Kohlrabi

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An odd-looking vegetable still waiting for its day, kohlrabi is a living link to how humans have interacted with wild plants, nudging them over time to create something entirely new. The crisp, tender bulbs can be used in any recipe you could use a potato or cabbage in, as well as many recipes you couldn't. Along with fennel it's one of the finest vegetable for eating raw. I spent the week cooking through twenty pounds of it to give you a few ideas.

Purple kohlrabi on a black background with fresh green leaves. — The bulbs can come in purple or green.

What is Kohlrabi?

Simply put, kohlrabi is a stem vegetable derived from wild cabbage. The word itself comes from the German word for cabbage (kohl), and turnip (rapi). Following that, it shouldn't be surprising that kohlrabi is most well known in cabbage-loving Germany and Austria as well as Eastern Europe in general.

A whole green kohlrabi from the farmers market with attached leaves on a black background. — I like to buy bulbs with attached greens when I can.

Many of the Brassica plants we eat were derived from ancestral cabbage (Brassica oleracea) for one characteristic or another. Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var Italica) is grown for enlarged flower buds, while typical cabbage (Brassica oleracea var capitata) was grown for a head of durable, compact leaves.

An infographic showing broccoli, kohlrabi and cabbage cross sections to illustrate the similarity of the vegetables as they're all cultivars of Brassica oleracea, the latin name is shown above each vegetable with an arrow pointing to the one each label describes. — All three vegetables are all cultivars of the same plant.

Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes) is what happens when wild cabbage is repeatedly selected for a thick, globe-shaped stem. Puntarelle, the Italian bulb chicory, is the result of the same selection process being applied to a wild chicory plant (Chicorium intybus) shown below.

A bulb of Italian puntarelle chicory against a wood background showing the enlarged bulb of the plant. — Puntarelle bulb chicory is what happens when wild chicory is selected for stems.

I find it endlessly fascinating that, over time, plants can be steered to develop such remarkably different forms.

In a more practical sense, I like to describe kohlrabi to newcomers as a giant broccoli stem. Stem vegetables are rare in American food, but still appreciated overseas. Besides puntarelle there's also celtuce, a variety of lettuce selected for a thick, juicy stem that's popular in China. Foragers will know burdock flower stalks, which have similar properties.

Processing and Preparing Kohlrabi

First, remove any leaves if attached, saving them for cooking first as they'll deteriorate faster than the bulbs. As kohlrabi stores so well (2-3 weeks or more in the fridge!), the bulbs are often sold without leaves.

A top-down image showing kohlrabi greens being removed from the bulb. — Removing the greens if attached is the first step in processing.

Peeling Kohlrabi

I feel like peeling is where place where people can become frustrated with this vegetable and for good reason: it's very different from peeling a potato. Any remnants of the leaf stems need to be trimmed first, and even then they can be cumbersome and awkward to peel. I can't recommend my Kuhn Rikon y-shaped peelers enough for these.

A point of view image looking down on two hands cutting the top and bottom of a kohlrabi bulb off. — Remove the top and root ends.

A top down image showing two hands cutting off the remaining stem pieces of a kohlrabi bulb. — Remove any remnants of the leaf stems.

A top down image showing two hands peeling a kohlrabi bulb with a y-shaped peeler. — Use a y-shaped peeler to peel the skin.

A finished, peeled bulb of kohlrabi on a cutting board next to a y-shaped peeler and a chef's knife. — A finished, peeled bulb ready to eat.

Once the bulb is peeled it's a blank canvas, and a mandoline slicer is your best friend here. Thinly shaved the bulbs are crisp and refreshing, keeping a pleasant texture even after mixed with a dressing and wilted.

Cutting kohlrabi on a mandoline into slices and a thin julienne. — Kohlrabi was born for the mandoline slicer.

With a mandoline or without, the different ways it can be cut are only limited by your imagination. I did a few examples for you below.

Versatility aside, there's just something about the paper-thin slices that's irresistible to me. Tossed with a pinch of salt they'll quickly wilt into translucent, crisp slices ready to soak up any flavors you want.

A hand holding a slice of kohlrabi cut on a mandoline so thin that the fingers are visible through it. — Use a mandoline to get paper-thin slices.

Why is my kohlrabi tough?

If you've ever had kohlrabi that was tough, fibrous and unpleasant to chew, you're not alone. As the plant matures it reinforces itself to support a flower stalk by creating a firm, wood-like fibers that keep it erect for the widest dispersal of seeds.

Young kohlrabi are the most tender. Softball size can be dicey. Either way, inspect before you pick or buy. You want smooth, round bulbs. They should be firm, but tender enough a fingernail can pierce the skin. Below is a fresh bulb from the farmers market next to an overly mature bulb from my local Asian market. What kind of differences can you spot between the two?

Two kohlrabi bulbs shown side by side to illustrate what to look for when purchasing kohlrabi. One bulb looks dented and warped, while the other is smooth and attractive. — Farmers market on the top, Asian grocer on the bottom.

Fibrous bulbs are usually those that were harvested too mature, presumably for a bigger yield, but drought and growing conditions (heat) can contribute too. Light-weight, furrowed or dimpled bulbs as shown above are usually tough and should be avoided. If a knife hesitates when cutting the root end, inspect them thoroughly.

The fibers are no joke and can potentially ruin a dish, just imagine a potato with fishing line in it. Short of incinerating the bulbs to ash in frustration, there's no cooking method that can mitigate the fibers. They're often located directly beneath the skin, so extra peeling often helps, but not always.

An infographic of two cut kohlrabi bulbs side by side showing expanded close up images of the inedble fibers that can occur in kohlrabi when it's too mature. — If present, inedible fibers will be most pronounced where the bulb touches the soil, the root end of the bulb.

Some bulbs are beyond saving and can have fibers throughout, under the skin, concentrated in the center, or all of the above. This has ruined the vegetable for a few people I know and is the biggest deterrent in my opinion-see below.

A close up image of translucent cooked slices of kohlrabi showing the tough fibers that can run through older bulbs and isn't pleasant to eat. — Close up image of the inedible fibers in a mature bulb.

How to Cook Kohlrabi

The word cooking can be deceiving here as it implies heat. Like all of its Brassica cousins, the plump bulbs can be cooked, but kohlrabi truly shines when served raw.

Mixing a shaved kohlrabi salad with herbs in a wooden bowl with opal basil, nodding onion greens and burnet leaves around the bowl. — Shaved kohlrabi salad is the first thing you should make.

The flavor affinities are similar to turnips, fennel, broccoli and potatoes. Here's a few examples:

Raw they love soft herbs like mint, dill, tarragon and basil, as well as citrus. Cooked they can stand up to stronger herbs like thyme or sage, ideally mixed with potatoes.
They're surprisingly good shaved and mixed with potatoes in a gratin Dauphinoise with nutty gruyere cheese.
A riff on a classic Austrian dish could be shaved thin, drizzled with pumpkinseed oil and garnished with crumbled farmers' cheese.
Kohlrabi tastes like a mixture of cabbage, broccoli stem. Like cabbage, they work well with both mild flavors (sauerkraut) and aggressive ones (kimchi).
A good chef pairing is nut oils. Try walnut, almond, or hazelnut oil instead of

If you have excess, the bulbs can also be used in recipes in place of diced potatoes or turnips. One thing to keep in mind here is they take a while to cook when diced. Give them a blanch in boiling, salted water until a cake tester or paper clip pushes through without resistance and they're ready for the pan.

Testing the doneness of kohlrabi in a pot of boiling water by poking it with a sharp skewer. — Testing the doneness with a skewer.

Kohlrabi Leaves

While they're often tossed in the compost, kohlrabi leaves are perfectly good to eat and taste like collard greens. If they're still attached and in good condition I eat them first as they don't last as long as the bulbs.

Removing the stems from kohlrabi greens before cooking. — De-stemming the greens.

These are a slow-cooking green best used in recipes where you'd use collard greens, broccoli leaves, or kale, but you'll need multiple bulbs to get enough greens to make a side dish. If you braise them until tender or put them in a soup, you don't necessarily have to remove the stem, although I usually do.

Braised kohlrabi greens cooked like collard greens with bacon and a piece of bacon rind in an old copper pan. — Braised kohlrabi greens cooked with a bacon rind.

If the stem is removed the leaves can be rolled and cut into fine chiffonade of julienned threads, then massaged with a dressing and served as you would a massaged kale salad. it comes together lightning fast and makes a perfect summer salad. Furry borage leaves aside, I've yet to find a leafy green that doesn't like the chiffonade treatment.

Rolled, thinly shaved kohlrabi greens cut very fine with a knife. — Cutting the greens into a thin ribbons / chiffonade.

Kohlrabi Recipes

Cooked, raw, fermented, roasted, mashed or pureed, there's so much this plant can do. Here's a few things I made this week.

Kohlrabi, Apple and Fennel Slaw

Apple and fennel make a great slaw, and it's even better with kohlrabi added. For a pound of shaved vegetables (equal parts of each), add 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1.5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and a few gratings of zest, 1 teaspoon maple syrup, ½ teaspoon kosher salt and a handful of fresh herbs.

Kohlrabi, apple and shaved fennel salad with herbs in a wooden bowl with a kohlrabi bulb in the background. — Shaved kohlrabi, apple and fennel salad with herbs and lemon.

Simple Carpaccio / Shaved Salad

A popular restaurant preparation, this was inspired by my colleague Sami Tallberg's new book from Finland on cooking with micro seasons. If you can shave whole rounds they become a bit like a raw, free-form lasagne. It's really hard to beat.

A plate of shaved kohlrabi with herbed walnut oil, bronze fennel, tarragon and lemon on a white china plate. — Shaved kohlrabi with walnut oil and herbs.

For a side salad to serve two, shave 5 oz kohlrabi very thin, then mix with ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon maple syrup and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Rest for a minute to wilt, then add a handful of chopped fresh herbs like tarragon, chives, dill, mint, bronze fennel or basil. Drizzle with an herb oil for serving (use my ramp leaf oil recipe ).

Raw with Salt and Oil

One of the most classic ways to prepare the bulbs is simply cut into thin (¼ inch) slices and eaten fresh with salt. Add a drizzle of flavorful oil and it makes an elegant snack. Dip a corner in the oil, then the salt and eat.

Sliced raw kohlrabi on a plate with herb oil, ghost pepper salt and sprigs of burnet. — Raw with herbed walnut oil and hot pepper salt.

Soups and Stews

You can add the diced bulbs to any soup, stew, or recipe where you'd use potatoes or turnips. I made a quick stew of leftover sausage, brisket drippings, a can of tomatoes, mirepoix, potatoes and diced kohlrabi to use up the last bulbs I had.

A pan of sausage, vegetable and kohlrabi soup in an all clad pot on a trivet. — Leftover sausage and kohlrabi stew.

While often mentioned as a potato substitute, the texture is far less starchy and they'll taste nearly identical to cooked turnips or radishes.

Fermented

Just like their Brassicaceous cousins, the bulbs make a great ferment. Thin slices are the best for this. Below I used a fine julienne for garnishing noodle bowls, but strips or whole shaved rounds are fine too.

I used my dandelion kimchi recipe as a starting point, but you can make a mild, sauerkraut-esque ferment too.

Sauteed in a Vegetable Medley

After eating your fill of slaw, if you have an abundance of bulbs they're good in a mixed vegetable saute. To make it, take a pound of vegetables including peeled, diced kohlrabi. Blanch the vegetables individually in salted water until just tender, shock in ice water and drain.

A pan of diced kohlrabi, cauliflower, and zucchini with herbs, chicken stock and butter. — Glazed summer vegetables with herbs.

Bring the vegetables to a boil in a 10 inch saute pan with ½ cup strong chicken stock and a tablespoon of butter. When the juices become syrupy, turn the heat off, add a handful of mixed, chopped herbs (dill, mint, thyme, chives, etc), adjust the seasoning and serve.

Massaged Greens Salad

To make a simple massaged salad for two, take 4 oz of fresh greens and cut them into 4-5 inch rectangles. Roll them up and cut into thin strips-you want them just long enough that they can be twirled around a fork.

A top down image of a shredded kohlrabi greens salad seasoned with Caesar vinaigrette and garnished with sliced boletus rex veris mushrooms, burnet leaves and wild pine nuts. — Shredded kohlrabi greens with chive blossom vinaigrette, aged gouda, porcini and marshmallow flowers.

Mix the greens in a bowl with a tablespoon of dressing. I used my chive blossom vinaigrette from the other week. Add a spoonful of pecorino or parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to taste. It's also fine with just olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Have you tried kohlrabi, grown it or have anything to add? If so please leave a comment and share.