Crunchy and peppery, this pan-seared, lightly charred black pepper cabbage is a delicious vegetable side dish. The blackened char on the sliced green cabbage strips is possible without oil, making it an alternative to fried cabbage, a Southern staple.

pan-seared green cabbage strips charred in a skillet on the stove, with tongs

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Charred cabbage is an easy whole food plant-based, vegan side dish that's ready in about 10 minutes. It goes really well with Southern dishes, Asian dishes and Indian food. For this recipe, we're achieving the lightly burnt edges in a skillet on the stove.

Serve this charred green cabbage with these sesame noodles, roasted curried cauliflower or vegan mashed potatoes.

🧄 Very useful ingredient notes

Ingredients for charred cabbage: shredded green cabbage, salt and black pepper

Green cabbage - use standard green cabbage for this recipe. To save time, use pre-shredded cabbage from the grocery store, often sold as "cole slaw".
Freshly ground black pepper - for a fresh and bright taste, since our seasonings are so minimal in this, use freshly ground black pepper from a pepper grinder. I used Tellicherry black peppercorns from Costco for this. Use less pepper, if you're using pre-ground fine black pepper.

📋 Substitutions and variations

Here are some suitable substitutions for the ingredients in this recipe:

Green cabbage - instead of green cabbage, use cole slaw mix, which usually has a little bit of shredded carrot and purple cabbage mixed in. Or, use sliced purple (red) cabbage instead of green. The finished dish will be dark purple in color and you won't see the char as well, but it'll taste pretty much the same.
Sea salt - use kosher salt or cajun salt instead
SOS-free - make this SOS-free by omitting the salt

Switch things up with these variation ideas!

Spicy - add chili pepper flakes, hot sauce, chili garlic sauce or nanami togarashi (Japanese 7-spice) to the finished dish to infuse a little heat. Or, use cajun salt, like Tony Chachere's, instead of sea salt.
Vegan bacon flavor - to mimic the flavor of pork, sprinkle ½ teaspoon of vegan ham bouillon powder or vegan bacon flavoring into the cabbage instead of salt.
Curried Cabbage - add 1 teaspoon of curry powder when you add the salt and pepper for a charred curried cabbage

🔪 Instructions

Here are the step-by-step photo instructions for how to make this charred black pepper green cabbage without frying it or using oil at all.

Process Step 1 for Charred Black Pepper Cabbage Strips oil-free - pre-heat skillet over high heat before adding cabbage

Step 1: Pre-heat a large, flat non-stick skillet over high heat on the stove for 1-2 minutes. The skillet must be very hot before adding the cabbage in order to get the char. Once the skillet is very hot, add cabbage to pan and spread the cabbage out so as much cabbage is touching the bottom of the pan as possible. If needed, do two batches so you don't overcrowd the pan. Sprinkle a tablespoon of water into the pan, to help the cabbage steam a little bit. Don't add more water, though, because it will deglaze the pan and make all of your cabbage brown, instead of beautifully charred. Leave the cabbage alone (do not stir) for 90 seconds.

Process Step 3 for Charred Black Pepper Cabbage Strips oil-free - add salt and pepper

Step 2: Season with sea salt and black pepper.

Process Step 4 for Charred Black Pepper Cabbage Strips oil-free - add a tablespoon of water and toss with tongs

Step 3: Toss the cabbage, then leave it alone (do not stir) for 90 seconds.

Process Step 6 for Charred Black Pepper Cabbage Strips oil-free - cook until tender

Step 4: Toss cabbage and taste. Add more salt and pepper, if needed. Cook cabbage until crisp-tender and lightly charred (pan-seared).

tongs plating up pan-seared green cabbage strips with the skillet in the background

Step 5: Serve immediately.

Process Step 7 for Charred Black Pepper Cabbage Strips oil-free - serve immediately with white rice or any other side

Step 6: This cabbage goes really well with Asian-inspired, Southern-inspired and Indian-inspired meals.

Expert tips

The key technique to make this cabbage is to make the pan very hot before adding the cabbage.
Another tip is to only use a very small amount of water. The water added should immediately evaporate and help steam the cabbage a little bit.
Lastly, don't overcrowd the pan with a huge mountain of cabbage, even though it cooks down. Do two batches, if need be, and rinse the pan in between batches of any charred bits.
Use a wide, flat skillet - non-stick or cast iron - so the cabbage can be spread out in a thin layer and get lightly charred or blackened without accumulating too much water in the pan.

🥡 Make ahead and storage tips

You can cut the cabbage ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator, raw and sliced, for up to 2 weeks. But, the cooked dish is best prepared fresh, at the time of serving.

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and should stay good for up to 5 days.

These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Serving suggestions

Charred sautéed cabbage goes really well with Cajun-, Asian-, Indian- and Southern-inspired meals.

For a Cajun-inspired meal serve this cabbage with red beans and rice.

For an Asian-inspired meal serve it with steamed Jasmine rice, sweet chili tofu, dumplings, or sesame noodles.

For an Indian-inspired meal serve the cabbage with jeera rice, curried roasted cauliflower, or saag paneer.

For a Southern-inspired meal serve this lighter fried cabbage with mashed potatoes, potato wedges, cornbread muffins or red bean burgers.

🗺 Cultural influences

I've grown up eating fried cabbage here in Texas. It's often made using lots of vegetable oil or even bacon grease. The cabbage gets a little bit charred, blackened or burnt on the edges in the pan.

See About for more information on my cultural influences and how I attribute recipes.

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