Prepare to be wowed with this simple Slow Cooker Red Cabbage recipe. This vibrant side dish combines apples, red onions and orange zest and is perfect served with a Christmas dinner or as a tasty side dish!
This slow cooker red cabbage has to be one of the easiest side dishes ever! After a little bit of chopping and slicing, simply dump all the ingredients in the slow cooker, set it to low and forget about it for 5 hours!
Well, you probably won’t be able to forget about it as you will be able to smell the delicious aromas of cinnamon and orange zest coming from the slow cooker!
It’s a bit sweet, a bit tangy, and all-around delicious. This red cabbage is the definition of comfort food, making it the perfect side dish alongside this carrot and swede mash for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
If you love red cabbage but fancy a lighter dish, this kebab shop red cabbage is delicious served alongside these air fryer chicken skewers.
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❤️ Why You Will Love This Recipe
- It's so easy to make: Just dump all the ingredients in the slow cooker and return 5 hours later to a finished dish!
- Allergy friendly: This easy slow cooker recipe is dairy-free, egg-free and gluten-free. In fact, it's free from the top 14 allergens in the UK!
- Can be made ahead of time: You can make the cabbage in advance and pop it in the freezer until you are ready to eat it.
- Full of festive flavours: With tangy orange zest and warm cinnamon, this side dish screams Christmas!
- It works well with a variety of dishes - Roast dinners, bangers and mash, toad in the hole, and lamb shank to name but a few!
🥘 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Red Cabbage: This can be shredded finely or sliced into wider strips if you prefer. Although this dish is traditionally made with red cabbage, you could use green or savoy cabbage.
- Red Onion: The red onion is thinly sliced and provides a slightly sweeter taste than white onion, although you can use white onion if you prefer.
- Dark Brown Sugar: The sugar helps to sweeten the cabbage. If you do not have any dark brown sugar, you can substitute it for light brown sugar or caster sugar, but for flavour, dark brown sugar is the best option.
- Apple: It's best to use a tart tasting apple like a Granny Smith or a Bramley cooking apple to balance out the sweetness of the sugar. Peel and chop the apple into small squares. It will almost disintegrate once the cabbage has finished cooking.
- Red Wine Vinegar: Using vinegar helps the cabbage to keep its rich purple colour so it doesn’t turn blue/grey. You can also use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar with the same effect.
- Ground Cinnamon: This can be substituted with mixed spice.
- Orange Zest: The orange zest adds a tangy zing to the cabbage. The orange flavour can be quite strong so go easy if you don't want the flavour to be overpowering.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
✋ Be sure to double check all packaging for allergens. ✋
⚡ Variations
- Bacon: Fry off some bacon in a frying pan until crispy and stir the bacon through the cabbage before serving for a meaty side dish.
- Caramelized Onions: Sauté thinly sliced onions until they turn golden brown and sweet. Mix them into the cabbage for an added layer of flavour.
- Fruity Twist: Swap apples for pears or dried cranberries. Pears bring a distinct sweetness, while cranberries offer a tart contrast.
- Cider Sensation: Replace orange zest with apple cider or apple juice to enhance the sweetness.
🤔 How To Shred / Slice a Cabbage
Step 1: To start, grab your red cabbage and get rid of any outer leaves that appear wilted or damaged. Then, cut off the bottom stem to create a flat base.
Step 2: Next up, slice the cabbage in half lengthwise. Inside, you'll spot the core, which is the tough part we won't be using.
Now, take one cabbage half and gently carve a V-shape around the core, making sure you don't cut too deep into the edible part of the cabbage. Use your hands to pull out and discard the core. Repeat this step with the other half of the cabbage.
Step 3: With the core removed from your cabbage, it's time to slice it into thin strips. Place one cabbage half flat-side down and carefully slice vertically from top to bottom, aiming for the thinnest slices possible.
Step 4: Lastly, repeat this slicing process with the other cabbage half, and you are done!
✏️ How To Make Slow Cooker Red Cabbage
⬇️ Here you will find an overview of how to make the recipe. For full information on ingredients and quantities please see the recipe card at the bottom of the page ⬇️
This is such an easy recipe to make! You simply chop everything up, dump it in the slow cooker and that’s it!
Step 1: Start by preparing the cabbage and slicing it into thin strips. (See the section above for more info on how to do this)
Step 2: Next, thinly slice the red onion, grate the orange zest using a citrus zester or the side with the smallest holes on a box grater and peel the apple before chopping it into bite-sized chunks.
Step 3: Put all of the above ingredients into the slow cooker, along with the dark brown sugar, red wine vinegar, cinnamon and salt & pepper. The vinegar helps the cabbage keep its vibrant bright purple colour.
Step 4: Give the mixture a really good stir until everything is fully combined. You want the sugar and vinegar evenly distributed through the cabbage mixture.
Step 5: Cook the red cabbage on low for 5 hours. Stir again before serving. If you are running short on time you can cook it on high for 3 hours, but this dish is best cooked low and slow, so if you have time, cook it on the low setting.
💡 Top Tips
- Remove the core & any tough bits from the cabbage and discard these. They have a bitter taste and can be quite unpleasant to eat.
- Don't open the slow cooker whilst the cabbage is cooking! Ok, I will let you do it once to give it a good stir, but then leave it alone! Each time that lid comes up, it disrupts the cooking process by letting out heat and will ultimately extend the cooking time, which we don't want.
- Adjust the amount of orange zest used as per your taste preferences. If you want a stronger orange taste, use the zest of the whole orange, but for a subtle orange kick, stick to using the zest of half the orange.
- Cook on low if you can.I really do recommend using the low setting as it will result in much softer cabbage and also the flavours have more time to fuse together, however, if you are short on time cook on high for 3 hours.
- Make ahead a huge batch of cabbage and freeze it for when you need it. You can store it in the freezer for up to 3 months!
- Using the slow cooker gives you extra oven or stovetop/hob space when you're whipping up a roast dinner or preparing a festive Christmas or Thanksgiving feast.
🍴 Serving Suggestions
There are so many ways you can serve this slow cooker spiced red cabbage. You can go down the traditional route alongside a roast turkey, slow cooker roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts with bacon & carrot & swede mash or roasted swede.
It is also delicious with other meats like this slow-cooked rolled lamb breast, duck or Greek style roast chicken.
One of my favourite ways to serve it is with some sausages and mashed potato. That is pure comfort food!
💬 Recipe FAQs
Cool the cabbage and transfer it into an airtight container where it will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Yes, you can. This is an ideal dish to prepare in advance because it freezes really well. Portion into freezer-safe containers and you can freeze it for up to 3 months. When ready to use, remove from the freezer and defrost in the fridge overnight.
The easiest way to reheat the cabbage is in the microwave for a few minutes until piping hot throughout, stirring halfway through.
You can also put it in an oven proof dish and reheat it in the oven at 180˚C / 355˚F for 15 minutes or so until warmed through.
More Delicious Side Dishes..
If you love this recipe, check out these other tasty side dishes!
If you loved this recipe, please leave me a 5🌟 rating or comment below. I really do appreciate it. 😊
📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Red Cabbage
Ingredients
- 1 Medium Red Cabbage Sliced
- 2 medium Granny smith apples Peeled and chopped into small chunks
- 2 Medium Red onions Finely sliced
- 3 tablespoon Dark brown sugar
- 3 tablespoon Red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ orange zest of
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Slice the cabbage into thin strips. (See the main post above for more info on how to do this)
- Thinly slice the red onion, grate the orange zest, and peel the apple before chopping it into bite-sized chunks.
- Put the above ingredients into the slow cooker, along with the dark brown sugar, red wine vinegar, cinnamon and salt & pepper.
- Give the mixture a really good stir until everything is fully combined.
- Cook on low for 5 hours. Stir again before serving.
Notes
- Remove the core & any tough bits from the cabbage and discard these. They have a bitter taste and can be quite unpleasant to eat.
- Don't open the slow cooker whilst the cabbage is cooking! Ok, I will let you do it once to give it a good stir, but then leave it alone! Each time that lid comes up, it disrupts the cooking process by letting out heat and will ultimately extend the cooking time, which we don't want.
- Adjust the amount of orange zest used as per your taste preferences. If you want a stronger orange taste, use the zest of the whole orange, but for a subtle orange kick, stick to using the zest of half the orange.
- Cook on low if you can. I really do recommend using the low setting as it will result in much softer cabbage and also the flavours have more time to fuse together, however, if you are short on time cook on high for 3 hours.
- Make ahead a huge batch of cabbage and freeze it for when you need it. You can store it in the freezer for up to 3 months!
- Using the slow cooker gives you extra oven or stovetop/hob space when you're whipping up a roast dinner or preparing a festive Christmas or Thanksgiving feast.
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