Beer can chicken is a barbecue classic, but what about beer can cabbage? In line with the American desire to shove a cheap can of beer up a food item, beer can cabbage is the grilling sensation to try. Like all barbecue recipes, there is a special technique when making this vegetarian beer can monstrosity. The grill masters over at Epicurious show us how to do beer can cabbage right.
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For the first step of their special technique, you hollow out a beer can-sized hole, about 3 x 3 inches, in the cabbage for that half drunk beer - we like their style already. In the video, the grill master uses a knife to cut the hole and then digs the cabbage out with a spoon, putting the extra cabbage in a bowl for later.
For the beer, Epicurious uses a pale lager, so choose your favorite pale lager or go with what you have on hand. You can use the extra bit of cabbage that you dig out to make your famous slaw to pair with the main dish.
Next, the cook firmly shoves the can into the cabbage, brushes the cabbage with BBQ sauce, and gets to grilling. Brush the cabbage with more BBQ sauce every 15 minutes to make sure the end result is nice and flavorful. After about 45-50 minutes, it's time for some beer can cabbage sandwiches. The grill master grills onions alongside the cabbage for the last few minutes, which she then uses in a sandwich at the end.
As you can see by the copious amounts of sauce used in the video, the one trick you can't overlook in this recipe is to slather on the BBQ sauce. When you think it's had enough, slather on some more. And while it's not technically a recipe requirement, you probably should be drinking a cold one while grilling - it only seems right.
When the cabbage is done, use tongs to take it off the grill and remove the beer can. Slice it up and place in a bowl, and add in some extra BBQ sauce for good measure. Enjoy this cabbage in sandwiches with cheese, grilled onions, jalapenos, and any other toppings you prefer.
Whether this was inspired by a vegetarian looking for their own beer can chicken alternative or a grilling enthusiast who loves to shove a beer can into their food, we don't care. That smoky BBQ smothered, beer infused cabbage just happened and that's all that matters.
This post was originally published on May 24, 2019.
