Ethiopian Cabbage
Is This Atakilt Wat?
Atakilt wat is an Ethiopian stew with cabbage, potatoes, and carrots with deliciously earthy spices. However, it was my inspiration for this recipe. Is it one hundred percent authentic? I can’t say because, number one, I’m not from Ethiopia, and number two, I’ve adapted it to my tastes and preferences, but it’s fairly close to an authentic atakilt wat.
Perfecting Cooked Cabbage
I seldom eat cabbage in restaurants because it tends to end up on my plate overcooked. Once it gets overly mushy (and pungent to boot!), I’m out. In my humble opinion, cabbage is best cooked briefly, leaving it tender but still a tad crunchy and not too smelly.
So that’s the key to this recipe! It can be tempting to toss all the veggies in the pan at once, but resist the urge! You’ll want to add the cabbage at the end, after the carrots and potatoes are tender.
How to Make Ethiopian Cabbage
- Saute – In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute them for a few minutes. Then, add the carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes.
- Spices – Next, stir in all the spices: garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, curry, white pepper, cayenne pepper, and salt.
- Simmer everything for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
- Cook – Pour about 1 cup of water into the saucepan, adding more as needed. Continue simmering for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are almost tender.
- Cabbage – Finally, add the cabbage and green peppers and stir. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Bought too much? Use it up in my tasty chicken cabbage soup.
- Serve – Taste test and adjust the seasonings as needed. Serve hot.
Tips and Tricks
- If your veggies start sticking at any point while cooking, add a splash of water or vegetable broth as you saute. 💦
- You can, in fact, sub the water in this recipe for broth, which will add a little more flavor. Some people even like to double up on broth, turning this dish into more of a stew than just sauteed veggies.
- Technically, you can freeze Ethiopian cabbage, but I prefer not to. I find the potatoes get mealy and the cabbage a little too mushy for my taste.
- Add a can of lentils with all the liquid instead of water for a vegan entree. Thanks, Ian.😍
- Toss in some leftover roasted chicken, beef, or pork for a non-vegetarian one-pot meal.
Make-Ahead Instructions
How can you save time even if you don’t want to freeze it? I like to make this a day ahead.
To do so, I cook everything except the cabbage. I chop the cabbage while the other veggies are cooking and then let them cool. I store the veggies and the cabbage separately in the fridge and simply heat the cooked veggies on the stovetop the next day. Add the cabbage and let it cook until just tender, which only takes a few minutes.
Make Ethiopian Cabbage a Whole Meal
You can certainly pair this lovely dish with Ethiopian chicken stew as a side, but it can easily be your main course, too. I like to cook a side of steamy jasmine rice and homemade bread – injera is perfect – and call it dinner! Maybe some kashata for a dessert twist. 😋
More Recipes for Voracious Vegans
- Baked Stuffed Plantains with Black Beans
- Creamy Vegetable Soup
- Chakalaka
- Coconut Fried Rice
- Doubles (Curry Chickpeas and Spicy Flatbread)
By Imma
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was originally published in January 2017 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video
Ethiopian Cabbage
Ingredients
- ½ cup (120ml) olive oil or canola oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cups (110-150g) sliced carrots (about 4 medium carrots)
- 1 pound (450g) potatoes, cut into chunks
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 2-3 teaspoons (10-15g) minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon (2g) cumin
- 1½ teaspoons (3g) smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon (2g) curry powder or turmeric
- ½ teaspoon (1g) cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 cups (600g) chopped cabbage (about ½ cabbage head)
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan or Dutch oven.
- Add the onions and let them saute for a minute or two, then add the carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes.
- Stir in the spices: garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, curry, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
- Pour about 1 cup of water into the saucepan (add more as needed). Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are almost tender.
- Finally, add cabbage and green pepper, stir, and continue cooking for about 5 minutes.
- Adjust for seasonings. Serve hot.
Tips & Notes:
- If you want to freeze it, you may want to leave the potatoes out and add them later.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
This is the 2nd time I have made this recipe and it’s a killer side. Very flavorful and a great way to incorporate more veggies into my diet. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Tasty enough to make again 02.28.21
Did this to the letter, using lots of the spices. Great! Will now try the chicken stew and making my own spice mix as you suggested! Thanks
Great! Thanks so much for the feedback.
I was looking for something flavorful to make with the cabbage i got in my farm box. This did not disappoint! Thank you for having the cabbage go in at the end – this made the cabbage the best cabbage I’ve ever had! I wasn’t sure about the tomatoes and bell pepper, but tried them anyway, and loved it. I also made this without oil. Thank you so much! I will definitely make this again!
This is my second time making this dish. It is absolutely delicious. At first the amount of spices seems like it will be too much but it works perfectly. I did cut the cayenne in half. My husband doesn’t like vegetables after he tasted the dish he said several explicatives but in a good way and ended with this was right on time. Lol. Thank you. I will be trying more of your recipes.
Hahaha! Your husband is hilarious!! I am glad you loved this dish, Sharon. Thank you for the feedback :)!
Made this minus the tomato’s for breakfast. It was delicious. My kids – 5yo and 10yo – ate it up. Delicious. Thank you!
Fantastic!! So glad it was a hit with your family 🙂 !
As always, your recipes are simple yet so incredibly delicious!!
Thank you, Tiffy! I am glad you loved this dish :).
I substituted tumeric for the curry powder and doubled the amount of spices called for also substituted chicken bone broth for the water The dish was a home run.
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback Steve!!
Followed this recipe, minus green pepper, to a T, and it was wonderful! Thank you for sharing.
A lovely recipe.
Instead of adding water I add a tin of
green lentils with all the liquid.
It shows how simple and cheap healthy
living can be. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the tip Ian. And thanks for stopping by!
Well hello.
I’m writing to say how lovely this meal is amazing. I added some Ethiopian berbere seasoning. Today is day two, I cannot wait.
Best,
Bobbye
Delicious ! I used 1/4 cup oil and added some green onion ! Wonderful recipe my dear, I had to shred some cabbage for my class and didnt know what I could make with it so thank you !
I made this today and it was delicious. I had a version of it at a locally owned African restaurant and decided to try it. Thank you for sharing.
My pleasure! So happy to hear it worked out well.
Thank you for sharing this recipe: cooked it two days ago, super yummy, never knew what cabbage can taste like when prepared properly 😉
Yum! Great recipe!
This comes together quickly and is super flavorful. I excluded the oil and it still came out wonderful. I agree with another commenter, this tastes even better the next day!
Awesome! Thanks foo the feed back!
Tried this the other night. Delicious! Everyone enjoyed this cabbage dish. Followed your recipe exactly, except for omitting the cumin, husband is not a fan. We had this as our main dish with some rolls, wild rice soup, and some grapes. The best part…it was EVEN BETTER the next day! Just had this, and already craving it…can’t wait until we can have it again! Thank you!!!
I’m trying this tonight can’t wait ! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
You’re welcome, Sarah. Thanks for trying it out.
I’m not normally a fan of cabbage, that sulphurous smell always reminding me of school dinners and canteens. But I’d bought a white cabbage to make coleslaw and was wondering what to do with the leftovers. So when I found this recipe I decided to try it out this evening. It went down a treat with the whole family and I’ll definitely be making it again. Thank you for sharing it!
Yaaay! I’m glad you love it. Thank you for letting me know.
This cabbage & potato dish is soooooo good! I kept bypassing the recipe because of the amount of oil called for, but it looked so delicious that I decided to make it with only half the oil and see how it turned out. I’m so glad I did. I can’t imagine it tasting any better with more oil! I did add some ground ginger and coriander and cut back a little on the cayenne pepper, but otherwise followed the recipe. My husband agrees that this recipe is a keeper. Thanks.
Thanks for those sharing those tips, Deborah. Glad you and your husband like it. 🙂
Was looking for a variation of the cabbage i usually make and came across this one (also saw one from allrecipes) and I LOVE it!!!! The spices were just right…Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!!!
Great glad you liked it.
My daughter is vegan and I am vegetarian, I finish this recipe right now and is
Oh my God!!!! Delicious and so easy to cook. Thank you Africanbites .com
Wohoo! I’m so happy it turned out well for you, Selenia! Thank you for letting me know.