Low Carb Air Fryer Cabbage Steaks

For all you veggie lovers out there you have to try these low carb air fryer cabbage steaks with tasty meat sauce and topped with melty cheese. It’s like a veggie pizza or even lasagna using a big wedge of cabbage and perfectly cooked in the air fryer. For a healthy and tasty low carb dinner try these Italian flavored cabbage steaks with just 170 calories!

You might also like these keto cauliflower steaks Romano style.

I have been on a vegetable rampage lately, especially with cabbage. You would be surprised of all the delicious low carb dishes you can make with cabbage. Case in point are these low carb air fryer cabbage steaks.

These cabbage wedges are topped with a hearty meat sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. I can’t make up my mind if this is a like a cabbage pizza or if it’s more like a cabbage bake ziti. Regardless it’s very tasty and you will feel good eating it. Especially if you are on a low carb diet.

And once again my air fryer comes through with the easiest way to make this meal. It cooks the cabbage perfectly and quickly. This whole meal takes about 20 minutes and only has 170 calories, 7 grams net carbs and 9 grams of protein!

Recipe ingredients I used and substitutions.

The simple ingredients I used to make this is a head of cabbage, jar marinara sauce, Italian sausage, mozzarella cheese, olive oil, salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika.

Cabbage
I love this healthy veggie and I usually use regular green cabbage because it’s quite hearty and sturdy. I don’t think you want to use savoy or nappa varieties. You might be able to use a purple cabbage though. Make sure to take off the outer leaves that tend to be falling off. 

Jar Marinara Sauce
I used Aldi Specialty Selects marinara sauce because it’s pretty thick, tastes good and only has 5g net carbs per ½ cup. Rao’s marinara is another good one to use. However you can use whatever your favorite low carb pizza sauce you want.

Italian Sausage
I used hot Italian sausage but you can use sweet if you don’t want the spiciness. You can also use breakfast sausage, ground beef or ground turkey if you want but the sausage adds lots of flavor. . For vegetarian steaks just eliminate the sausage altogether.

If you use just ground beef or turkey you might want to add some more spice, like Italian seasoning, crushed garlic or garlic powder, onion powder, salt and black pepper for example.

Mozzarella Cheese
For any pizza flavored dishes I love to use melty cheese like mozzarella. You could also try some provolone cheese or parmesan cheese. An Italian blend would also be good.

Additional Toppings
I made this to be somewhat like a pizza or lasagna so if you want to treat it like a pizza you could also top with pepperoni, crispy bacon, mushrooms, pepper, onions, etc.

You could also use additional seasoning like Italian seasoning blends if you wanted more of these flavors with the olive oil. I felt the marinara sauce had enough Italian flavor on its own along with the simple seasonings I used for the steaks.

How to make low carb air fryer cabbage steaks.

Preheat air fryer at 360°F for 5 minutes. Take off the outer loose leaves of the head of cabbage but keep the cabbage core intact so the steaks stay together.

Step 1: Mix the olive oil and spices in a small bowl. Then using a sharp knife slice cabbage head into thick slices to make the “steaks”. I got 4 slices or steaks out of mine.

You can cut the ends off the outer slices a bit to make them lay flat if you want. Brush the oil and spice mixture on both sides of the cabbage steaks.

Step 2: Spray the preheated air fryer basket with cooking spray and place the cabbage slices inside. Air fry cabbage steaks for 8 minutes at 360°F .

Step 3: In the meantime get out a saucepan and heat to medium high heat. Break up the sausage in the pan and brown. If it’s in the casings you will want to take off the casings before browning.

Once the sausage is just about browned completely turn down the heat to medium heat and add in the sauce. Cook for a few minutes to incorporate the flavors.

Step 4: Once the cabbage has cooked, flip them over then use the sauce and spread over the 4 cabbage steaks. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and cook for 5 more minutes until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly.

Step 5: Check to see if the cabbage is done to your liking. My personal preference is for a more firm texture and cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of your steaks.

If they are not tender enough and the cheese is brown then let them rest in the air fryer for 5 more minutes so the heat continues to a cook them a bit but not burn the cheese. The steaks will have loose, crispy edges but the center should be firmer.

Step 6: Take out of the basket, place the steaks on a plate and serve. Store leftover cabbage steaks in an air tight container. Please scroll down for the printable recipe card.

This is more of a main dish than a vegetable side dish in my opinion. To make this a complete meal you can serve this with a simple green salad. You can garnish with fresh herbs like fresh parsley or basil. You can also sprinkle some parmesan cheese or even hot pepper flakes for a bit of heat.

More delicious keto cabbage recipes to try.

As I mentioned above, cabbage is a very flavorful vegetable to eat on a low carb diet. I have many low carb recipes using this vegetable and here are a few more delicious recipes to try.

• keto sautéed cabbage with bacon or with kielbasa
• spicy Asian stir fry or air fryer chips
• keto creamy cabbage and ham skillet
• creamy sun-dried tomatoes and broccoli
• here are all my air fryer recipes too

I really liked these air fryer cabbage steaks with the pizza toppings. It’s great when you crave Italian pasta dishes or pizza on a low carb diet or just for an easy and light meal. Enjoy!

The nutritional information for 1 steak is 170 calories / 12g fat / 9g carbs / 2g fiber / 9g protein = 7g net carbs