I live in the Czech Republic and the red cabbage we can buy in jars in the shops cannot be compared to the Danish version. As a Dane, I guess you only ever buy one jar and then wonder if Danish homemade traditional red cabbage isn't the way to go!
It's surprisingly simple and not very time-consuming either. This batch of 2 heads of red cabbage turned into 3.5kg of finished red cabbage, and it took me exactly 1 hour and 45 minutes including cleaning and tidying up.
Homemade red cabbage is quick and easy and, in my opinion, has much more character than the pre-purchased variety.
Homemade traditional red cabbage
I prefer my red cabbage quite simple - no cinnamon sticks, oranges, apples, caraway, star anise or other flavourings. But it's entirely up to you!The recipe is calculated per kilo. Usually a nice head of red cabbage weighs more like two kilos, and then you just multiply it up.
Equipment
- 1 foodprocessereller en stor og skarp kniv
Ingredients
- 1 kg red cabbage
- 35 g Fat - butter, duck fat, chicken fat or possibly oil
- 1 dl lagereddike
- 80 g sugar
- 10 g salt
- 50 g Currant jelly or currant juice
- 2 tsp Atamon (Household preservative containing Sodium benzoate)
- 1 dl boiling water
Method
- Peel the outer leaves off the head of cabbage if they don't look nice
- Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the stem
- Cut the pieces in half again and finely chop them. I use a food processor, but you can easily do it with a knife. Consider wearing gloves for the colour.
- Melt the fat over medium heat in a large saucepan. I really like to use duck fat, but you can use whatever fat suits you best. If you have vegetarians or vegans in your family or social circle, use oil.
- Add vinegar and red cabbage and stir
- Add the other ingredients and stir.
- Simmer under a lid. Stir occasionally.
- After 30 minutes, I start checking if the red cabbage is cooked the way I want it. I find that pre-purchased red cabbage is too overcooked, so I stop the process before the cabbage gets there. It usually takes 35-45 minutes.
- Taste to see if the balance between sweet and sour is good
- Can be poured into cleaned jars rinsed with the preservative and ½ dl boiling water. Fill the jars while the cabbage is piping hot. Put tight-fitting lids on immediately. As it cools, you may hear a ‘pop’ from the lid because it creates negative pressure in the glass. This is a good thing for shelf life!Atamon rinse: pour 1 dl boiling water into one of the jars and add 2 tbsp of the preservative. Put the lid on and turn the jar round so that all surfaces are rinsed. Pour into the next glass and repeat.
- Can also be frozen
English (UK) 
Dansk
1 Comment
It looks really delicious! I agree with you that homemade red cabbage often tastes much better than the pre-purchased version. I like that you keep the recipe simple without too many additions. It looks like it's an easy and quick recipe to follow and the result looks really good. Thanks for sharing your recipe and experience of making homemade traditional red cabbage! I will definitely try this recipe next time I make red cabbage.
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