Vegetables

Cabbage nutrition, raw, cooked and everything between.

For 1 cup of chopped cabbage, count 22 calories. The protein in that portion is 1.1 g. The record behind it is USDA’s “Cabbage, raw”. It is a strong source of vitamin K and vitamin C. The selector beneath handles other portions, and the nutrient table responds to it.

By Alen Yaco · Updated 20 September 2026

Drawn from USDA FoodData Central, FDC 169975, 169976. No account, no upload, percentages against FDA Daily Values.

The calorie count for cabbage

1 cup of chopped cabbage supplies 22 calories, which scales to 25 per 100 g. Each serving listed underneath was weighed by USDA rather than estimated.

Protein in cabbage, measured

1 cup of chopped cabbage provides 1.1 g of protein. Set beside the 50 g reference intake, that is 2 percent. By calories cabbage is 20 percent protein, so it adds to your intake but will not anchor it.

Looked at as a share of calories: carbohydrate 79 percent, fat 3 percent, protein 18 percent.

How preparation changes cabbage

Each line compares 89 g of cabbage, prepared a different way.

Buying, cooking and using cabbage

This dense brassica comes in tight, smooth heads like white and red, or crinkly savoy and loose-leafed napa. Choose heads that feel heavy for their size with crisp, tightly packed outer leaves. Avoid specimens with cracked stems, yellowing leaves, or dark spots. The outer leaves should have a bright, lustrous sheen.

Heat softens the tough cell walls of cabbage, releasing a sweet flavour. Prolonged cooking makes it slimy and releases unpleasant sulphur smells, which is the most common error. Gentle braising yields a tender texture, whilst quick stir-frying preserves the crunch. Always remove the thick, woody core before cooking.

Raw cabbage adds crunch to British coleslaws and Mexican fish tacos. Fermented, it becomes German sauerkraut or Korean kimchi. It pairs naturally with rich meats like pork, duck, and bacon, as the sharp, brassica flavour cuts through grease. Use vinegar or citrus juices to preserve the bright colour of red varieties.

Micronutrients in cabbage

Top of the list for 1 cup of chopped cabbage: vitamin K (56 percent of the Daily Value), vitamin C (36 percent of the Daily Value). The remaining nutrients are tabulated underneath and update live.

There are 2.5 g of fibre in 100 g, roughly 9 percent of the daily figure.

Cabbage against a daily budget

Against the standard 2,000 calorie reference, 1 cup of chopped cabbage takes up 1 percent of the energy and supplies 2 percent of the protein. For a figure that fits you, start with the TDEE calculator, then set grams with the macro calculator.

Cabbage recipes, with the numbers

Three recipes from the Calorie Counter Team, each costed ingredient by ingredient against USDA records, so the per-serving figures are sums, not guesses.

Side · British

Braised Red Cabbage

A slow-cooked side dish of red cabbage and apple simmered with red wine vinegar and butter.

50 min · serves 4

107kcal

1.8gprotein

6.3gfat

13gcarbs

Ingredients

• Red cabbage 500 g
• Red apple 150 g
• Unsalted butter 30 g
• Red wine vinegar 45 g
• Water 100 g
• Table salt 4 g
• Black pepper 1 g

Method

1. Shred the red cabbage and chop the apple into 10-millimetre pieces.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add the cabbage, apple, red wine vinegar, water, salt, and black pepper to the pan.
4. Cover with a lid and cook on low heat for 40 minutes until the cabbage is tender.

Summed from 7 USDA records and divided by servings. Heat alters weight and a few nutrients, so read it as a close figure.

Dinner · British

Cabbage and Bacon Stir-Fry

A quick dinner of sliced green cabbage and bacon cooked in a frying pan with garlic.

15 min · serves 2

324kcal

10gprotein

26gfat

13gcarbs

Ingredients

• Green cabbage 400 g
• Pork bacon 100 g
• Olive oil 15 g
• Garlic cloves 10 g
• Soy sauce 15 g

Method

1. Slice the cabbage into 5-millimetre strips and finely chop the garlic.
2. Cut the bacon into 20-millimetre pieces.
3. Fry the bacon in the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
4. Add the cabbage and garlic to the pan and stir-fry for 6 minutes until wilted.
5. Pour in the soy sauce and stir for 1 minute before serving.

Summed from 5 USDA records and divided by servings. Heat alters weight and a few nutrients, so read it as a close figure.

Lunch · British

Cabbage and Carrot Slaw

A crisp lunch salad of shredded savoy cabbage and grated carrot tossed in a lemon mayonnaise dressing.

15 min · serves 2

237kcal

2.7gprotein

19gfat

16gcarbs

Ingredients

• Savoy cabbage 300 g
• Carrots 100 g
• Mayonnaise 50 g
• Lemon juice 15 g
• Table salt 2 g
• Granulated sugar 4 g

Method

1. Shred the savoy cabbage finely and grate the carrots.
2. Whisk the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl.
3. Add the shredded cabbage and grated carrots to the bowl.
4. Toss the ingredients until the dressing coats the vegetables uniformly.

6 USDA records went into this total. It describes the ingredients as weighed, not the dish after cooking losses.

Calorie Counter Team, food critic

Putting cabbage on a plate

Here is cabbage as part of a plate, with each component taken from its own USDA record and the total added up.

How cabbage compares with similar foods

All figures are for 100 g. Check the form column before comparing a raw food with a cooked one.

Questions about cabbage

How many calories does 1 cup of chopped cabbage have?

The USDA figure is 22 calories, or 25 per 100 g. It is taken from the record “Cabbage, raw”, FDC 169975.

How much protein does cabbage have?

Per 100 g, cabbage contains 1.3 g of protein. 1 cup of chopped cabbage therefore gives 1.1 g, which is 2 percent of a 50 g day.

Is cabbage good for weight loss?

No food causes or prevents weight loss on its own. The useful facts are that 1 cup of chopped cabbage is 22 calories with 1.1 g of protein, which makes 20 percent of its calories protein; so pair it with something that carries more protein.

How much carbohydrate does cabbage contain?

Carbohydrate comes to 5.2 g per serving of 1 cup of chopped cabbage: 2.8 g as sugar and 2.2 g as fibre.

How do you prevent cooked red cabbage from turning blue?

Add an acid like vinegar, lemon juice, or tart apples during the cooking process. Red cabbage contains pigments that react to alkaline tap water by turning blue, but acid restores the vibrant red hue.

Should you wash cabbage before cutting or after?

Wash cabbage after cutting it, rather than beforehand. Remove the dirty outer leaves, slice the head as desired, then rinse the shreds in a colander under cold running water to remove hidden grit.

Sources

• Cabbage, raw — USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 169975
• Cabbage, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt — USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 169976
• Daily Values for nutrition labelling, 21 CFR 101.9