Spiced Red Cabbage
Warm flavors reminiscent of Christmas. As a side or simmered with pears, this spiced red cabbage is the perfect holiday dinner addition.
If you’re not a cabbage girl, trust me I know. Never growing up with cabbage, I avoided it. Funny how we avoid foods simply because we are unsure how to prepare them. But then one day…. we try it.
That’s what happened to me and how this recipe was born. At a dinner party with friends the hostess served us spiced red cabbage that she had simmered on the stove with sliced pears. With and air of yuletide cheer, DELICIOUS, DECADENT, and DELIGHTFUL are the only words I can use to express how aromatic and flavorful this dish was.
Being the girl I am, my first thought was “How can I preserve this to have at the ready when Christmas cravings arrive?”
Searching through my canning books, I found a spiced pickled red cabbage recipe by Ball. Now my intent is not pickling, however switching a couple cups of red wine vinegar to balsamic created the perfect base to add fresh pears whenever the dish is served.
Equipment Needed
- Large Bowls
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Salad Spinner
- Water Bath Canner
- Mason Jars and Lids
- Jar Lifter
- Saucepan
- Funnel
- 4 or 8 cup pyrex measuring bowl.
How To Make Spiced Red Cabbage
First, you will need to wash, core and shred your cabbage. Once shredded, salt your cabbage and let it sit covered for 24 hours. As though you were making sauerkraut.
After 24 hours you will need to rinse the salt off the cabbage. This is where the salad spinner comes in handy. You can rinse by hand but the volume of cabbage will take you a while.
Before rinsing your cabbage, prepare your spice mixture on the stove top. This needs to simmer for at least five minutes so having it going while you are rinsing will make the next step go faster.
Once you feel like your cabbage is sufficiently rinsed you can begin to pack it into your hot jars. Leaving a generous 1/2 inch headspace, ladle your hot spice mixture over your cabbage. Leave 1/2 inch headspace and remove air bubbles and add any additional liquid needed. Wipe the rim of your jars, lid and band to process.
Process jars in waterbacth canner for 20 minutes. Cool and store.
A beautiful addition to any pantry and not the slop Ralphie’s mom dishes out in Christmas Story.
Spiced Red Cabbage
Ingredients
- 12 lbs Red Cabbage
- 1/2 Cup Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Allspice
- 1 Tablespoon Whole Black Peppercorns
- 1 Tablespoon Celery Seed
- 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon or 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 5 Cups Red Wine Vinegar
- 3 Cups Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 Cup
Instructions
- Day 1 – In a large bowl, or bowls layer shredded cabbage and salt. Lightly mix with hands to ensure even coverage of salt. Cover with a clean towel and let sit for 24 hours.
- Day 2 – Rinse and drain cabbage thoroughly with cool water. Use a salad spinner for ease.
- Prepare canner, jars and lids.
- In a saucepan, combine vinegar and brown sugar and add all spices. Bring to a boil over med-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes, until infused.
Drain over mesh strainer into large measuring cup and discard spices. - Pack Cabbage into hot jars leaving generous 1/2 inch headspace. Ladle spice liquid into jars covering cabbage. Leave 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubles and add any additional liquid if necessary.
- Wipe rims, place lids and rings.
- Place jars in canner, making sure they are completely covered with 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and process for 20 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes and then remove, cool and store jars.
