyme and cook about 1-2 minutes more, then add your mountain of finely chopped cabbage. You’ll cook your cabbage, stirring every 2-3 minutes until it has vastly reduced in volume and has caramelized to a lovely golden brown color (see above). This will take anywhere from 25-30 minutes total. I highly recommend turning on a podcast you like to help pass the time!

Notes on Substitutions

BUTTER – I used a vegan butter but you can use regular unsalted butter if you prefer! You can also used salted butter, just make sure to adjust the amount of salt you’re adding to the recipe.

CAPELLINI – If you can’t find capellini, you can use any long pasta such as spaghetti, linguine, fettucine, angel hair, or bucatini. Use gluten free if you need to (Jovial is my favorite brand!) or regular wheat pasta if you don’t.

THYME – Can’t find fresh thyme? Use a scant 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme instead.

WHITE BEANS – Any of the following beans are delicious options: cannellini, navy, great northern, or butter/lima.

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