Or Nana or Farmor or Babushka or Bubbie. Red Cabbage is a classic winter side dish for anyone with even a tiny bit of European heritage. Shredded and cooked with apples, sugar and vinegar - a sweet and tart European style red cabbage recipe.
Rotkohl - otherwise known as German red cabbage is THE reason I grow red cabbages. I hand a couple of them over to my sister Fish Pedicure to make for our family's Thanksgiving dinner and then I turn another one or two into my own red cabbage to eat throughout the year. (it freezes really well) I have never, however, grown a cabbage I would consider award winning.
It takes a certain kind of someone to want to grow the world's largest anything. Potato, Leek, Carrot, Zucchini ... It was in 2016 that the 90 year old record for the World's Largest Red Cabbage was broken by David Thomas who grew a 51.1 pound red cabbage.
It beat out the long standing record of a comparably pathetic 42 pound cabbage, also grown by a man. As it turns out, most of the people who want to grow absurdly large vegetables are men. I think we all know why.
If you search the Internet you'll find a photo of David, a resident of Cornwall, England, proudly lounging languidly behind his cabbage, his face and left shoulder the only parts of his body that are visible.
I'm sure this saucy little image is considered quite sexy within the big vegetable crowd. Need more incentive to spend 4 months growing a big potato? It's common knowledge that the only profession searched more often than lawyer on Match.com is Competitive Vegetable Grower.
My own father used to search out the biggest of everything in the grocery store. Instead of coming home with a bag of beets he'd come home with one beet that was so big it needed to be buckled into the back seat like a sleepy, red-faced toddler.
Today's recipe for classic German Red Cabbage came from my very own homegrown red cabbage. My own very small, non award winning, Guinness Book of World Record losing, red cabbage.
Table of Contents
What is it?
Anyone with a bit of European background has probably had a scoop of red cabbage brighten up their dinner plate during the holidays.
It's a mixture of fresh red cabbage, sugar, vinegar and apples. The perfect combination of sweet and sour. In Germany it's Rotkohl, in Denmark Rødkål and in Swedish rödkål. Same name, same deliciousness.
Can you freeze cabbage?
Yes, you can freeze cooked cabbage perfectly. Cabbage, cooked or uncooked, freezes very well. It will get softer as anything does once you freeze it, but it doesn't become watery or gross.
In fact, when I make cabbage rolls, instead of boiling the cabbages, I stick the whole cabbages in the freezer for several days. The freezing softens the cabbage leaves enough that they're as pliable as if you had boiled them.
And in the case of cooked cabbage, like this shredded side dish - it freezes perfectly too.
All it takes is one or two (normal sized) cabbages, some vinegar and sugar and about 1 hour. I use a knife to slice the cabbage thinly to shred it. Honestly? It's easier than dragging out and cleaning a food processor.
But if you want to use a food processor, just fit it with the shredder attachment and shred away.
You can add apples too. I like apples. If I have apples from my espalier trees that are damaged or or soft this is where I use them.
Shred the cabbage with a knife, slice the apples, chop an onion and you're almost done. Don't forget the bay leaf. The ingredients are simmered for about 40 minutes (until the cabbage is tender) and that's all there is to it.
I use red wine vinegar but you can honestly use any vinegar: apple cider vinegar, regular vinegar, rice vinegar ...
I make a batch every fall, put it in individual sized containers and stack them in the freezer (because my freezer is perfectly organized and yours can be too.) Don't envy my organized-freezer-of-a-life because I have a basement I'm afraid to enter for all manner of reasons.
What to pair it with
Red cabbage goes well with pretty much everything but I especially like it with roast chicken, turkey or anything pork. Not a giant pork. Just you know, regular sized pork. I don't eat a lot of game, but if you do it would be perfect with venison or duck as well.
HERE'S A FUN FACT.
Quick Red Cabbage Coleslaw recipe
You can reserve some of the red cabbage and turn it into a super-quick coleslaw by shoving some into a jar with a 2:1 solution of sugar to vinegar. Let it steep for at least an hour. I like to add a sprinkling of celery seed as well. (so use ¼ cup sugar and ⅛ cup vinegar for example)
German Red Cabbage Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 2 apples
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 regular sized red cabbage shredded (enough to make 8 cups)
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- ⅓ cup + 2 Tablespoons white sugar less if you want it less sweet
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Prep your ingredients so they're ready to go.
- In a large saucepan over medium, melt the butter.
- Add in the sliced apples and onion, cooking until soft.
- Add remaining ingredients and heat to boiling.
- Cover and simmer 40 minutes.
- Discard bay leaf and transfer to serving bowl or individual containers for freezing.
Notes
I don't think I'll be growing a giant, fair worthy vegetable anytime soon, but I do think that if I were to ever join Match.com, before I lied about my height, weight, age or education, I'd lie about being a wildly successful competitive vegetable grower.
This worked out great! I loved it! Here’s a couple of tweaks:
For those who can’t tolerate sugar, use 1/2 cup allulose instead. You can get it on Amazon. (It’s real, just 70% as sweet as regular table sugar)
I recommend combining the water, vinegar, salt, sweetener and pepper together to melt the salt and sweetener together before adding to the cabbage in the pan - this allows for an even distribution of the flavors - and covering the cabbage with parchment paper before putting the lid back on. The parchment will enhance the steam, and makes all the difference when cooking vegetables. (I learned that trick from a fellow chef 🤩)
Perfect timing! I was looking for your recipe after buying a red cabbage on a whim. Thanks for helping me make it edible 😍
Hope you like it! ~ karen!
We eat a lotta red cabbage in winter time. It gets sauteed sweet and sour, goes in borscht, puts colour in veg salads, etc. Also it keeps well in a cool garage or shed even before you cook it.
If you pull it from the ground roots intact you can hang it from rafters upside down. Anyway, so said Oma.
Ours doesn't have bay leaf or bacon but definitely apples, vinegar, sugar or honey and some whole cloves and maybe a little pepper. Has converted generations of veggie ambivalent kids into cabbage lovers.
Your comment about menfolk seeking giant vegetables....so true!
Just added a red cabbage to my Instacart order.
LOL! ~ karen
My mother is Belgian and she would NEVER use white sugar with red cabbage only brown! It must be right as she's 97 :)
Noted!! ☺️
Hi Karen, Have you ever canned a large batch of your red cabbage after making it?
I don't have much freezer space and would love to try canning this in pint jars.
Appreciate your posts and any response.
Thanks
If you don't mind it sweet or sour I'd recommend pickling it (like sauerkraut) rather than canning sauteed cabbage. You then drain off the liquid and lightly saute when reheating it. Should help to maintain the colour.
Others may disagree.
I haven't Suzanne. But I'm sure there's an official red cabbage recipe for canning. (just don't use mine because it hasn't been developed for canning) ~ karen!
In my family, we make sweet and sour red cabbage and it is called Kraut Salat. Apples are optional, but we don't typically put them in and ours does not include the bay leaf. However, the main ingredient you are missing is at the end we fry up a pound of bacon that has been cut into about an inch to an inch and half chunks, and add the bacon and the bacon grease to the cabbage and mix well. It is a staple at all holiday gatherings. Growing up, I was convinced most German food contained one or all of the following ingredients: Vinegar, Sugar and Bacon...lol.
Ahhhh, the THRILL of an unexpected empty dishwasher! These are the moments of unbounded joy folks like us live for.
Happy Solstice, Karen!
(My current DYI project is making an Inauguration Day advent calendar.)
I bet you could sell those Inauguration Day advent calendars. I'd buy one!
Happy Winter Solstice Karen,
Thanks for freezer cabbage tips, also looking for cabbage growing tips from you in the spring as I want to tuck a few veggies in my tiny town lot wherever I can find sun.
Great shot of pot, cabbages with dark fabric.
Thanks Karen! And for growing cabbages, the one tip I can quickly give you now is that red cabbages don't get as many pests as green cabbages. ~ karen!
Your writing cracks me up! Love it!
Rumor has it we have European blood running through our veins and I LOVE cabbage so I can't wait to try this recipe. Apples you say? Hmmmm...great idea! (Insert drooling emoji)
Loved this! Thank you for sharing.
I think that cabbage needs some German potato salad to keep it company.
Karen
On your Red Sweet n Sour cabbage dish I noticed you did not add any flour to thicken...I have slways used at least a tablespoon to make it a not so liquid
Hi Roma! Nope I don't find the need to, but if that's something you grew up with then by all means go ahead and do it. Just always make sure to cook the flour thoroughly after adding it so you don't have raw flour taste. (which I'm sure you know) ~ karen!
I'm wondering if this recipe would take to a long, lazy afternoon in a crock pot. I don't see why not. Also, I have a dim memory of another cabbage delicacy I made long ago-- I believe it was sauteed somehow, but then finished with sour cream. Heavenly! I could be coerced into digging out the actual recipe, but I'm sure it's floating out in the ether, too.
I'm sure it'd be great done in a crock pot! ~ karen
Karen, sorry I'm a day late. Did you use a specific type of apple? Granny Smith maybe? Thanks!
I just used whatever I had in my fridge. :) I believe it was a Macintosh, but yes Granny Smith would be great. ~ karen!
Sounds good to me but I can head my son complaining about the smell now! lol
sweet and sour smells NOTHING like cabbage! I cooked up a batch just yesterday, and it smells dee-lish!
Cooked cabbage is a go-to at my house when I've been in the dirt all day and can't stand the thought of cooking a meal for five people. Add potatoes, smoked sausage, some yummy mustard, rye bread with butter if I'm lucky, and dinner is served.
That sounds like cooking a meal to me! Do you add caraway seeds? ~ karen!
Ha! It would be cereal or bread and cheese if it were just me.
Sometimes caraway, usually a bay leaf, always onions and apples.
Oooh, sweet and sour red cabbage is a favourite fall dish of ours, especially when served with some local German sausage. But thanks for the tip about freezing it. Who knew?
Now how about showing some love for the humble but oh-so-nutritious beet? Sweet and sour beets are a de rigeur offering at our Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, and lots of other times
as well. Mmmmmmmmmmm.
My cabbages are little too. But, oh so cute. I love slicing into a cabbage and seeing the insides. I am constantly amazed at the patterns in Nature.
Yeah..we know why...I love red cabbage.