Buttery cabbage noodles are slightly sweet, low in carbs and calories, and the perfect low carb keto noodle substitute.
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[I just want to say that I’m not trying to pull anything on you. This is just fried cabbage, but it does make a great “noodle” base for other dishes.]
We’ve been eating a lot of cabbage lately – mostly in the form of keto coleslaw or cooked cabbage with sausage for an easy dinner. My kids love it, it’s cheap, it’s low in carbs, and super easy to cook. Believe it or not, cabbage is a versatile vegetable and great tasting, too!
One thing that many people miss when starting a low carb or ketogenic diet are noodles and pasta. Noodles are great carriers for flavorful sauces and they fill us up in a satisfying way. Finding noodle substitutes that we like can be challenging. Vegetable noodles, especially cabbage noodles, are some of my favorite low carb noodles.
Low Carb Keto Noodles Options
VEGETABLE NOODLES
I have a vegetable spiralizer so we eat a lot of noodles made from zucchini, cucumber, or daikon radish. You can see some ideas on how to serve these low carb noodles in my Zucchini Noodle Shrimp Scampi, Coconut Basil Chicken, or Hearty Beef Curry recipes.
Vegetable noodles can be served raw or cooked depending on the taste and texture you want. They can contribute extra moisture to a dish or get soft when overcooked so plan accordingly.
Shirataki, Miracle or Konjac Noodles
Noodles made from Konjac root are another popular low carb or keto noodle replacement. People either love them or hate them, finding fault with the initial smell or the chewy texture, which is similar to Asian cellophane noodles. I find they taste best when used with Asian flavors opposed to Italian flavors.
Cabbage Noodles – Low Carb Keto Noodles
Cabbage noodles are cut strips of cabbage, that are cooked in a frying pan. The flavor is slightly sweet with a hint of bitterness characteristic of cruciferous vegetables. I use regular green cabbage with smooth leaves for cabbage noodles, but you could use any leafy cabbage you like. Cabbage is easy to cut into strips and cooks quickly in a hot pan.
Cabbage noodles fill-out a plate making portions look huge. Add onions, garlic, bacon, green apple, vinegar, or sweetener to vary the flavor. Also, cut thin or thick to vary the look of the noodles.
One of my favorite ways to use cabbage noodles is to top with low carb beef stroganoff or low carb sloppy Joe filling. They also make a great base for Pad Thai and other Asian dishes. Low carb keto cabbage noodles are always a family favorite.
Cabbage Noodles – Low Carb Keto Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 pound cabbage, cored and cut into strips
- 1/4 cup onions, sliced thinly (1 oz)
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 tbsp butter or oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut the cabbage into quarters. Cut out the core and cut into strips. Thinly slice the onions and slice the garlic.
- Heat a pan over medium heat. When it is very hot, add the butter or oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the cabbage, onion and garlic and saute until the cabbage is tender – about 10 minutes.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serves 4 at 4.6 net carbs each.
Notes
Nutrition
This is a staple for me. It’s quick to prepare from start to plating, doesn’t require a lot of ingredients, and you don’t need a colander! I had never put the “noodle” mentality with it, but once I did, it opened the door to so much more! Thank you!
For variety I cut the cabbage into “steaks” and brushed with oil, salt, pepper and some garlic powder then I grilled them. Delicious!
Konjac, Shirataki noodles are terrible. This from a person who can eat almost anything accept a raw egg.
No matter how you prepare them, they are exactly like chewing on rubber bands.
Lol. I actually like the Konjac noodles for Asian dishes, but not as a sub for pasta or rice. -Kim
I agree. I don’t like any of those fake noodles. They taste like rubber bands. But I love vegetable spiralized noodles. And cabbage is one of my favorites
This looks tasty! Can’t wait to try…
The cabbage and sausage dish looks so good. I it usually sauerkraut and potatoes.This recipe will be added to my favorite dish list.
Yes, Kathy. My mother used to cook the sausage on a bed of sauerkraut and potatoes in a clay baker in the oven when we lived in Texas – big German community there. Always a hit. My kids love the cabbage and sausage dish. -Kim
This is fried cabbage honey black folks especially Jamaicans have been making this for years.
I know, Nikki. Lol. I grew up eating fried cabbage with mom’s smothered pork chops and fried pork chops. So many people now a days don’t know how to cook or only eat restaurant food or prepackaged dinners. They have forgotten how to cook and how to think of ingredients in new ways. I know this is just fried cabbage, but many new low carb and keto folks who miss their pasta and noodles may enjoy fried cabbage as an alternative. Thanks for the comment. -Kim
I meal prep on weekends ahead of my 12-hr/3-day stretches.. I don’t cook the cabbage to completely done, so it won’t be overcooked by the time I reheat my meal at work. I just keep minimally cook cabbage noodles and keep in fridge in separate containers and have toppings of choice in separate containers to grab before heading out the door. Heat and combine at work for my meal. I don’t like overcooked cabbage, and this works perfectly for me. No keto worries!
So true, Kim. I’m a baby boomer, but find it surprising how many people do not cook anymore. They eat out…daily! And, yes, I get it! I’m tired too after working 12-hr shifts. But meal prepping helps to maintain keto diet, and I like my food! I mean, I really LIKE my own home cooked food!
@Nikki, totes agree on fried cabbage’s long-time popularity among Black folks, but beg to differ on the “especially Jamaicans” part, as fried cabbage — while a bit less popular than dark-green leafy veg like collards and mustard greens — has nonetheless been a staple in Southern African-American cooking since the 17th century. Because of this, fried cabbage is also a crowd-pleaser among the many African-American folk like me who now live in the U.S.’s North, Midwest, or West Coast because their forebears migrated there from the American South. (One of my earliest memories from my childhood in Philly was of my paternal and maternal great-grandmothers — both visiting from Down South — arguing about whose fried cabbage recipe should reign supreme at a family gathering!)
@Nikki and @Kim, your exchange about this — along with others’ comments about their own cabbage traditions and @Kim’s much-appreciated article itself — really brings home that our forebears from all over the world understood that cabbage is good, nourishing, economical stuff that can provide a luscious base for all kinds of damned-tasty dishes. (I remember being flabbergasted in college when my roommate came to a dorm potluck with a cabbage-in-red-pepper-sauce dish that she explained was traditional back home in Nigeria — but that would have fit right in at one of my family’s reunion cookouts in Central Florida or North Georgia!)
For me, this underscores one of the best things about modes of eating that combine low-carbing with an emphasis upon minimally-processed foods — namely, that far from being mere ‘fads’, such approaches often foreground and expand the reach of long-established ways of cooking and eating, thus obviating processed alternatives while giving our ancestors’ considerable food-smarts their due.
Much like @Kim, although I grew up eating fried cabbage, it didn’t occur to me that it could replace ‘zoodles’/zucchini noodles (which I kinda hate) in many of my Paleo and Keto recipes until a few months ago. I’ve been using fried-cabbage ‘noodles’ as zoodle replacements with wild abandon ever since!
@Nikki, thanks again for a thought-provoking comment. @Kim, thanks for an awesome article — and website!
Oh I love cabbage!! It’s full of flavor and fiver!