These Vegan Creamed Cabbage and Leeks are a delicious side dish, perfect for serving alongside sausage and mashed potatoes or even a roast. Get the recipe below.
When done right, side dishes can be just as exciting and delicious as the centre of your meal. Vegetable sides are often overlooked but no one wants just boiled carrots and peas. As healthy as they are they're not all that exciting. They certainly don't get your mouth watering.
I've shared side dishes in the past like root vegetable mash and braised red cabbage with apple. Today I'm using leeks and cabbage - two often overlooked vegetables - to create a creamy side dish that will have you coming back for seconds.
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Ingredients
There are 10 ingredients needed for this dish. It may sound a lot but they're there to add tonnes of flavour to the leek and cabbage. Plus, the ingredients are entirely plant based so this dish is perfect for anyone following a plant based diet or who is lactose intolerant.
Those ingredients are:
- olive oil
- vegn butter
- garlic
- leek
- cabbage
- thyme
- soy milk
- vegan double cream
- mustard
- nutmeg
You can find the full quantities to add to your shopping list in the recipe card below.
Step-by-step instructions
There may be 10 ingredients but there are just 3 steps to this recipe:
- Step 1: Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan and gently fry the garlic with the leeks, cabbage and thyme leaves for 3-4 minutes, or until the leeks and cabbage are soft.
- Step 2: Stir in the soy milk, vegan double cream mustard and nutmeg, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for a further 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Step 3: Serve straight away for the best flavour and texture.
If you can't serve straight away, cover with foil and place in the oven on low.
Substitutions
If you know how to make the recipe fit a certain diet, let the reader know here. Don't fake it - only provide guidance on topics you have actual experience with.
- Plant milk - I suggest using soy milk but you can choose any plant milk you like.
- Vegan cream - If you can't get hold of vegan double cream then single cream will do just cook it down for longer. Alternatively spoon in some vegan creme fraiche.
- Onions - if you don't have leeks, this would also work with thinly sliced white onion or shallots.
Variations
Want to add a twist to this recipe then try one of these variations:
- Add vegan cheese - Is there any savoury dish not made better with vegan cheese? Spoon the creamed leeks and cabbage into an oven dish, top with vegan cheese and then place under a grill for a few minutes until the vegan cheese has melted.
- Add extra veggies - you can try other vegetables in this dish like peas to bulk it out a little further.
Storage
In my opinion this dish is one that is best served immediately. I don't recommend refrigerating or freezing it to reheat at a later date.
Top Tip
When preparing your leeks, don't forget to wash the dirt out from between the layers, particularly at the more leafy end of the leeks.
FAQ
Some cabbage varieties work better than others. I would recommend using a savoy cabbage. Alternatively you could use a kale such as cavolo nero.
You will know when it is cooked as the cabbage and leeks will have softened but still have some bite. The cream and milk will also be bubbling and have thickened.
Yes! I've used a whole cabbage and two leeks for this recipe but simply halve the ingredients to feed 4 people and halve again to serve just 2.
Serving suggestions
My Vegan Creamed Cabbage and Leeks would go perfectly with one of these delicious dishes:
The recipe
Vegan Creamed Cabbage and Leeks
Ingredients
- 3 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon vegan butter
- 2 garlic clove peeled and chopped
- 2 leeks washed and sliced
- 1 small savoy cabbage washed and thinly sliced
- 3 sprigs thyme leaves only (optional)
- 100 ml soy milk
- 250 ml vegan double cream e.g. Elmlea or Oatly
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 0.5 teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Melt the vegan butter in a frying pan along with the olive oil. Add the garlic, leeks, cabbage and thyme leaves then cook for 5 minutes or until the leeks and cabbage are soft.
- Next add the soy milk, vegan double cream, mustard and nutmeg to the pan. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for a further 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Serve immediately.
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