Clean Eating Cooked Cabbage

Cooked cabbage is an excellent side dish and vegetable for a clean eating program. Cooked cabbage has a lightly sweet, delicate flavor and makes a good substitute for noodles or pasta when you are eating clean.

The key to success with cooked cabbage is to make sure you don’t overcook it.  If you allow it to be slightly al dente,  the texture and consistency is very similar to pasta – without all that unhealthy wheat and the high carb content. So remember, don’t cook it so long that it gets super-soft!

If you’re looking at other cooked cabbage recipes, you’ll notice that they usually saute the cabbage in oil.  Because this is a clean eating recipe, I object to the oil and omit it – and you won’t miss it one bit! (That’s not to say that there are no clean eating oils – there are.  But especially if you are eating clean to lose weight, or to maintain weight, you absolutely don’t need the oil.

The oil is quite unnecessary in this recipe since its the chicken broth that cooks the cabbage (and adds flavor) anyway! In clean eating, its very common to substitute chicken broth (or vegetable broth) for oil when sauteing, so definitely, give that the cabbage in this recipe is cooked in chicken broth for flavor, you more certainly don’t need to be adding the fat.  If you are vegetarian, and aren’t getting much natural fat from meat based proteins (or if you are trying to gain weight), then it may make sense to add the oil, but apart from that its just not serving any purpose.

I’ve also added a splash of lemon juice to this clean eating cooked cabbage recipe, because lemon juice complements the flavors of cooked cabbage so beautifully.  If you don’t happen to have lemon juice on hand, you can leave it out, but if you have it, go ahead and add that splash for that little bit of pleasant, subtle flavor it adds.  The lemon flavor will barely be noticeable if you add just a splash.  If you really want to taste the lemon, add a little more lemon juice, to taste.

Recipe Ingredients

1/4  head of cabbage
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper
1/4 – 1/2 c chicken broth
A splash of lemon juice

Recipe Instructions

Slice cabbage into 1-inch wide strips. In a large pot or skillet add chicken broth, bring to boil, and then add cabbage and toss.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover and reduce heat to medium low. If desired, add a squeeze of lemon juice (according to taste) at this time and stir again. Simmer for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until cabbage is tender. Do not overcook.

Recipe Notes:

As mentioned cooked cabbage is an excellent clean eating substitute for noodles or pasta, so try it with your favorite clean eating pasta sauce or tomato sauce. Be sure to use a home made clean eating sauce to keep it clean – no jarred or canned sauces with all those nasty additives!