German Style Red Cabbage with Apples

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Red cabbage braised with apples and spices. This side dish is a little bit sweet, a little bit sour, and is perfect served with any kind of pork.

If you are looking for a tasty way to enjoy red cabbage, you are in the right place. This recipe is sweet and sour, making it the perfect foil for a rich entrée like a roast or a schnitzel.

We have been getting a lot of delicious cabbage in our weekly produce boxes. Giant heads of green cabbage and smaller but oh so vibrant heads of red cabbage alike have been nestled in our treasure troves of veggies. 

Now cabbage is a vegetable I’m not usually creative with. I buy a few heads a year to make sauteed cabbage and potatoes, a family favorite that we started enjoying when I was a child.

We also have cabbage in our corned beef feast around St. Patrick’s day, or as part of Instant Pot cabbage, potatoes, and kielbasa.

I do enjoy a good creamy cole slaw or egg roll bowl occasionally too, but I normally cheat a bit and buy a bag of preshredded mix for that.

Add to that the fact that my husband really isn’t a cabbage fan and I’ve had my work cut out for me to stay ahead of the cabbage supply!

Luckily he was at least mildly impressed with the cheesy cabbage casserole and I loved it! So that helped use the green cabbage. 

While I’m sure it would taste good with red, can you imagine how it would look?! Eek!

So I thought a German style braised cabbage would be a good option. So I went to pinterest to find a recipe.

 I ended up finding quite a few and pulling bits from each. I went light on the nutmeg and cloves because I wasn’t quite sure how I’d like it. Next time I think I would be braver and add a bit more.

A bit of vinegar is necessary to give it that tang and a bit of sweet is needed to balance it. Instead of using sugar, I grated in some apple.

You can always give it a taste and adjust the sweet and sour balance as you go. Then on a whim I tossed in some raisins as well.

I am so glad I did. They did offer some additional sweetness and a bit of texture as well.

I didn’t see them in any of the recipes I was perusing, so it’s not traditional. But we really like it that way, so I would recommend it anyway.

We served this up with some bacon wrapped pork loin and some German style potato salad I’ll be sharing soon. It would also be great with wiener schnitzel, jaegerschitzel or sausages!

Tips and Tricks

You want to cut the cabbage pretty thin. You can do this with a large sharp knife, or a mandolin.

Pretty much any kind of apple works for this recipe. So use whatever you have on hand.

You can use apple juice, apple cider, or even wine in place of the water in the recipe. That will add even more flavor.

You can make this a day in advance and just warm it up when you are ready to serve. That give the flavors even more of a chance to marry together.

Love this recipe? Give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review in the recipe card below!

German Style Red Cabbage with Apples

Carlee

Red cabbage braised with apples and spices. This side is a little sweet, a little sour and is perfect served with any kind of pork.

4.62 from 21 ratings

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course Side Dishes

Cuisine American

Servings 12 Servings

Calories 85 kcal

Equipment

• Cutting Boards
• Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven, 7.25 qt., Deep Teal

Ingredients

  

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• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 medium red onion
• 1 medium or 2 small heads red cabbage
• 3 apples
• 3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch cloves
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ⅓ cup raisins
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice

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Instructions

 

• Dice onion relatively small.
• Melt the butter in a large pot with a lid. A enameled Dutch oven works well for this.
• Sauté the onion in the butter over medium heat for a couple of minutes until they are translucent.
• Quarter the cabbage and shred into small strips. Add to the pot with the onion. Sauté, stirring occasionally for about 5 more minutes.
• Grate in the apples and add the vinegar, water, salt, nutmeg, coves, pepper and raisins. Cover and cook over low heat for about an hour.
• Remove lid and continue to cook until the cabbage is soft and the liquid is reduced.
• Stir in the lemon juice and adjust the seasonings to your liking.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 85kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 2gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 236mgFiber: 4gSugar: 11g

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Thanks for sharing!