Dehydrate cabbage to use in coleslaw, stir-fry, soups, and more throughout the year! You can make cabbage shelf-stable, even if you don't know how to ferment it!
Cabbage is often looked at as a throwaway vegetable because people don't know how to preserve it other than fermenting. But you can easily dehydrate it and use it for so many things.
Yes, even coleslaw! It won't be your typical coleslaw, a little softer, but it still works!
Types of Cabbages
Cabbages are great balls of leafy goodness for those that love it. It's great for making fermented sauerkraut, kimchi, coleslaw, salad, colcannon and so much more!
But did you know there are a variety of cabbages to choose from - not just the typical red and green you find in the store?
- Green -- what most people are familiar with for making sauerkraut and coleslaw.
- Red -- tends to be smaller than green, and makes a great color addition to coleslaw and other salads. It's perfect for pickling, too!
- Savoy
- White
- Napa -- looks a little more like Romaine lettuce than typical cabbages. It's perfect for salads and stir frys. This is also known as Chinese Cabbage.
- Bok Choy -- another variety that looks more like lettuce than cabbage. Great for stir frys. It's also good for roasting.
How to Dehydrate Cabbage
Dehydrating cabbage is a good beginner's dehydrating project since so little preparation is needed. It's a quick-dry project, easy to store, and so versatile in usage.
Equipment Needed:
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Dehydrator
- Storage Container - I prefer glass jars, but mylar bags and vacuum seal bags work well for cabbage.
A Note about Blanching
Cabbage falls under the "if you eat it raw, you don't have to blanch it" column. This means that while it is recommended to blanch cabbage to stop the enzymatic process that makes foods degrade faster on the shelf, it isn't necessary. So you can choose to blanch for 2 min or leave as is.
Directions:
- Remove the outer leaves from each head of cabbage.
- Cut into quarters, then cut the core at an angle to remove
- Wash at this point, or cut in the next step and clean the strips. You can use a Salad Spinner to remove the excess moisture.
- Cut into thin strips approximately no more than ¼" wide. I prefer to cut longer pieces in half to make storage and eating later easier. You can also use a shredder attachment on your food processor.
- Place on dehydrator trays. You can mound them a little as they will shink like other greens do as they dry.
- Dry at 125F/52C for 8-12 hours until they are crunchy and break easily
- Allow to cool before testing
- Condition
- Store in an airtight container for up to a year.
Conditioning and Storing
Conditioning is the process of keeping your dehydrated cabbage in a large container for five days, shaking once a day. It allows the residual moisture to even out through the whole batch. It also allows you to see any moisture issues long before mold sets in.
Once you've conditioned, place into an airtight container, such as glass jars, vacuum seal bags or mylar bags, for 12-18 months. This is the optimal time to store dehydrated foods to keep the most of the nutrients and color. You may get longer, but over time, they may begin to change color and degrade in texture.
Yield
1 packed cup of fresh cabbage is approximately equal to ¼ cup dried.
Rehydrating Dried Cabbage
Reconstituting cabbage is so easy to do!
- Simmer in a soup or stew
- Place in a container and cover with water to allow it to rehydrate. I generally put just enough water to cover it.
Uses
Dried cabbage can be used in a variety of dishes.
- Coleslaw - while not the typical fresh crunchy coleslaw, this will make a softer version.
- Taco topping - makes a fun crunchy topping for fish tacos and other street taco kinds of meals when fresh isn't available.
- Soups - add it to any ramen, soup, or stew without the need to rehydrate.
- Colcannon. Yes - you can use dehydrated for this version as long as you rehydrate first!
- Add to scrambled eggs
- Stir fry - yes, you can! You can rehydrate first, or just toss it in as-is!
No. You can, but it's not necessary. Though know that over time, your cabbage may begin to lose its color when not blanched. But rotate through it, and you won't have to worry.
Yes - you can powder it and add it to your green or vegetable powder.
Vacuum sealing nor O2 absorbers are necessary for storage. But it can be helpful for long-term storage to help as insurance against those agents (oxygen and moisture) that can make food degrade more over time.
Yes! Those bags of coleslaw mix are a perfect way to get started dehydrating without the fuss of slicing and chopping. Just throw it onto your dehydrator trays and dry as above!
Properly dried and stored, cabbage
Rehydrated, it tastes like cabbage that has a bit of a bite to it, but isn't crunchy.
Dehydrate Cabbage
Equipment
- Cutting Board
Ingredients
- Cabbage
Instructions
- Remove the outer leaves from each head of cabbage.
- Cut into quarters, then cut the core at an angle to remove
- Wash.
- Cut into thin strips approximately no more than ¼" wide, ⅛" (3mm) is a better cut.
- Place on dehydrator trays. You can mound them a little as they will shink like other greens do as they dry.
- Dry at 125F/52C for 8-12 hours until they are crunchy and break easily
- Condition
- Store in an airtight container for up to a year.
Video
Darcy's Tips
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimation only. Nutrient information for dehydrated foods is based on fresh. Use ¼ of the servicing size for the same nutrient information. Thus 1 Cup of fresh fruit has the same sugars as ¼ dried.
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Lonnie Estrella says
On #7 it says condition. What is that?
Darcy Baldwin says
The information is in the post notes above the recipe.
Laura B says
My dehydrator is not adjustable and runs at about 145 to 155 degrees. Will this be too high for the cabbage?
Darcy Baldwin says
You lose more nutrients the higher in temp you go, but you can do it.
Allison says
I have been air-drying cabbage by the wood stove and it is nice and dry, but a few pieces here and there, while dry, are still a little rubbery/flexible. They feel "dry" but they are not absolutely brittle. Is cabbage supposed to be ALL completely brittle?
Darcy Baldwin says
Yes - they must all be fully dry if you intend to store.
JJ says
Do you blanch the cabbage before or after cutting into strips?
Darcy Baldwin says
After