Main Meals

Cabbage strudel

By
31 March 2026
10–12
Medium
40 minutes
1 hour 5 minutes

A cabbage strudel is a lesser-known staple within the Ashkenazi Hungarian community, where it is known as káposztás rétes. This pie is a showstopper meal for 10 to 12 people, but you can either make two small pies or halve all the ingredients to serve four to six.

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Ingredients

Method
  • olive oil, for frying
  • 2 onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 t caraway seeds (optional)
  • 800 g white cabbage, thinly shredded
  • a splash of white wine
  • 150 g salted butter
  • 1 small bunch dill, finely chopped
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I’d recommend being generous with both)
  • garlic yoghurt sauce, for serving
  • For the pie:

  • 1 packet (270–300 g) ready-to-use phyllo pastry
  • 100 g butter, melted
  • For the garlic yoghurt sauce, mix:

  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped (or more to taste)
  • 1 T parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 cup kefir or very runny plain yoghurt

Method

Ingredients

1. Heat the oil in a lidded pan and fry the onions with a pinch of salt for 8–10 minutes, until translucent and slightly caramelised.

2. Add the caraway seeds, if using, and give it a thorough stir.

3. Add the cabbage with another pinch of salt, stir thoroughly and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Add the wine, turn the heat to high and let the alcohol bubble and evaporate. Reduce the heat to medium, cover with the lid, and cook for another 8 minutes.

5. Add 150 g butter and the dill, stir through and take off the heat. Let it cool a little.

6. Preheat the oven to 200°C. To shape the strudel, lay out a sheet of phyllo pastry on top of a sheet of paper towel or parchment paper, shortest side towards you, and brush generously with the melted butter, then top with another sheet. Repeat with two more sheets (you will need four in total).

7. Place half of the cabbage filling in a 5 cm-thick log parallel to the short edge of the pasty about 2 cm away from the edge. Then, using the paper (as you would a bamboo mat when making sushi) roll the phyllo over and tuck it under the cabbage filling. Continue rolling until you have a log-shaped pie.

8. Place it on a baking tray, seal-side down, and brush very generously all over with butter. Bake for 45 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven until crispy and golden brown. Serve with a side of garlicky yoghurt.

Find more pie recipes here

Photographer: Laura Edwards

Extracted with permission from Kapusta by Alissa Timoshkina

Alissa Timoshkina

Recipe by: Alissa Timoshkina

Alissa Timoshkina is a chef, curator, and supper club host with a PhD in film history. She is the author of cookbook Kapusta: Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Eastern Europe.

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