Grilled red cabbage with caramelized glaze

Grilled red cabbage is one of those side dishes that surprises everyone at the barbecue. The heat of the grill gives the cabbage deep dark edges, a beautiful purple colour and a slightly sweet, smoky flavour.

The outside turns sticky from the caramelized glaze, while the inside becomes soft and tender. Simple ingredients, but big flavour.

How to cut red cabbage for grilling

In general, red cabbage is grilled in thick slices. If you cut a red cabbage into slices, you always end up with some loose ends. That’s why we cut them into wedges.

First, cut the red cabbage in half and remove the outer dry leaves. Then, cut the parts in half again and cut those quarters in half again.

We thread these cabbage wedges on metal skewers to keep the layers together. You’ll need to handle the cabbage carefully once they’re grilled.

We brush the red cabbage with the marinade and refrigerate it for a few hours. Make sure that the marinade is spread nicely and deep between the layers. We use a silicone brush for this.

We have set up our Kamado Joe with the divide-and-conquer system for shared direct and indirect cooking. On the left side, we placed the half plate setter on the accessory rack and the red cabbage on the grate above it.

This way, it can cook slowly, while on the right side, we can roast a few picanha steaks over direct heat. Grilled red cabbage is delicious. But we still like to have a nice piece of meat next to it.

When the red cabbage has become soft, coat it again with the marinade and leave it for a few minutes until it’s sticky.

Are you going to make this grilled red cabbage, too? Let us know in the comments below. Or better! Could you take a photo and post it on Instagram? Tag @bbqhelden so we can see what you made.