Easy Vegan cabbage steaks with cashew cheese sauce

These vegan cabbage steaks are all about textures—the creamy cheese sauce clings to the roasted cabbage layers, while crunchy croutons soak up the rest. Easy to make and deeply satisfying, these vegan cabbage steaks work as a comforting main or an impressive side.

These vegan cabbage steaks are a true crowd-pleaser—tender roasted cabbage smothered in a creamy, smoky nacho sauce and topped with crunchy croutons. They’re healthy, satisfying, and easy to make. With just 30 minutes of cooking, they’re perfect for a cozy weeknight dinner or a laid-back special occasion.

Roasting completely transforms cabbage. While raw cabbage is crisp and firm, roasting makes it tender and almost velvety, with caramelized edges and a subtle sweetness. The flavor deepens, and the texture becomes melt-in-your-mouth good.

What makes these cabbage steaks so special is the combo of textures: creamy vegan cheese sauce, chewy roasted cabbage, and crispy croutons. It’s comfort food with a healthy twist, and I think you’ll fall in love at first bite.

If you enjoy dishes with creamy cashew nut sauces, you’ll love our Cacio e Pepe Pasta and Easy Creamy Miso Mushroom Pasta.

If you love cooking with cabbage, try our Vegan Kimchi with gochujang paste, or Creamy leeks and cabbage.

What you’ll need to make the vegan cabbage steaks

• Cabbage head – you’ll need a small cabbage head for this recipe. Get late-season cabbage, as that has thicker leaves that will hold together better than early-season cabbage. Cabbage is really good for us, read about the health benefits of cabbage here.
• Cashew nuts – are naturally creamy when blended with liquid and will give the nacho sauce its addictive creamy texture.
• Nutritional yeast – contributes a savory, umami-rich flavor often described as cheesy that will be crucial for the nacho sauce.
• Onion, garlic, and smoked paprika powders – will give the nacho sauce its flavour.
• Turmeric – will give the sauce a yellow tone, resembling the yellow nacho cheese.
• Sea salt – will season the pasta while cooking and will deepen the flavor of the sauce.
• Water – will help to get the sauce to the desired flavor.
• Extra virgin olive oil – will help to crisp the cabbage steaks, as well as the croutons.
• Bread – is for croutons. We prefer sourdough bread because it adds rustic flavor and texture, but it is trickier to cut in equal cubes because it tends to have a lot of holes. Any type of bread will work here, so use your favorite type of bread. A day or two days old bread will be easier to cut, than fresh one.

Instructions to make vegan cabbage steaks

Step 1. Cook the vegan cabbage steaks

• Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) if you have a fan-assisted oven. Preheat a non-fan-assisted oven to 200 Celsius (390 Fahrenheit).
• Cut the cabbage into three cm (inch and a half) thick wedges, and place them on a baking tray.
• Drizzle a bit of olive oil on top and massage it in cabbage – this is going to make it soft in the middle, but it will still have enough bite to it, so make sure you follow this step. Sprinkle some salt on top and place in the oven for 30 mins. You want the edges to be slightly brown and the middle easy to pierce with a fork or knife.

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Step 2: Make the vegan cheese sauce

Prepare the vegan cheese sauce according to this recipe.

For more vegan cheese recipes see Easy creamy vegan burrata and Quick & Easy Tofu Feta.

Step 3: Make the croutons

• Grab the two pieces of bread.
• Cut the bread into small pieces about 1 X 1 cm (half an inch X half an inch).
• Heat a frying pan on high heat, toss the bread pieces inside, and drizzle with olive oil. As soon as one of the sides of the bread pieces has crust, toss them around, to start frying on a different side. The goal is to get each crouton fried, or browned from several sides, this will give them their satisfying crunch.
• The croutons are done when they are brown, at which point you should turn the heat off and place croutons in a small bowl.

Step 4: Assemble the vegan cabbage steaks

• Get the cabbage out of the oven and assemble your dish.
• We have two ways of plating this, a fancier and a messier way. If you are feeling fancy, spooning the cheese sauce on the bottom and serving the croutons aside, is going to look cleaner and will resemble a fine dining experience. You may have your reasons for wanting to throw it all together and stuff your face, which is perfectly fine as well. In this way we suggest you start with the cabbage, then pour the cheese sauce on top and the croutons on top of that. That is a great way of getting the croutons properly soaked with cheese the croutons.

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Storage information

• Left-over cabbage can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container. Heat it in the over at 200 Celsius (400 Fahrenheit) for 7-10 minutes before serving.
• Leftover nacho sauce will stay good in the fridge in an airtight container for up to four days.  
• The sauce is also great with other roasted veggies or as a pasta sauce. For pasta sauce, you might want to thin it out by adding some water.

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Vegan cabbage steaks with cashew cheese sauce

Author: Darja

Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, these roasted cabbage steaks are smothered in the best vegan cheese sauce you'll ever make. This is a fully plant-based dish that will delight you with comforting flavors and textures.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course High protein, Mains, Roasted veggies

Cuisine Fusion, vegan

Servings 2 People

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• 1 Blender
• 1 Baking tray
• 1 Large frying pan
• 1 Baking scale
• 1 Bread knife

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Nacho cheese sauce

• 120 grams cashew nuts
• 2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• ¾ cup water

Cabbage

• 1 head cabbage small
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoon salt

Croutons

• 2 slices bread
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

 

The cabbage

• Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) if you have a fan-assisted oven. Preheat a non-fan-assisted oven to 190 -200 C (390 F).
• Cut the 1 head cabbage into two-inch thick wedges, and place them on a baking tray.
• Drizzle a 3 tablespoons olive oil on top and massage it into cabbage – this is going to make it soft in the middle, but it will still have enough bite to it, so make sure you follow this step. Sprinkle 2 teaspoon salt on top and place in the oven for 30 mins. You want the edges to be slightly brown and the middle easy to pierce with a fork or knife.

Vegan cheese sauce

• Prepare the vegan cheese sauce according to this recipe. https://givemethevitamins.com/vegan-cheese-sauce/.

Croutons

• Grab the 2 slices bread. Any bread will do; we prefer sourdough bread because it adds a bit of rustic flavor and texture, but it is trickier to cut into equal cubes because it tends to have a lot of holes.
• Cut the bread into small pieces cca 1 X 1 cm (half an inch X half an inch).
• Heat a frying pan on high heat, toss the bread pieces inside, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. As soon as one of the sides of the bread pieces has crust, toss them around, to start frying on a different side. The goal is to get each crouton fried from several sides.
• The croutons are done when they are brown, at which point you should turn the heat off and place croutons in a small bowl.

Assembly

• Take the cabbage out of the oven and plate it your way—fancy or messy. For a refined look, spread cheese sauce on the plate, add cabbage, and serve croutons on the side. Or go rustic: layer cabbage, pour the sauce on top, and finish with croutons so they soak up all that cheesy goodness.

Notes

• Leftover nacho sauce will stay good in the fridge in an airtight container for up to four days.  
• The sauce is also great with other roasted veggies or as a pasta sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 898kcalCarbohydrates: 68gProtein: 26gFat: 64gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 9gMonounsaturated Fat: 40gTrans Fat: 0.01gSodium: 3720mgPotassium: 1547mgFiber: 19gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 1431IUVitamin C: 167mgCalcium: 260mgIron: 9mg

Keyword Best vegan cheese sauce, cabbage steaks, oven roasted cabbage, vegan nacho cheese