Air Fryer Cabbage

Air fryer cabbage steaks or quarters come out tender yet crispy on the edges with LOTS of flavor. If you love this vegetable, this is a new way to try it for St. Patricks Day or with dinner year round.

“Fried” green cabbage is yummy and there are tons of possibilities on what seasonings you can add too. It’s a keto friendly, low carb, and a side dish even the kids in my house love. Throw in some bacon and take this easy air fryer recipe to the next level!

Do you love baked cabbage steaks?? Well you can get the same deliciousness without turning your oven on this way now. It is faster and a great trick when it is hot during the summertime and you don’t want to heat up your house. 😉

I will be honest, it took me until about 40 years old to love this often neglected vegetable. You can make tons of cabbage recipes in any air fryer so that every bite is buttery and nearly a calorie free side dish left as is with seasonings.

Tips

Here is the biggest tip for cooking air fryer vegetables that are firmer like this and air fryer broccoli too. You need a bit of water underneath your basket to steam it while it’s being crisped! You may have never heard or have to do this before but it kinda’ makes sense if you think about it. Really firm foods need a bit of steam to break down and become less firm. Just take my word on this okay?

1. You’ll want to lift the basket with holes on the bottom out
2. Then pour 1/4 cup of water into the bottom bin
3. Put air fryer basket back in
4. Preheat to the desired temperature
5. Follow recipe, put food in and cook

It’s a small step that will make a big difference. This isn’t really necessary when you’re making soft water filled veggies like air fryer zucchini or air fryer cauliflower, but for tougher varieties it is a must.

How Long Does it Take to Air Fry Cabbage

Well there is a range for sure depending on the thickness of your slices or wedges, and preferences. I like a little bit of “bite to it” so it is not super soft. My husband prefers a few more minutes. With this method it is easy to leave in longer for some and remove at the 8 minute mark as suggested below for others.

Only one will fit at a time so you may need to make several batches for your low carb lunch. If you are following a low calorie keto friendly diet this one is great to serve as a side dish or snack.

Ingredient Notes

You will want a head of cabbage to start with. Remove the stem on the bottom and then you will want a sharp knife to cut the cabbage into 1 inch steaks of sorts is about how big I make them.

I’m obsessed with this Old Bay recipe here, it is not just for seafood friends. I also add garlic salt, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste too.

Olive oil or butter should be added to the top so seasonings stick well and it keeps them from drying out too. I prefer salted Kerrygold butter myself but olive or avocado oil work too.

You can do this same thing with roasted red cabbage, whatever seasoning blend you love, or make spicy with red pepper flakes to make this vegetable side dish.

This time worked great for us but if you want it crispier you can check and then add additional minutes until it’s your kinda’ perfect.

Ready to air fry everything??!! Jump to recipe card to read all about it but we will explain and show you what we mean in more details below.

Want to make more simple cabbage recipes beyond this?? Our next favorite is this Instant Pot corned beef and cabbage dish.

How do you cook cabbage without making it soggy?

THIS is a great way to ensure that every bite is not soggy but actually has some crispy texture to the outside edges too. This small amount of water will do the trick for about 2 rounds. So if you do more than 2 rounds of air fryer cabbage steaks or quarters you’ll want to drain what’s left and pour in a new 1/4 cup.

Use this air fryer cook time sheet. If it doesn’t have your exact ingredient there will be something similar and you can base the time and temperature off of that.

Ninja Foodi Option

If you only have a Ninja Foodi machine you use the lid that is attached for this. They all basically work the same with a temperature setting and basket for your food. The biggest differences are the color on the outside and the size of the basket itself. Larger will cook bigger batches at once of course.

If you want to make Ninja Foodi cabbage cut into quarters like you see below, we have a simple recipe here. This one pressure cooks it first but if you only have an air fryer you can skip that and just make sure to add water to the bottom like we’ve directed here.