This steamed cabbage hits the spot when I need a simple, healthy, delicious side dish. It’s fast and genuinely so delicious thanks to our lime butter!
We love cabbage on Inspired Taste, and this simple steamed version is a go-to recipe! It’s incredibly quick (under 20 minutes) and perfect on the side to almost any main dish.
Steaming cabbage makes it tender and sweet, but the real magic happens when you add our simple lime butter, which takes the flavor to the next level! For more cabbage inspiration, explore some of our other favorite cabbage recipes, like easy sautéed cabbage with lemon and garlic, this reader favorite fried cabbage with bacon, or Adam’s ham and cabbage soup.
Key Ingredients
- Cabbage: I used green cabbage in our photos, but you can steam other varieties of cabbage without any changes to our recipe. Consider savoy, napa, red cabbage, or pointed cabbage (like Hispi)
- Butter: I use salted butter, but unsalted is fine! Just adjust with a bit more salt to taste before serving. For a vegan option, use plant-based butter.
- Lime: Cabbage and lime are such a fantastic combination, but you can always substitute lemon!
- Green Onion: Also called spring onions, these cook quickly and help to flavor our lime butter.
By the way, if you have a steaming basket, great! It works perfectly for this recipe. If you don’t have a steaming basket, no worries at all! You can still make delicious steamed cabbage by pan-steaming it instead. I’ve shared how to do either (with a basket or not) in the recipe below! Hope you love it!
Steamed Cabbage with Lime Butter
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
My family loves this easy steamed cabbage! It’s incredibly easy, and we love the simple lime butter! If you have one, a steaming basket set inside a larger pot makes steaming cabbage really easy. That said, you can make this recipe without one. You can easily steam the cabbage in a deep skillet instead. Just add the cabbage right after rinsing it under cold water (so it’s still wet), add a couple of tablespoons of water, pop on the lid, and cook. Keep an eye on it, and add a splash more water if the skillet seems dry.
You Will Need
Half of a medium cabbage, about 1 pound
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons lime zest
1 green onion, finely sliced
Juice of half a lime
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Directions
1Prep the cabbage: Remove the core and cut the cabbage into quarters. Then, slice each quarter into thin strips about 1/2-inch wide. Add to a colander and rinse with cool water.
2Steam the cabbage: If using one, add the cabbage to a steaming basket set over about 2 inches of water. Or, if you do not have a steaming basket, add the cabbage (still wet from rinsing) and 2 tablespoons of extra water to a deep skillet.
3Cover with a lid, place the pot or skillet over medium-high heat, and cook until steamy, reduce the heat to medium-low, and steam for 5 to 7 minutes. Check it occasionally to see how soft/tender it is becoming. If the pot or skillet is dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.
4Make lime butter: While the cabbage steams, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the whites of the green onion, cook for 1 minute, turn off the heat, and then stir in the lime zest, pepper, and salt. Set aside.
5Serve: Toss the steamed cabbage with the lime butter, add a spritz of lime juice, and season with salt and pepper.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Keep leftover steamed cabbage in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. It’s normal for it to release a bit of extra moisture as it sits.
- What to serve this with: I love this next to poached salmon, lemon dill baked salmon, crab cakes, pulled pork, and simple roasted chicken!
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
