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A quick & easy recipe for Pickled Red Cabbage. Crunchy, zingy & delicious – perfect addition to kebabs equally at home with cold meats & cheese at Christmas.
Here at the Kitchen Shed we love making pickles and chutney and it seems a lot of our readers do too. Spicy Courgette Chutney is one of our most popular recipes on the blog.
Pickles, chutneys and jams are a great way to preserve vegetables and fruit for the winter months. I love making extra jars for our Christmas hampers and in recent years Easy Pickled Red Cabbage has featured in every hamper I’ve put together.
Although I originally made our Pickled Red Cabbage recipe especially for our Chicken Kebabs Take Away Style, it’s great to have in your store cupboard since it’s such a delicious pickle and it goes with just about everything. Not to mention the beautiful red colour, which I just love !
What do we need to make Easy Pickled Red Cabbage ?
You only need a few ingredients to make your Quick and Easy Pickled Red Cabbage.
Red cabbage
Choose a fresh firm red cabbage. Pickles and chutneys are only as good as the ingredients you use. Use crisp, fresh cabbage because if you start with limp cabbage you will end up with soft pickled cabbage and no crunch.
Salt
A good coarse salt (I used a coarse sea salt) will break down the cabbage and pull out the water, resulting in a crisper crunchy pickled red cabbage.
Vinegar
I use cider vinegar with a small amount of balsamic and red wine vinegar for added flavour.
Don’t worry if you don’t have any balsamic or red wine vinegar, cider vinegar on its own will still be tasty.
You will often see malt vinegar used in recipes but I feel it overpowers the red cabbage.
Spices and Herbs
I’ve used coriander seeds, our favourite pickle spice, as we love the pop of citrus.
A bay leaf goes in each jar along with the coriander seeds.
Sterilised jars
You will need 4 or 5 x 500ml ( 1 pint ) sterilised jars with screw top lids.
HOW TO STERILISE JARS
I like to sterilise jam jars in the microwave.
Simply clean them as normal and rinse but whilst they are wet, pop them in the microwave for two minutes on full power.
Remember the jars will be very hot, so remove with care.
Alternatively, wash jars in the dishwasher on a hot cycle.
Always sterilise more jars than you think you will need.
How to make Pickled Cabbage
A really easy recipe with no overnight soaking of cabbage and no boiling of vinegar ! Although ready after one week, we’ve eaten it after two days.
Firstly, prepare the cabbage by discarding the outer leaves. Cut into quarters and finely slice, or if you want a chunky version, thicker slices.
Then it’s time to get all that excess water out of the cabbage for extra crunchy pickle. It’s best to work over a sink for this and wear gloves to prevent purple fingers.
Place the shredded cabbage in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Scrunch and break down the cabbage for five minutes. You will be amazed at how much water comes out of the cabbage.
Leave to rest for ten minutes before rinsing out the salt and drain well.
Lastly, it’s time to pickle.
Half fill the jars with the drained red cabbage and place in your bay leaf and half a teaspoon of coriander seeds.
Add a tablespoon of balsamic and red wine vinegar.
Top up your jars with the remaining red cabbage and then fill with cider vinegar before sealing the jars.
After a couple of hours, check the vinegar level to make sure it completely covers the cabbage.
Store in a dry place out of sunlight for a week.
How long does Pickled Cabbage keep ?
It will keep for up to two months stored in a dry place out of sunlight. It will keep for much longer but will lose its crispness after ten weeks or so.
What to serve it with
Pickled red cabbage is so versatile it will perk up almost any dish. Try in a hot dog, in a taco, with falafel or a cheese and meat platter at Christmas.
Our favourite way to serve pickled red cabbage is with our Homemade Chicken Kebabs with pittas and salad to recreate a takeaway.
Spicy Courgette Chutney
Sweet and Spicy Chilli Jam
Homemade Chilli Sauce
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Easy Pickled Red Cabbage Recipe
A quick & easy recipe for Pickled Red Cabbage. Crunchy, zingy & delicious – perfect addition to kebabs equally at home with cold meats & cheese at Christmas.
5 from 62 votes
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Course: Jams, Pickles, Chutneys, Sauces, Dips & Spreads, Side Dish
Cuisine: British
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes minutes
Pickling Time: 2 hours hours
Total Time: 2 hours hours 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 32 50g portions
Calories: 12kcal
Author: Sarah James
50g portions
Equipment
4 x 500ml sterilised jars with screw top lids
Ingredients
- 1 kg red cabbage 1 medium sized red cabbage
- 100 g coarse sea salt
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 litre cider vinegar
- 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Instructions
Discard outer leaves of your cabbage.
Cut cabbage into quarters, remove the stalks and slice into fine shreds – or chunky if you prefer.
Place cabbage in a colander (over the sink) and sprinkle with the salt.
Scrunch and break down the cabbage for 5 minutes. (You may want to wear gloves for this unless you fancy purple fingers)
Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
Rinse out the salt and drain well.
Pack the jars half full with cabbage. Add ½ teaspoon coriander seeds and a bay leaf.
Add a tablespoon of red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar to each jar.
Pour the cider vinegar to cover the cabbage.
Pack the rest of the red cabbage into each jar and top up with cider vinegar to cover.
Seal jars with a metal screwcap lid.
After a couple of hours, check the vinegar level to make sure it completely covers the cabbage.
Store in a dry place out of sunlight.
Ready to eat after one week. Will keep for up to two months.
Notes
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
- Each serving is based on 50g per person. The recipe makes approx 4 jars.
- Easy Pickled Red Cabbage will keep for up to two months stored in a dark, dry cupboard.
- It will keep for much longer but but will lose its crispness after 10 to 12 weeks or so.
Serving: 1g | Calories: 12kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 203mg | Potassium: 80mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 349IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg
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