Not long after we arrived in Poland, Ed’s supervisor visited from Florida. I was seated next to him at dinner one night, and the meal we’d both ordered included a side of Czerwona Kapusta (Polish Red Cabbage).
After tasting his, John leaned over and said, “mine is better.” To which I replied, Well then, I’d like to have your recipe.
You might not picture red cabbage as a well-known dish in Florida and you’d be correct, but John’s wife grew up not far from where we were dining. They have a home there and spend a lot of time in Central Europe, so he had some credibility.
Like so many home cooks, John wasn’t someone who used a recipe, but it did his best to put it in writing, and I’ve loved the results.
The blackberry preserves refresh the color of the cooked cabbage. The sweet and sour taste is balanced by the savory warmth of the onion – very tasty, and John tells me it freezes well.
It’s so popular that my mother has made it a regular feature on her Christmas Eve menu. I hope you’ll enjoy it too.
Smacznego!
Lois
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Red Cabbage
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 20 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 mins
- Yield: 8 - 10 servings 1x
- Category: Vegetable
- Cuisine: Polish
Description
A colorful, sweet and sour dish
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 tart apples, peeled, cored & diced
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 head red cabbage
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1–1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup seedless blackberry preserves
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven, saute onion and apples in butter until soft
- Cut cabbage into quarters, remove core and outer leaves, thinly slice remaining leaves to produce a finely shredded cabbage
- Add cabbage, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper to pan, cook approximately one hour, until cabbage is soft, stirring occasionally
- Stir in blackberry preserves, combine over heat until the preserves are melted
Notes
This makes a big batch, but it freezes well
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Vicki
Can you believe I’ve never tasted cooked red cabbage? My neighbor makes it every single Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’m going to have to try this recipe.
tralf
This sounds so much better than the red cabbage recipe I’ve used before. I usually cook it only at Christmas, but I don’t think I’ll wait that long to give it a try.
ButterYum
Wow, look at that color!!! I love cabbage – thanks for sharing the recipe.
🙂
ButterYum
Suzie-Q
More german recipes, please!!
Molly
I like the addition of the blackberry preserves….nice job on breaking 500!!!
livinglearningeating
Rotkohl is one of my absolute faves! I just love Germany 🙂 Also, thanks for posting the vegetarian version, it’s appreciated! I’ll have to get un-lazy enough to make this one of these days…
Laurel
It sounds good. I’ve never had this but does it really have to cook for an hour? What is the texture like? Can you use apple cider vinegar?
polishhousewife
The texture is pretty soft; it’s definitely a cooked cabbage as opposed to a salad. If you want it crunchier, you could cook it for less time. I think apple cider vinegar would be great!
Rebecca Oliver
Loved your cabbage rolls! So much better baked in the oven than in a pot of the stove. Gonna try your red cabbage soon – ate it all over Germany! Thanks for the divine meal you fixed for my sister, husband, & myself! You all were so gracious & such fun.
polishhousewife
It was our pleasure, Becky! I’m so glad we were able to get together and catch up ❤️
Sharon M Willis
Do you serve hot or cold
polishhousewife
I would say room temp to hot.
Mary ann
Hi I had this at a restaurant in Queens NY . They served it at room temp but also had a side of shredded carrots . Can you use this same recipe with carrots minus the preserves? Can’t wait to make it ! Thank you
polishhousewife
Hi Mary ann, I think you could use carrots, but if you omit the preserves, you would want to add a little sugar, or maybe marmalade or other jam. It’s there to offset the vinegar and provide a sweet and sour flavor.
Mary ann
Thanks for getting back tome so quickly!
Maggie Myler
How would you reheat this after freezing? I want to make it ahead for next weekend but I want to make sure I reheat properly! It looks great. Thanks!
polishhousewife
No special care is necessary, just time. Let it come to room temp and reheat or put it over very low heat (I’d probably add a few spoons of water), and keep stirring and turning.
Rebecca
I was excited to see this recipe as I have made Danish red cabbage and Swedish red cabbage but have not seen a recipe for Polish red cabbage before. That said, I was surprised to compare my Danish red cabbage recipe to this one, and discover it was almost completely identical, but with red currant jelly instead of blackberry preserves!! As I prefer blackberry to red currant I expect I will like this one better. Amazing how similar though. 🙂
polishhousewife
Recipes know no borders! 🙂
Rebecca
Update: I made this recipe for Thanksgiving 2019 instead of the usual homemade cranberry sauce and it was a hit! It had the same bright color and sweet & sour taste that goes great with staples like mashed potatoes and creamed onions but could double as a true side dish instead of just a condiment. The leftovers are also fantastic! The only thing I changed was going down to just 1 Tablespoon of blackberry preserves as my husband is very sensitive to sugar. I had planned to add up to the 1/3 cup if it needed it, but it truly didn’t–1 Tbs. was perfect and made it more savory than sweet. This is a recipe I will make again and again. Thank you!
Gina
Just how much the cabbage should weight, approximately?
polishhousewife
Two pounds, give or take.
Dagmar Schrader
You can buy a jar of already cooked red cabbage in the canned vegetables section. It has a slight vinegar taste. I use apple sauce an canned plums and add a pinch if allspice. So good!
Carol Cavell Riley
hello there … really enjoying your recipes! Wondering if this dish can be made with green cabbage? I know it wouldn’t be as pretty 🙂 – but just curious. Thanks!
polishhousewife
Hi Carol, thanks for your kind words. You could do this with green cabbage. Because of the color, I think I might use marmalade or apricot jam rather than blackberry preserves.
David Stahl
I’m making this with just a1/4 of a head of a GIANT red cabbage head bought in Bath Ohio (near LeBron James’ house). My wife is Polish and I’ve often eaten it but never made it. It’s cooking now and looking good. I didn’t have blackberry preserves – only apricot preserves. So I put in some Port. I’ll eat it tomorrow or the next day with roast duck or lamb or beef…. Looking forward to it,