It’s a tough summer for eating your vegetables. Between the rising cost of groceries and an outbreak of a diarrhea-provoking parasite, it’s become difficult to enjoy even a simple salad. But while lettuce feels risky, there is a head you can count on: cabbage.
Unlike hot lettuce (which sounds like a terrible metal band, at best), cabbage can be cooked in a number of ways. Plus, heat is an effective way to kill Cyclospora.
Enter filthy cabbage, a one-pot dish that combines ground beef and/or sausage with cabbage. It’s just one of the cabbage-based meals that’s become popular on social media.
“I’ve always loved cabbage because it’s inexpensive, versatile, and stretches a meal,” says Ronald Dajoh, a food content creator who grew his following on TikTok by cooking easy, affordable recipes for his family. One of his most popular videos is about filthy cabbage, but he also uses the budget-friendly vegetable in slaws, soups, wraps, or as a substitute for tortilla shells. “During a time when grocery prices are affecting so many families, one head of cabbage can feed a lot of people.”
In other words, eating more cabbage won’t just help you incorporate more essential nutrients into your diet — it will help you save cabbage, too.
Other food and wellness influencers are getting on board with the convenient vegetable as well. Self-described cabbage chef and expert Don Cabbage (yes, really) speculates that cabbage hasn’t just suddenly become more popular.
“It has always been a widely loved ingredient,” says the content creator, who built a platform by showcasing innovative recipes like cabbage pasta or a low-carb hot dog bun. “What may be changing is how people see cabbage — discovering new ways to use it beyond traditional roles.”
It doesn’t hurt that cabbage is also pretty nutritious.
Why Cabbage Is Good for You
Cabbage contains significantly more vitamin K and vitamin C than a head of lettuce. But what makes cabbage so healthy is its strong fiber content — about 5 grams per cup, or about 1 gram of fiber for every 10 calories. That combination of affordability, versatility, and nutritional density makes cabbage one of the most practical vegetables you can keep in regular rotation.
