Slow cooker red cabbage is an easy side dish with festive spices, great served with Christmas dinner or as a side with winter meals like casseroles or roast dinners.
I quite like to get ahead and cook my red cabbage and apple early (before Christmas) and freeze it, leaving me with space on the hob for more saucepans on Christmas Day!
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Braised red cabbage
Braised cabbage is one of those evocative Christmas dishes for me. In my slow cooker red cabbage I use apple juice as the cooking liquid and add some festive spices in the form of star anise and cinnamon.
Sweetness is added with chunks of apple, redcurrants and a little sugar to balance the flavours.
Cooking this dish on the slow cooker is great if you are busy, as it can be left to bubble away gently with no real worry that it will boil over or stick to the pan!
Why vinegar is used
Vinegar in the dish helps to keep the pH of the cabbage acidic, so it keeps its colour through the long cooking time. I use red wine vinegar in this recipe.
Otherwise, if no vinegar is included, your red cabbage can lose its pink colour and go more bluish. So don’t skip the vinegar if possible!
While this is a savoury side dish, it is nice to add a little sugar along with the apples to balance the vinegar flavour and make sure it doesn’t make the cabbage taste too sour.
That mix of sweet and sour is what many people love about this dish.
Sweetening it also heightens the flavours. It smells delicious as it cooks and I just love that bright pink colour!
Origins
Braised red cabbage and apple is a popular side dish in Germany, where it is paired with different meat-based dishes.
Being an easy vegetable to grow, and one that keeps well over the winter after harvesting in late autumn, braised red cabbage is a useful frugal side dish for the winter months.
Spiced braised red cabbage is commonly served at Christmas with roast goose or turkey in countries across the world. It adds a pop of colour to your plate with its bright pink!
Ingredients
- red cabbage – normally a medium sized cabbage will weigh around 1 kilo. I use half in this dish which makes around 8 servings. The other half is used in salads and coleslaw. Sometimes you can buy half a cabbage at the supermarket, or a greengrocer will definitely let you buy half a cabbage.
- onion
- cooking apple
- star anise – put them in during cooking to add their delicate aniseed spice flavour, and remove before serving
- cinnamon – I use ground cinnamon normally but it also works well to use a cinnamon stick instead, adding sweet spice
- apple juice – a small carton (kids lunchbox size)
- red wine vinegar
- redcurrants – optional. I like to add in a few for added sweetness to go with the apple.
Step by step
Note: scroll down for the full recipe and quantities in the recipe card.
- Remove the outer leaves, cut the red cabbage in half, remove the woody core, then shred one half finely.
- Peel, core and dice a medium cooking apple.
- Peel and thinly slice a medium onion.
- Put the shredded cabbage, diced apple and sliced onion in the slow cooker pot.
- Pour in the apple juice, red wine vinegar and add the star anise, ground cinnamon, light brown sugar and redcurrants.
- Cook on high for 3 hours, or on low for 5 hours, stir once or twice during the cooking time.
- Remove the star anise then serve!
FAQ
Keep it in a covered or lidded dish in the fridge for 5-7 days.
Yes, after cooking, allow it to cool then put it in a Tupperware tub or freezer bag. Seal then freeze for up to three months. Thaw it out then reheat to serve.
Yes, this is a great dish to make ahead then reheat for Christmas dinner or as part of a Sunday dinner. Either microwave for a few minutes on high until fully piping hot, or decant the cabbage into a saucepan, add a little water to stop it sticking, then heat until piping hot, stirring occasionally.
More festive dishes
If you are looking for more slow cooker festive dishes, try these!
- slow cooker roast parsnips
- slow cooker Brussels sprouts
- slow cooker turkey breast or crown
- slow cooker gingerbread pudding
Recipe
Slow Cooker Red Cabbage
Ingredients
- 1 red cabbage you will use half, approx 500 g
- 1 cooking apple
- 1 onion
- 200 ml apple juice small carton size
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 star anise
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tbsp light brown sugar
- 50 g redcurrants optional
Equipment
Instructions
- Remove the outer leaves, cut the red cabbage in half, remove the woody core, then shred one half finely.1 red cabbage
- Peel, core and dice a medium cooking apple.1 cooking apple
- Peel and thinly slice a medium onion.1 onion
- Put the shredded cabbage, diced apple and sliced onion in the slow cooker pot.
- Pour in the apple juice, red wine vinegar and add the star anise, ground cinnamon, light brown sugar and redcurrants.200 ml apple juice, 3 tbsp red wine vinegar, 3 star anise, 1 tsp cinnamon, 3 tbsp light brown sugar, 50 g redcurrants
- Cook on high for 3 hours, or on low for 5 hours, stir once or twice during the cooking time.
- Remove the star anise then serve!
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