I know, I know, two cabbage recipes in a row? While I’m sure some of you are delighted, some might be totally “over” cabbage. But I’m all about reducing waste over here, so I needed to find a recipe to use up my leftover cabbage, carrot, and green onion from my Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry. I decided to try my hand at Okonomiyaki, or Japanese savory cabbage pancakes. And as per usual, this is my interpretation of Okonomiyaki, not a traditional representation of the dish. I love putting spins on classics to make them work for my pantry and taste buds.
What Else Can You Add to Cabbage Pancakes?
What attracted me to this dish is the extreme flexibility of ingredients, which makes it a great “sweep the kitchen” recipe. And you know how I love recipes that accept whatever leftovers you might happen to have in the fridge at the time!
I didn’t buy anything special ingredients for my cabbage pancakes. Instead, I used all the ingredients that I had on hand, and you can too. Other vegetables that would be great in these pancakes include:
- kale
- bean sprouts
- radish
- shredded broccoli or Brussels sprouts
- zucchini.
In addition to vegetables, you can toss all sorts of meat into your pancakes. Try:
- shrimp
- canned salmon
- shredded chicken
- pork
- bacon
Have Fun with Toppings!
And that’s just what you can put IN your cabbage pancakes. Don’t even get me started with what you can put ON your pancakes. Traditionally, Okonomiyaki has a special sauce that is kind of sweet-salty-tangy (here’s a great Okonomiyaki Sauce recipe from Just One Cookbook if you want to give it a try!). But since I was using what I had on hand today, I went a different route.
I kept it simple with a drizzle of sriracha mayo, sesame seeds, and sliced green onion, but you could do hoisin sauce, toasted seaweed snacks, a fried egg, bonito flakes, pickled ginger, kimchi, or anything else you like. Honestly, the toppings are where it’s at for this recipe. It’s like pizza (and sometimes called Japanese pizza). The toppings make it fun, unique, and just all around extra special.
So, what do you have in your fridge that you could put in or on a savory cabbage pancake?
Cabbage Pancakes (Okonomiyaki)
Servings 6 6-inch pancakesIngredients
PANCAKES
- 2 extra large eggs ($0.53)
- 1/2 cup water ($0.00)
- 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.14)
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil ($0.33)
- 3/4 to 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.07)
- 4-5 cups shredded green cabbage ($1.78)
- 1 carrot ( $0.11)
- 3 green onions ($0.17)
- 2 Tbsp oil for frying ($0.04)
TOPPINGS
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise ($0.28)
- 2 Tbsp sriracha ($0.10)
- 1/2 Tbsp sesame seeds ($0.04)
- 2 green onions ($0.11)
Instructions
- Remove any wilted leaves from the outside of the cabbage. Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the core. Thinly slice or shred half of the cabbage, or until you have 4-5 cups shredded cabbage. Peel the carrot and shred it using a large-holed cheese grater. Slice the green onions.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, water, soy sauce, and sesame oil until smooth. Begin whisking in the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until it forms a thick, smooth batter (about 3/4 to1 cup total flour).
- Add the cabbage, carrots, and green onion to the batter and stir until the vegetables are mixed and everything is evenly coated in batter.
- Heat 1/2 Tbsp oil in a non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add 3/4 cup of the vegetable and batter mixture. Press it down into the hot skillet to form a circle, about 6 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick. Place a cover on the skillet to hold in the steam, which will help the cabbage soften as it cooks. Cook the pancake until golden brown on the bottom (3-5 minutes), then flip and cook until golden brown on the second side. Pile the cooked pancakes on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm until ready to eat. Add more oil to the skillet as needed as you cook the pancakes.
- To prepare the sriracha mayo, mix together 1/4 cup mayonnaise and 2 Tbsp sriracha in a small bowl. Drizzle the sriracha mayo over the pancakes just before serving, followed with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and sliced green onion.
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Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Cabbage Pancakes – Step by Step Photos
Begin by shredding the vegetables. You can use a food processor, mandolin, or just a knife. Just remember, the thinner the better. Shred 1/2 of a small head of cabbage (4-5 cups once shredded), 1 carrot (about 1/2 cup), and slice three green onions.
In a large bowl, whisk together 2 extra large eggs, 1/2 cup water, 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil until smooth.
Begin whisking in flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until it forms a thick, smooth batter. You’ll need between 3/4 to 1 cup flour.
Add the cabbage, carrots, and green onion to the batter, then stir until everything is well mixed and coated in batter.
Since eggs and flour both like to stick to surfaces when cooked, I highly suggest using some sort of non-stick surface in addition to the oil. I used a cast iron skillet. Heat about 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil in the skillet over medium heat. Once hot, place about 3/4 cup of the vegetable and batter mixture into the skillet. Press the mixture down to form a 6-inch circle that is about 1/2 inch thick. Place a lid on the skillet to hold in the steam (this helps soften the cabbage) and cook until it is golden brown on the bottom (3-5 minutes). Flip the pancake and cook on the second side until golden brown as well. I could actually fit two pancakes in this skillet, but doing one at a time made for prettier pictures. :P
To make the sriracha mayo, stir together 1/4 cup mayonnaise with 2 Tbsp sriracha.
Drizzle the sriracha mayo over the savory cabbage pancake and then top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and more sliced onion. Dig in!
Hey everyone I baked them instead of frying and they came out scrumptious!! I doubled the recipe added also 2 grated squash and lots of green onions with the green part. I used half water half olive oil and 1 cup self rising flour and one semolina flour, I added crushed garlic and Worcestershire and lots more soy and sesame oil. They tasted like the inside of an egg roll. Thanks for this terrific recipe.
Hi, what temp and how long did you bake? I would like to do the same…thank you!!
I found this whle searching for cbbage recipes. Can these be frozen and reheated later? I just harvested a huge cabage from my garden and need a way to preserve it.
Unfortunately I haven’t tried freezing these, so I’m not sure how they would hold up.
Holy moly! These pancakes are delicious! I’ve never loved cabbage so much. Used leftovers as breakfast with some bacon. I’m going to have to make another batch just for leftovers again 😉
Found this recipe while trying to replicate a meal from the Smorgasburg food cart. I shredded fresh Napa cabbage, and added mung bean sprouts, grated carrot, and minced ginger root. Served with rice noodles and fried egg. It was a big hit with the family!
This was absolutely delicious! I had some cabbage to finish and this was a perfect recipe for it. I think I didn’t have quite enough batter in the ratios, but it still worked. I placed a lid over the pan to help the veggies cook more because my cabbage wasn’t the thinnest. Made extra sauce by adding more sriracha and 1/4 cup Greek yogurt. Served it with a fried egg for some protein. Definitely a keeper! Thank you.
Can you use leftover cooked cabbage for this recipe? thanks
I think it’s certainly worth a try! I’ve never done so myself, so I’m not sure how that would turn out, but I suspect it would work great.
This was so good. I used a bag of finely shredded cabbage and a zucchini and onion I shredded myself. They cooked up perfectly, and I topped them with spicy mayo and some teriyaki steak strips. This is be on of my new easy go-to dinners.
I was really excited for this recipe since i had okonomiyaki for the first time when i traveled to Japan and was visiting Osaka. It was one of my favorite foods I ate while there! This recipe didn’t work entirely for me. I had a bag of coleslaw mix but it wasn’t shredded as much as the one i normally buy and so pieces were thicker than they should have been, but that’s on me. However when adding flour to the batter i got to more than two cups and it was only slightly thickened. Nothing like the photo and ultimately I stopped adding it then because i was worried about the flour overwhelming all the soy sauce and toasted oil. So my ‘batter’ was a little thin which threw the cakes off a bit too. The people i made them for liked them, but since i’d had it before i was a bit disappointed (and on the first one i used too much oil and that one turned out a little gross). I think i will try this again since it had good potential and so many others raved about it. Oh and i made the sauce which complemented the dish nicely ! I used plain greek yogurt instead of mayo. Delicious!.
OMG!!! These are amazing!!! Thank you for recipe! I honestly thought they would fall apart but they are perfect!
Yes. Used a bag of coleslaw mix with green & red cabbage & shredded carrots and it worked perfectly. :)
Beth, this is so good!! I didn’t have sesame seeds, but thoroughly enjoyed them nonetheless! In fact, I pretty much ate them all on my own! haha. I will definitely be making these again, but next time will try to share them.
I loved this recipe! It is super easy to make and it prevented the cabbage from going bad in my fridge. I subscribe to an ugly produce box and I got two heads of cabbage, so I was eager to use them ASAP. It is very tasty!
THANK you
I never leave reviews on the recipes I try. But while grocery shopping with my partner this evening we aimlessly bought all the ingredients in this amazing recipe we use at least twice a month. It blows my mind how (seriously!) good, easy, and cheap this meal is.
Leftovers receive compliments at work, when I make it for friends they think it’s something fancy and lots of work.
Thanks for bringing this into my life!
Do you have nutritional information? Thank you.