Cabbage Lovers You're in For a Treat with Air Fryer Cabbage Steaks! (2024)

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.If you loved our baked cabbage steaks recipe but only want to make a few, crispy this is how to make it even more often than just for St. Patricks Day.

Air fryer cabbage is yummy and there are tons of possibilities on what seasonings you add. It’s a keto friendly, low carb side dish we love. Throw in some bacon and take this easy air fryer recipe to the next level!(affiliate links present)

Air Fryer Cabbage Steaks

Do you love green cabbage steaks too?? 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.

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.

Okay so I have 3 different styles and love them all. I can’t remember the last time I used my oven to cook anything. You can do this same thing with red cabbage, whatever seasoning blend you love, spicy with red pepper flakes to make this vegetable side dish.

How to Cook Cabbage in Air Fryer

Here is the biggest tip for cooking vegetables in an air fryer 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? 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.

How Long to Air Fry Cabbage

Air fryer tips – This is what I mean. With every machine I’ve had, excluding this large hot air fryer, there is a pot below the air fryer basket.

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

Easy right??!! 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 zucchini or cauliflower, but for tougher varieties it is a must.

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.

How do you know how long to cook something new in your hot air machine?

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.

That’s what I do when I’m making something new like chicken legs in air fryer. There are 2 ways I have made cabbage in an air fryer. This one is focused on cabbage steaks, meaning you start slicing the end without the hard base into pieces like you see here. I didn’t measure them but I’d say they were about 1″ thick.

Air Fryer Cabbage Ingredients

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.

1. Head of cabbage
2. Old Bay seasoning
   1. I’m obsessed with these flavors, you can even find more Old Bay recipes here too
3. Garlic salt
4. Onion powder
5. Olive oil or butter
   1. we will share both ways
   2. it is up to you which one you prefer

When it comes to cabbage seasonings it is really up to you. We will share here the combination that we enjoy but if you want a little kick you could easily add a bit of dry Sriracha or chili powder.

How to Cook Air Fryer Cabbage

Pour 1/4 cup of water into the bottom container of your unit, then put basket back on top. There will be a space between the two so they won’t touch, just helps to steam it. Preheat your air fryer to 360 degrees F. When cutting the cabbage make sure your slices are just about 1″ thick, any thicker and it will take a while to soften and crisp evenly.

1. Place slice of cabbage into basket like you see here and drizzle olive oil on, or place a pat of butter in the middle
   1. sprinkle with seasonings
   2. add salt and pepper to taste as well as anything else you love on your green vegetable
2. Close basket and set to 8 minutes.

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.

Ninja Foodi Cabbage

This shows one round where we added 1 tbsp. of salted butter instead of olive oil. I thought they both tasted pretty similar actually, but it is your choice.

• When done after 8 minutes it will look like this.
• I did not flip it over because I knew it would just fall apart.
• There is plenty of seasons on the top where you don’t need to add any to the bottom to make it great.

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

The only thing to remember if you’re making cabbage wedges is to ensure it fits with the drawer closed. Some smaller machines may not allow for it to be cut this way.

Looking for other air fryer vegetable recipes? Our eggplant air fryer recipe is the bomb I tell you! Then you’ll have to make air fryer okra and let us know which you like better.

And our air fryer steak bites are killer.

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.

If you want very tender cabbage follow the pressure cooker recipes above! The one below will slightly soften it with the butter but will still leave it with a bit of crispness.

Looking for more easy Instant Pot cabbage recipes? We have a lot if you’re using your Instant Pot instead.

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