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Dressed Cabbage

A sautéed cabbage dish cooked with butter, bacon grease, nutmeg, flour, and pepper.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Dressed Cabbage

Time20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Shred the cabbage.

  2. Melt half the butter in a heavy pot.

  3. Add the cabbage and toss until covered with the butter.

Cook

  1. Add bacon grease, cover, and cook gently for 20 minutes.

  2. Add nutmeg or mace and flour.

  3. Stir well, then add remaining butter and toss until melted into the cabbage.

  4. Sprinkle with pepper.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

673Calories
20 gProtein
18 gFat
109 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Broccoli1 cup chopped (156g)55
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Macenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Cabbage + nutmegtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together187 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cabbage
Forms the bulk of the dish and softens into tender strands as it cooks gently.
Butter
Coats the cabbage and adds richness and moisture as it melts into the dish.
Bacon grease
Adds savory fat and flavor to the cabbage during the covered cooking.
Flour
Lightly thickens the buttery juices so they cling to the cabbage.

The step that matters

Cook gently with the lid on. Low, covered heat lets the cabbage soften and release its own moisture without scorching in the butter and fat. High heat would brown and toughen the strands before they become tender.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, nutmeg, flour, pepper):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, nutmeg, flour, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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