Cabbage Gratin is an amazing side dish that will be a huge hit with everyone who likes cheesy cabbage recipes! And this new recipe with cabbage, mayo, lemon juice, ground thyme, Swiss cheese, and Parmesan cheese only has 3 net carbs per serving!
PIN the Cabbage Gratin recipe to try it later!
This new recipe for Cabbage Gratin is an idea that popped into my head two days ago when I was lying in bed! I wish I had thought of it sooner, but once I had the idea to make a cabbage side dish with a cheesy gratin topping, I knew I had to hurry and get it posted in case anyone wanted to try this cabbage recipe for St. Patrick’s day!
Luckily I had all the ingredients on hand, and the amazing Kara was coming over to cook with me. And we absolutely LOVED this cheesy Cabbage Gratin that’s a relative of similar recipes I’ve shared with broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts!
If you’re still narrowing down the menu for St. Patrick’s Day, I highly recommend this Cabbage Gratin for a side dish to serve with corned beef. And if this post is reaching you too late for that plan, I hope you’ll make it some time in March while cabbage is still inexpensive in the grocery store!
What ingredient do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)
- cabbage
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- salt and fresh-ground black pepper
- mayo
- fresh-squeezed lemon juice (I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice)
- Ground Thyme (affiliate link)
- grated Swiss cheese
- coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
What is a Gratin?
A Gratin is a dish where food is topped with a browned crust that traditionally contains cheese, breadcrumbs, and often butter. I’ve become a huge fan of cheesy gratin dishes where the gratin topping uses mayo, lemon juice, and cheese, and don’t think any breadcrumbs are needed!
How low in carbs is the cheesy Cabbage Gratin?
This very tasty cabbage dish has only 3 net carbs per serving, and 9 grams of protein.
What cheese did we use for the Cabbage Gratin?
I’m a fan of a Kroger product called Alpine Blend that’s thick cut shredded cheese with Swiss and Gruyere. I had that in my cheese drawer, so I used the food processor to chop it into smaller pieces. If you’re buying cheese I would choose finely grated Swiss or Gruyere cheese, or a blend of those two. If you prefer a milder cheese, another white cheese like Monterey Jack would also be good.
What if you don’t have ground thyme?
I liked the flavor of thyme in this, and if I didn’t have ground thyme I would put some whole thyme into a Mortar and Pestle (affiliate link) and grind it up. (Or use anything heavy to pound the whole thyme on a cutting board.)
Can this recipe be made ahead?
I just made this recipe in time to share it with you, so I haven’t ever tried making it ahead. But I think you could make it, cover, refrigerate, and then take it out to cook later. You’d need to let it come to room temperature before baking if it had been in the fridge.
Can you make a version of Cabbage Gratin that’s lower in fat?
This recipe uses generous amounts of mayo and cheese, plus a small amount of olive oil for cooking the cabbage, so it’s not a low-fat dish (and I know most low-carb eaters aren’t going to care about that.) But if you wanted to make it a bit lower in fat, you could try use slightly less mayo and cheese. Personally I’m not a fat of low-fat mayo or reduced-fat cheese, but for people who like those products, that might also be an option.
What if you don’t want 8 servings for this recipe?
I know this recipe will keep well in the fridge for a few days because the day after I made this I ate some leftovers for breakfast! But I haven’t tried freezing it and I’m not sure it will freeze all that well. If you don’t want to make 8 servings, just use half a head of cabbage and cut the rest of the ingredients in half.
How to make Cabbage Gratin:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Preheat oven and spray casserole dish with non-stick spray.
- Coarsely chop the cabbage.
- Use large frying pan over medium-high heat partly cook cabbage, lifting the cabbage turning it over constantly so no parts get too brown.
- Season cabbage with salt and coarse ground black pepper to taste.
- Transfer semi-cooked cabbage to baking dish.
- Mix together mayo, lemon juice, ground thyme, most of Grated Swiss cheese, and Parmesan cheese.
- Spoon topping over the cabbage and the use a rubber scraper to spread it over the surface of the cabbage.
- Top with rest of the grated Swiss cheese.
- Bake 30-35 minutes until bubbling hot and top is browned.
- Serve the Cabbage Gratin hot and wait for compliments!
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
This Cabbage Gratin would be a great low-carb meal served with one of these dishes:
- Slow Cooker Corned Beef or Instant Pot Corned Beef
- Chicken and Green Beans Sheet Pan Meal
- Janet’s Dijon Mustard Chicken
- Air Fryer Lamb Chops
- Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce
Want more low-carb recipes using Cabbage?
I’ll be adding this new recipe to my collection of Low-Carb and Keto Cabbage Recipes, where you’ll find the favorites I make every year during March!
Yield: 8 servings
Cabbage Gratin
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Cabbage Gratin is an amazing side dish that will be a huge hit with everyone who likes cheesy cabbage recipes! And this perfect cabbage side dish is extra low in carbs!
Ingredients
- 1 medium head cabbage (see notes)
- 1 T olive oil
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 8 T mayo (see notes)
- 2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice (see notes)
- 1/2 tsp. ground thyme
- 2 cups finely grated Swiss cheese (see notes)
- 1/4 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F/190C and spray casserole dish with non-stick spray. I used a large oval baking dish that was 9 1/2 inches at the widest part and 12 inches at the longest part, but any similar size will work.
- Peel off the outside leaves of a head of cabbage, cut into quarters, cut away the core, and then coarsely chop the cabbage into pieces about 1-2 inches square.
- Heat olive in large frying pan over medium-high heat, add cabbage and cook, lifting the cabbage up and turning it over constantly so no parts get too brown. Cook until the cabbage is just partly cooked; this took about 5 minutes.
- Season cabbage with salt and coarse ground black pepper to taste.
- Transfer the semi-cooked cabbage to the baking dish.
- Mix together the mayo, lemon juice, ground thyme, 1 1/2 cups of the Grated Swiss cheese, and the Parmesan cheese to make the gratin topping.
- Spoon the topping out over the cabbage and the use a rubber scraper to spread it out covering most of the surface of the cabbage.
- Top that with the other 1/2 cup of grated Swiss cheese.
- Bake 30-35 minutes until it’s bubbling hot and the top is getting browned. (We started checking after 20 minutes and cooked it 34 minutes total.)
- Serve the Cabbage Gratin hot and wait for compliments!
- This will keep in the fridge for quite a few days. I haven't tried freezing it, and I'm not sure it will freeze that well.
Notes
The head of cabbage we used was about 2 pounds and made 10 cups of chopped cabbage.
I used my fresh-frozen lemon juice for this recipe. Depending on how big your head of cabbage is, you might want a few more tablespoons of mayo.
You can use any type of Swiss or Gruyere cheese for this recipe, or if you prefer a milder cheese use a white cheese like Monterey Jack.
Nutrition Information
Yield
8
Serving Size
1
Amount Per Serving Calories 234Total Fat 21gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 12gCholesterol 36mgSodium 245mgCarbohydrates 3.5gFiber .5gSugar 1gProtein 9g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
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© All images and text ©Kalyn Denny for Kalyn's Kitchen.
Category: Side Dishes
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This tasty Cabbage Gratin is great for Keto or Low-Carb diets, with only 3 net carbs per serving! I didn’t tag this recipe with South Beach Diet, because if you’re following that plan this is definitely too high in fat. But if you wanted to try making this with low-fat mayo and reduced-fat cheese, it should work for the original South Beach Diet.
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