We simply couldn’t imagine our Christmas dinner plate without any red cabbage on it! But there’s certainly more than one way to cook it! We present to you our Roasted Red Cabbage Steaks With Balsamic, boasting a perfect sweet-savoury combination, crispy sides and elegant presentation that will make your Christmas plates look amazing!
Ingredients and Substitutes
- red cabbage: also known as purple cabbage.
- olive oil: can be substituted with rapeseed, avocado or even sunflower oil.
- balsamic vinegar.
- garlic clove.
- honey: clear runny honey is used in this Red Cabbage Steak recipe, but you can substitute it for golden syrup, maple syrup or agave nectar.
- apple sauce: homemade or shop-bought.
- ground cinnamon.
- whole cloves.
Method
To start with, preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment and brush it with a little olive oil.
How To Cut Cabbage Steaks?
- Remove the outer leaf of the red cabbage and discard.
- Cut the core (the root) off of the red cabbage.
- Cut cabbage from top to bottom into 1.5cm thick slices.
Place the red cabbage steaks onto a baking tray and stud with 3 cloves each.
Then prepare your glaze. In a bowl, mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, apple sauce, crushed garlic, cinnamon and a pinch of salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture over your red cabbage steaks. Then place them in the oven for 20 minutes.
The tricky bit is to turn them over after 20 minutes of roasting. For this, I use the largest spatula I have and flip them over slowly and carefully, rather in one quick motion. Whatever you do, try and keep them intact. You may choose to remove the cloves before you flip them and place them on top. This makes it easier to get rid of them once cooked without having to turn the steaks over again. Return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes. The outer leaves of the cabbage should be crispy and brown (our favourite part) and roasted red cabbage steaks quite soft but not mushy.
If you choose to make these for your Christmas dinner, let us know what you think. We certainly think they’re amazing! In the words of Monty Don: ‘Nothing shouts Christmas like red cabbage’!
Extremely simple to make, these Red Cabbage Steaks With Balsamic can be cooked in the same oven and temperature as our Rosemary-Scented Christmas Pommes Anna.
What To Serve Roasted Red Cabbage Steaks With?
Cabbage Steaks with Balsamic make a wonderful side dish to any Sunday Roast meat: lamb, beef, pork or chicken. We particularly recommend serving these with:
- Your Christmas Turkey
- Grapefruit Glazed Gammon
- Vegetarian Nut Roast
Other Recipes With Cabbage
If you love cabbage, or simply have some leftovers from other cabbage recipes, we have some ideas for you below:
- Asian Cabbage Slaw with Sesame Mayo
- Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
- Irish Colcannon with Bacon
- Bokkeumbap | Korean Fried Rice
Other Christmas Sides Recipes
Here are some other Christmas recipes that we absolutely love:
- Garlicky Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Reduction
- Rosemary-Scented Christmas Pommes Anna
- Baby Hasselback Potatoes | Alternative to Roast Potatoes
Recipe Card
Red Cabbage Steaks
Ingredients
- 1/2 red cabbage cut into 4 slices
- 50 ml olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tsp runny honey
- 1 tsp apple sauce
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 12 cloves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C Fan. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment and lightly brush it with olive oil. Arrange the slices of cabbage on a baking tray.
- Make a glaze by mixing together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, apple sauce, crushed garlic, cinnamon and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Stud each slice with 3 cloves and spoon the glaze all over.
- Place in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the cloves and flip the cabbages over with a large spatula, taking extra care to keep the steaks intact (which can be tricky). Place the cloves on top of the steaks and roast for another 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the cloves and serve as a delicious side dish.
Nutrition
