Grilled Whole Cabbage with Garlic Butter & Chili Crisp

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Chefs Anastassia Batsoula-Deuel and Mike Deuel love grilling vegetables in their back yard — and we suspect that as the growing season kicks off, they’ll be grilling a lot of their own produce! This powerhouse chef couple met while working at GP, and it’s one of our favorite GP love stories! The recently welcomed their daughter, Mila, to the family and we couldn’t be more delighted.

Here they share a recipe for Whole Grilled Cabbage with Garlic Butter & Chili Crisp – a perfect celebration of one of our favorite brassicae. The savory, spicy butter sauce is a delightful complement to the smokey, naturally sweet cabbage and is a sleeper hit at any occasion. Serve as the centerpiece to a meal or as a delectable side dish. We’re pretty sure you there won’t be any leftovers with this dish!

Cooking Whole Vegetables Over Fire: Our Favorite Way to BBQ as a Household of Chefs

We’ve worked in a lot of kitchens over the years—some bustling and loud, some calm and rustic—but our favorite kitchen is still the one in our backyard. There’s something grounding about stepping outside with a glass of something cold, firing up the grill, and cooking with simple, seasonal ingredients. And lately, our favorite way to cook is with big, bold vegetables, straight on the coals.

Whole cabbages, butternut squash halves, giant potatoes—we love how these humble ingredients transform over fire. They don’t ask for much. A little oil, some seasoning, and time. What you get in return is flavor that’s smoky, sweet, a little charred at the edges, and deeply satisfying.

We started grilling whole vegetables out of curiosity and ended up falling in love with the ritual. Cabbage became a star in our home—soft in the middle, smoky outside, with enough structure to slice into wedges like a roast. There’s a kind of magic that happens when you let the fire do its thing.

Here’s one of our go-to recipes, usually made while our daughter picks herbs from the garden and our dog lurks hopefully near the grill.

Grilled Whole Cabbage with Garlic Butter & Chili Crisp

by Chef Anastassia Batsoula-Deuel and Chef Mike Deuel

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

1 whole cabbage (we like green or savoy)
Olive oil
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1–2 tbsp chili crisp (we don’t fight over this—we just add more)
Optional: a splash of soy sauce or lemon juice for brightness

Procedure

Prep Together We trim the cabbage, keeping the core intact so it stays together. Then rub it with olive oil, salt, and pepper. One of us handles the cabbage; the other pours the wine.
Wrap & Roast Wrap the cabbage in foil—tight like a gift—and place it over indirect heat on the grill (around 375°F). We close the lid and let it roast for about an hour, rotating now and then.
Char It Unwrap the cabbage and place it directly over the flames for 5–10 minutes. That charred outer layer? Don’t fear it. That’s flavor.
Make Garlic Butter While one grills, the other melts butter in a small pan, adds garlic, then stirs in chili crisp. Sometimes we add soy sauce or lemon—depends on our mood.

BBQing whole vegetables has become a small, shared ritual for us. No timers, no plating stress—just the joy of watching something transform, together. And we’ll be honest: this cabbage recipe has quietly stolen the show at more than one cookout.