How Sweet It Is: Smoky Grilled Honey Butter Cabbage

Ordinary cabbage is made extraordinary by hitting the grill.

There’s something transformative about fire roasting vegetables that concentrates and transcends their humble flavors. Boiling veggies dilutes their flavors and, in the case of cabbage, turns its signature crunch to mush. Boiling cabbage can also release a world of stink. This recipe for honey roasted cabbage amplifies its sweetness, elevating the vegetable far above its traditional boring (and odiferous) boiled cousin. Try it with your grilled corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day or virtually any BBQ meal.

Grill Roasted Honey Butter Cabbage Recipe

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Make ordinary cabbage extraordinary by hitting the grill, resulting in a crisp, sweet and smoky BBQ side dish. There’s something transformative about grilling vegetables and this recipe for honey roasted cabbage is no different.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Side Dish, Vegetable

Cuisine: American

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

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• 1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons or ½ cup)
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
• 1 small head of cabbage (about half a pound)

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Method

 

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1. Prep. Melt the butter in a pan on the stovetop or a side burner of your grill, or in a glass bowl in the microwave, and then stir in the honey and salt.
2. Peel off the outer layer or two of the cabbage so that the remaining head doesn’t have loose floppy edges that will burn easily. Slice the cabbage in half through the core, and then in half again so you have quarters, each with a bit of core intact. If you have a large head of cabbage, cut it into eighths. The core on each piece will hold the cabbage wedge together.
3. Fire up. Set up your grill for 2-zone cooking: one side hot with direct radiant heat and the other side with no coals or burners on so that side will cook with indirect convection heat. Shoot for about 325°F (162.8°C) on the indirect side.
4. Cook. Place the cabbage cut side down over direct heat and grill until it starts to brown, moving it every minute or two so it doesn't get burned. Flip it so the other cut side is down and then brown it too, moving it around the same way.
5. Now move the 4 pieces to the indirect convection heat side to roast and finish cooking the cabbage through. Place the pieces cut side up on the grill and brush the cut sides generously with the honey butter. Toss a small amount of wood on the flames, no more than a fist full of chips or a single chunk, just to get some smoke rolling. Close the lid to trap the smoke. Come back in about 15 minutes and paint some more honey butter on the cut sides of the cabbage. Keep checking and painting every 15 minutes or so to glaze the cabbage.
6. The cabbage is done when you can easily poke a skewer all the way to the center, about 45 minutes.
7. Serve. Take the cabbage off of the grill, hit it with honey butter one last time, and serve immediately.

Notes

About the cabbage. Keep the head small. Otherwise, it will be hard to get it thoroughly cooked in a reasonable time.

About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works. 

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