Cabbage is a leafy form of Brassica oleracea, a single species of plant that has been bred over centuries into many vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi. The original, wild form of the plant has a somewhat scraggly rosette of leaves near the ground, and grows a tall flower stalk. Cabbage is the rosette grown to extreme roundness and fullness.

Cabbage has historically been cultivated as a staple food in cool and temperate climates, as it is reliable and resistant to cold weather. Early and late varieties provided spring and summer crops, the latter of which could be stored by pickling as sauerkraut), providing nutrients including Vitamin C when sources were scarce.

Cabbage has a humble, homey reputation among Western cooks, and features most often in comfort food recipes adapted from times in which it was grown more as a staple. An echo of early-crop cabbage is the traditional summer side dish, cole slaw (from the Dutch 'koolsalade,' or 'cabbage salad'), but most cabbage is cooked as an accompaniment to meat, including preserved (i.e. autumn or winter) meats such as the Irish staple, Corned Beef and Cabbage. Common Eastern European uses include Stuffed Cabbage, in which cabbage leaves are wrapped around spiced meat and/or rice, and Cabbage and Noodles. Cabbage is also the basis for the Korean staple, Kimchi.