by Texas Homesteader ~
Early spring is a great time to pick up cabbage for cheap. But you want to make sure you go through it all while it’s fresh.
There are several ways we enjoy cabbage, but I also dehydrate it to enjoy for months.
(Note: Some links in this post are for further information from earlier posts I’ve written. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click them and buy something (almost anything, not just the item noted) I could receive a tiny commission. But the price you pay will NOT change. It’s an easy way to support this blog without anything coming out of your pocket. So click often! Thank you!)
Ways To Eat Fresh Cabbage
I came by quite a bit of cabbage this year. It keeps reasonably well in the fridge.
There are several ways we enjoy fresh cabbage.
Sauerkraut – A fermented food
Sauteed – I like to add chopped smoked sausage & onions.
Hearty Cabbage Stew – A hearty stew with tomato sauce, cabbage and other veggies.
Endless Soup – A nice addition when dropped into my weekly healthy soup.
Homemade Creamy Coleslaw – A simple family favorite
So I cooked with fresh cabbage for quite a few nights. It was delicious.
But you know even if something is delicious you can only force serve it to your family for supper for so long before there’s a rebellion in the household.
So now the time had come to preserve it for longer term.
Preparing Fresh Cabbage For Dehydration
I took the remaining head of cabbage and peeled off the outside leaves, washed it and allowed it to dry.
Then I sliced the cabbage into quarters to make it easier to core. After the quarters were cored I set them aside.
Then I took each quarter and cut the cabbage into about 1.5″ x 2.5″ strips.
Only the outside leaves are nice & smooth, the deeper into the cabbage head you get the thicker & more “wadded” the leaves become.
So I was careful to snap the heavier ribs in half to open them up a little for more even drying.
Dehydrating Fresh Cabbage
Then I pulled out my 9-tray * Excalibur Dehydrator
and started loading up the trays with cut-up cabbage, spreading it evenly.
I didn’t fuss with trying to keep any pieces from touching, I knew the leaves would shrink as they dried.
Since there were many of the thicker, more curled leaves I decided to leave every other tray removed so I could slide the loaded trays into their slots more easily.
I placed my Excalibur dehydrator on a small table outside on our covered porch, plugged it in and waited.
How Long Does It Take To Dehydrate Fresh Cabbage?
My Excalibur book recommends dehydrating cabbage at 135 degrees until leathery, or approximately 7 to 11 hours.
After the cabbage pieces were fully dried I allowed them to air dry overnight just to make sure all moisture was gone.
Storing Dehydrated Cabbage In The Pantry
Then I packed the dried leaves into large lidded containers for my pantry.
Now throughout the year when I want to use my dehydrated cabbage it’s just a pantry away!
If I’m using it in my endless soup or Cabbage Stew I’ll drop the dried leaves right into the simmering broth along with my dry rice. It rehydrates right in the soup pot!
So if you find yourself with more cabbage than you’ll be able to eat fresh, think about dehydrating it instead.
It will preserve that cabbage for months, and help eliminate food waste too.
~TxH~
This post categorized in 
Tagged in 
Other Dehydrating Posts
- Preserving The Harvest: Dehydrating Fresh Carrots
- Dehydrating Fresh Pumpkin For Easy Storage
- Dehydrating Spinach To Enjoy All Year Long
- Using A Dehydrator To Preserve Fresh Onions
- Dehydrating & Storing Cabbage
- Bell Pepper Dehydration
- Using A Solar Oven To Dehydrate Garden Produce
- How To Make Dehydrated Blueberry Powder
- Dehydrating Plums
- My Simple, Zero-Waste Herb Drying Setup
See All Our Dehydrating Posts
C’mon by & sit a spell! Come hang out at our Facebook Page. It’s like sitting in a front porch rocker with a glass of cold iced tea – lots of good folks sharing! You can also follow along on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.
If you’d like to receive an email each time a new blog post goes live it’s EASY to
Subscribe to our blog!
*Amazon affiliate
* A word about our Affiliate Link – We are currently enrolled as an Amazon Affiliate. Occasionally I will insert an affiliate link into one of my posts if I think it may be of interest to you. I receive nothing from the manufacturer, but I love this Excalibur dehydrator & thought you might too. If you click on any of my affiliate links and buy something (almost anything, not just what was linked) I get a small referral percentage from Amazon. But here’s the really important part – the price you pay for your items is UNCHANGED.
When you buy something through the affiliate link it’s a great way to support this blog without anything coming out of your pocket so please click often!
Great idea! I roast mine with garlic and avocado oil until it gets a bit of char and is tender. Then I freeze it. It’s great in soups.
This is a great idea! I’ve never tried dehydrating cabbage but I bet it would be great in soups in the winter!
Thanks again for linking up with Green Thumb Thursday. I hope you’ll join us this week also!
Lisa
I had no idea cabbage could be dehydrate! Thanks for the great tip and I love that it can be dropped into any soup to add some extra texture and nutrition. Thanks for linking up at the Weekend Blog Hop at My Flagstaff Home!
Jennifer
I have had my Excalibur for barely over a month now & have been using it pretty much non-stop every time i can find fresh or frozen produce at a really good sale price! I’ve done tomatoes (canned diced tomatoes & dehyrated the skins for tomato powder) diced potatoes, red & green bell peppers and just about every variety of frozen vegetables. So now with cabbage on sale for St Patrick’s Day i was curious if that could be done as well! Yay! Time to stock up! I’m curious if the whole leaves could also be dried to use latwr for cabbage rolls?
Just put my first load of cabbage in the dehydrator, can’t wait to see how it turns out. Thank you for the post. I have alot of cabbage to do, it hasdone well this year.
Thanks for sharing this post at The Green Thumb Thursday Garden Blog Hop. We hope you will join us again this week.
I have so much cabbage in my garden, ready to be harvested. My husband was just asking what I plan to do with it. I am going to try to dehydrate some. Thanks for the tip.
Hey, Tammy, love the idea of dried cabbage!! Do you have a sort of recipe for your Veggie Broth or Powder that you’d care to share?!
When I make my favoritist dish of fried cabbage, I usually add some cooked ham or smoked sausage, and a couple of cubed potatoes.. seems to stick the Hubby’s ribs a little better..
Now have to wait for the store to open… got a taste for cabbabe…
Thank you!!
I love cabbage with smoked ham as well, never tried adding potatoes with it though – that sounds delish! I use my veggie granules usually strictly as an add-in when a dish is boiling. I like to add it to rice as it’s cooking and to soups to thicken and intensify the flavor. When I’m making marinara I like to add it while the tomatoes simmer. I’ve never made the veggie granules into a stand-alone soup, although I imagine I could. Hummm…
Interesting. I’ve never heard of dehydrating cabbage before. Learned something new. Thanks for sharing on the Merry Monday Linky Party.
Have you tried the rehydrated cabbage? I am wondering what else it would be good for besides soup? I am thinking anything with cooked cabbage, but just curious what you have tried? I love steamed cabbage with lemon juice and I use it as a rice replacement (similar to califlour rice, but with cabbage instead). Do you think it would work well for those?
I use it primarily in my soup but I did try to rehydrate it into our go-to cabbage side dish of sauteed onions & cabbage cooked in a little broth. I discovered on that meal that cabbage needs longer to rehydrate, it was somewhat tough & chewy. I’m planning on giving it another go soon to see how long I need to rehydrate to use it for a side dish. I’ll be sure to post it when I get my “Eureka” moment!
Our excalibur just arrived and I am ready to start some drying! I was thinking herbs but some cabbage would be great too. Always good dropped in soups!
Wow, I never thought of dehydrating cabbage before!! I planted a bunch of cabbage in our garden with hopes of making sauerkraut to freeze and keeping some in cool storage. I love the idea of dehydrating it. I just got an Excalibur so will definitely be trying this!
Annie, I’ve only had my Excalibur for a few weeks but I’m so excited about it. I can say that if you’re doing to do any quantity of dehydrating it sure makes it easier. ~TxH~
who had thought…….Dehydrating Cabbage.
You can also make freezer coleslaw or stuffed cabbage wraps.
Girl, you scared me with you cutting that cabbage core the way you are…….knife blade heading right towards your hand………Not a good thing.
LOL Colleen – I promise I was careful with the knife! I’ve never frozen cabbage before, how does it do when it’s thawed as coleslaw? ~TxH~
:{ you are to cut Away from them fingers and hands. :} Always that chance of the knife slipping and getting away. ( I speak of experience)
Sent you an email on freezing coleslaw
Wow – thanks for the pictures and step by step instructions (I never thought of dehydrating cabbage). Pulling out the dehydrator this weekend. C
Visiting from Front Porch Friday. I never thought of dehydrating cabbage. I suppose it’s like dehydrated laver or nori (seaweed). Cabbage is very good for health. Take care and God bless!
I had never thought about dehydrating cabbage either Christina, but you know, even if you have to buy it, cabbage is SO CHEAP during early spring. Why not dehydrate it & use it all year long? I’m also thinking about grinding it into a powder along with some of my other dehydrated veggies & using it as my own veggie bouillon. 🙂 ~TxH~