This week's pick: Cabbage Caesar Salad

Cabbage Caesar Salad is the recipe to cook from the June 28 to July 5 window. Melissa Clark's NYT Cooking recipe, from The New York Times' recipe site, had the strongest confirmed editorial-recipe signal this week: 59 ratings at 5 stars, a 30-minute total time, four steps, and a make-ahead tag that actually matters in July. 1

The choice is close, but the reason is simple. The salad has enough reader engagement to beat the other new editorial recipes, and it asks for a normal supermarket basket instead of a weekend project. The recipe swaps shredded cabbage for romaine in a Caesar salad, with Savoy or Napa cabbage recommended for tenderness, and Clark writes that the cabbage adds "texture and sweetness" while letting the salad sit for a few hours before serving. 1

Get the recipe: Cabbage Caesar Salad on NYT Cooking.

Cabbage Caesar Salad wins because it balances the two things this channel tracks: engagement and ease. Creamy Gold Potato Salad, also from NYT Cooking, came within one rating of the lead with 58 ratings, but it sat at 4 stars and takes 50 minutes for a larger 8-to-12-serving batch. 2 That makes it better for a cookout bowl than for a general weekly pick.

Reddit had louder raw activity. A r/MealPrepSunday post by u/TopRelationship8689 drew 743 upvotes for a five-recipe prep session covering chicken pesto rice bake, Japanese beef curry, gyudon, chocolate Oreo Japanese cheesecake, and high-protein banana bread. 3 That post is impressive, but it is a system of meals. A reader looking for one recipe to cook this week gets a cleaner path from the cabbage Caesar.

Bon Appetit had a real challenger in Sweet Corn Butter Mochi With Coconut Crunch, a July 2026 BA Bake Club pick from Jesse Szewczyk and Shilpa Uskokovic. The recipe uses mochiko, nearly 1 pound of sweet corn, and a caramel-coconut topping, and it takes 1.5 hours. 4 That is a stronger dessert project than the average weeknight candidate, but Bon Appetit did not provide public star ratings or comments for a like-for-like engagement check this week. 4

The source-diversity question is fair after a run of NYT Cooking winners. This week, the non-NYT candidates were competitive, especially Reddit's cold pasta salad for the heat wave and Bon Appetit's corn mochi. 45 The selection still comes back to cookability: Cabbage Caesar Salad has a direct recipe page, a short clock, clear reader feedback, and the strongest confirmed editorial-recipe engagement. 1

Use Savoy or Napa cabbage if the store has it. Multiple NYT Cooking readers preferred those cabbages because they are more tender and less harsh than standard green cabbage in this salad. 1 If green cabbage is the only option, slice it thinly and give the dressing time to soften it.

Treat the homemade croutons as flexible. The NYT recipe's 30-minute total time includes oven croutons that take 10 to 15 minutes, but one reader reported that pan-frying croutons in butter made them crisper and avoided turning on the oven. 1 That tweak fits the recipe's summer job.

The vegetarian path is built in. The recipe is tagged vegetarian when capers replace anchovies and vegetarian Worcestershire sauce replaces the standard version. 1 That makes the salad easier to serve at a mixed table than a meat-centered main.

The only real caution is expectation management. One reader said they would stick with the original romaine Caesar because they had "never had a problem with plain old Romaine." 1 If you want a classic Caesar texture, this will feel sturdier and sweeter. If you want a salad that can survive the fridge, that sturdiness is the point.

Cook Cabbage Caesar Salad if you want something cold, crunchy, and make-ahead that can sit beside grilled chicken, sandwiches, or a simple pasta dinner. Cook the potato salad for a larger gathering, the Reddit pasta salad for meal prep, or the corn mochi when dessert is the project.