Pickled Red Cabbage Recipe
This simple pickled cabbage recipe is effortlessly made with minimal ingredients and takes only a few minutes to prepare. Combine basic ingredients, refrigerate, and enjoy! Pouring the warm brine over sliced cabbage in a glass jar yields a similar condiment to our pickled red onions with an ideal blend of sweetness, zest, and tanginess.
Ingredients
For Red Cabbage
- 3 pounds green cabbage or red, about 5-6 cups
- 1 medium red beet about 6-7 ounce, peeled
- 8 small garlic cloves about 1 ounce, cut into medium thick slices
For The Brine
- 6 cups clean filtered water
- 3 tablespoon salt fine sea salt or kosher salt
- ½ cup + 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 5-6% acidity
- 10 black peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- 6 tablespoons white sugar
Instructions
- Slice the cabbage. Prepare the cabbage and beets by removing the outer leaves and coring the cabbage. Cut the cabbage into 4 wedges and roughly chop each into 1 ½ inch slices. Alternatively, slice it like a simple cabbage slaw. For the beetroot, halve it and then slice it thinly.
- Assemble into jars. In sterilized jars, place cabbage, beet, and garlic. Repeat these layers until the jar is full.
- Prepare the pickling solution. Create the vinegar marinade by combining sugar, salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves in a small saucepan. Pour 6 cups of water over them and bring to a boil on medium heat. Simmer for 3 minutes until the salt and sugar dissolve.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vinegar. Allow the mixture to cool slightly for 1 minute before pouring it into the jars. Be cautious when handling the hot liquid!
- Pour into sterilized jar. Pour the vinegar mixture over the cabbage until it is completely submerged, leaving an inch of space at the top to seal the lid easily and let the cabbage marinate.
- Pickling process. Refrigerate the jars, tightly sealed, and let them cool fully at room temperature (approximately 5 hours). Then, refrigerate for 24 hours before enjoying. For more flavorful pickles, marinate for 2 days. Pair it with tacos, use it as a salad topper, or include it in any favorite recipes that would benefit from a nice crunch.
- While the cabbage can be consumed after 12-24 hours, allowing it to sit longer in the fridge will enhance its delightful taste (2-3 days yields even better results).
Notes
- This quick pickled cabbage doesn't require fermentation and can be ready to eat in just 24 hours (for optimal flavor, refrigerate for 2 days before serving).
- To store, let the jars of pickled cabbage cool to room temperature before refrigerating. As raw ingredients like garlic may shorten the pickle's shelf life to 2-3 weeks, I stored mine for 3 weeks and it retained a satisfying crunch. Place the pickled cabbage in the middle of the fridge to prevent freezing at the back or reducing its lifespan in the doors, ensuring its freshness for an extended period.
- For the vinegar - you can use any milder ones, some people don't like apple cider vinegar as it is too overpowering for them, I prefer it with pickling cabbage, it is not overpowering in the recipe and it pairs with cabbage well.
- This recipe uses 1 32-ounce jar and 1 64-ounce jar, yielding approximately 3 liters of brine in total.
Nutrition
Calories: 60kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 2gFat: 0.2gSaturated Fat: 0.04gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.03gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.02gSodium: 1771mgPotassium: 232mgFiber: 3gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 116IUVitamin C: 42mgCalcium: 52mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!