Red Cabbage
Red cabbage is a dense, vivid purple-red cabbage prized for both its color and its slightly peppery flavor, eaten raw in slaws or cooked slow into a sweet-sour side.
How to buy
Pick heads that feel heavy and solid for their size, with tightly packed, crisp leaves and no wilting, yellowing, or cracked outer leaves.
How to store
Keep whole heads in the fridge crisper drawer, where they'll last several weeks -- longer than most vegetables thanks to their dense structure. Once cut, wrap tightly in plastic and use within about a week.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Peppery and faintly bitter raw with a mild underlying sweetness; slow braising with vinegar, sugar, or apple mellows the bitterness into a pleasant sweet-and-sour depth.
- Texture
- Dense and crunchy raw, with thick, crisp leaves; braising or long cooking softens it to a tender, almost jammy texture.
- Aroma
- A mild, sulfurous cabbage-family smell that grows more pronounced the longer it cooks.
How to prepare
- Shredded raw — Thin-sliced for slaws and salads, often tossed with vinegar to keep the color vivid.
- Braised — Slow-cooked with vinegar, apple, and sugar into sweet-and-sour cabbage.
- Quick-pickled — Cured briefly in vinegar brine for a tangy, crunchy condiment.
- Fermented — Salted and fermented into a red-hued sauerkraut.
Classic dishes
American
- Red cabbage coleslaw — Shredded red cabbage tossed in a mayonnaise-based dressing for color and crunch.
- Quick-pickled red cabbage — Thin-sliced cabbage pickled in vinegar brine, used as a tangy taco or sandwich topping.
Mexican
- Fish taco cabbage slaw — Shredded red cabbage dressed with lime and crema as the classic crunchy taco topping.
Japanese
- Sesame red cabbage salad — Shredded cabbage tossed with sesame oil, soy, and rice vinegar.
French
- Alsatian choucroute-style braised cabbage — Cabbage braised with wine, juniper, and pork in the Alsatian style.
Mediterranean
- Red cabbage and walnut salad — Shredded cabbage tossed with walnuts, olive oil, and lemon for a crunchy winter salad.
- Winter red cabbage and citrus salad — Shredded raw cabbage brightened with citrus segments and a sharp vinaigrette.
Korean
- Red cabbage kimchi — A less common but real kimchi variation that swaps red cabbage in for napa.
Vietnamese
- Banh mi pickled slaw — Quick-pickled cabbage and carrot add crunch and tang to Vietnamese sandwiches.
German
- Rotkohl — Traditional braised red cabbage with apples and vinegar, a classic side to roasts.
- Christmas goose with braised red cabbage — Sweet-sour braised cabbage is the customary accompaniment to roast goose.
- Bratwurst plate with braised cabbage — Sausages served alongside long-braised, sweet-and-sour red cabbage.
- Vinegar-braised cabbage with bacon lardons — Red cabbage braised with rendered bacon fat and vinegar for a smoky-tart side.
Caribbean
- Caribbean cabbage slaw — Red cabbage and carrot in a tangy, often scotch-bonnet-spiked dressing served with jerk dishes.
British & Irish
- Ploughman's pickled red cabbage — A pub-classic pickled condiment served alongside cheese and cold cuts.