Cabbage Types & Their Culinary Uses
Hensley's Seed Co. vegetable guide
Cabbage gets overlooked in American cooking, partly because supermarket cabbage tends to be bland, tough and chewy rather than sweet and tender. That's mostly because those varieties were bred for yield, resistance to bruising during shipping, and long storage, not flavor. Cabbages in Asian markets are often much better eating, and flat types in particular tend to be excellent.
We steer away from varieties bred mainly for storage and shipping with little attention to taste. We look for cabbages that eat very well, store well and are easy to grow. Pointed and flat cabbages are among the best-tasting of all. They're less familiar in the U.S., but pointed types are well loved in Europe and flat types in Asia, and both are worth trying.
Early Fresh Market Cabbages
- First Early: The earliest of our fresh-market cabbages are ‘Tiara’ and ‘Farao’, maturing in about 63 and 65 days. Both are crisp, juicy, sweet and mild, ideal for summer salads when hot weather makes lettuce hard to grow. Sow them in succession for cabbage all summer. They do well in summer heat and in cool fall weather alike.
- Second Early: Next in line are ‘Conqueror’ (about 69 days) and ‘Primo Vantage’ (about 73 days), both with very good eating quality. 'Conqueror' adapts especially well and is a good pick in the East and Southeast, and for overwintering in California.
Main Season Cabbage
For main-season crops, we carry ‘Bronco’ and ‘Botran’.
'Bronco' is a dependable, widely adapted workhorse that gives a decent head almost anywhere and in almost any season. It isn't as tasty as the early fresh-market types, but its flavor is still good and well above supermarket cabbage.
'Botran' has only average flavor; its main value is resistance to black rot, so it's the one to choose if black rot is a problem for you. More on black rot:
Savoy
Savoy cabbages have handsome crinkled ("savoyed") leaves that catch the eye at a farm stand or market table. Our savoys include ‘Alcosa’, ‘Famosa’, ‘Clarissa’, and ‘Deadon’. Savoy flavor is fairly strong, so it's best for cooking. These types do best as cool-weather fall crops; in hot weather they can turn too strong and bitter.
Red Cabbage
Red cabbage usually tastes stronger than green, with a pleasant peppery bite. Like savoy, it gets stronger in warm weather. It's good cooked and makes great slaw when grown in cool weather, or even from summer plantings in the northern U.S., either on its own or mixed with green cabbage. Our earliest reds are ‘Primero’ (about 72 days) and ‘Omero’ (about 73 days), and the mid-to-late option is ‘Integro’ (about 85 days). 'Integro' stores well and works for fresh use and for red sauerkraut.
Pointed Cabbage
Our pointed variety is ‘Caraflex’. It's very tender, sweet and crisp, great raw in salads and slaws or lightly cooked. In Europe, bagged shredded cabbage is often labeled as made from pointed cabbage, because shoppers there know these types taste best and will pay more for them.
Flat Cabbage
Our flat variety is ‘Tendersweet’. It has excellent flavor and thin, tender, juicy, crisp leaves, ideal for quick cooking and stir-fries, and it makes a nice slaw too. For a softer slaw use 'Tendersweet'; for a crunchier one use ‘Caraflex’.
Simple Stir-Fry Cabbage Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb cabbage or Chinese cabbage
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper or red pepper flakes
- Hot peppers, sliced
- Garlic cloves or scapes, sliced
Instructions
- Cut the cabbage into quarters, then into strips or pieces.
- Heat the oil in a wok or skillet.
- Cook the garlic and hot peppers until soft.
- Add the cabbage, salt, and pepper or pepper flakes.
- Stir-fry a few minutes until done the way you like it.
For an Indian-style version, add spices such as cumin, fenugreek, coriander and turmeric.
Storage Cabbage
We offer ‘Promise’, ‘Storage #4’, and ‘Typhoon’ are our green storage cabbages. 'Promise' has the best flavor of the three, but all eat well and keep well. For red storage cabbage we offer ‘Ruby Perfection’ and ‘Buscaro’. Red storage types keep for short to medium periods but not as long as green storage cabbages, which can last into late spring in good conditions.
‘Typhoon’ was bred for sauerkraut. Its high dry matter means more kraut from every pound. Any cabbage can be fermented, but a high-dry-matter type like 'Typhoon' is more efficient for commercial-scale kraut.
Sauerkraut Recipe
Sauerkraut is simple to make!
Basic Kraut Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp salt
- 5 lb cabbage, sliced thin (about the thickness of a quarter)
- Water, as needed
- Optional seasonings: juniper berries, caraway seed, etc.
Instructions
- We recommend this sauerkraut method from the University of Georgia's National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Mini Cabbages
'Tiara' is a mini cabbage with round 1–2 lb heads and a frequent favorite in taste comparisons.
Mini cabbages suit households that use cabbage in small amounts; one head covers a dish or two. Both ‘Tiara’ (round green) and ‘Caraflex’ (pointed green) make excellent mini heads when planted close, 8–10" apart in rows 12–18" apart. Both are great for summer salads, slaws and cooking, and 'Tiara' in particular is often a standout for flavor.
