Slow Cooker Red Cabbage

A casserole dish filled with cooked red cabbage, garnished with a bay leaf.

5 from 2 votes

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!

Prep Time10

Cook Time5

Total Time5 10

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: British, english, german

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: Servings

Calories: 192kcal

Author: Lauren Woodger

Equipment

Ingredients

1 Medium Red Cabbage Sliced
2 medium Granny smith apples Peeled and chopped into small chunks
60 g (2 oz) butter use dairy free spread if needed
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, butter, 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

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.

Nutrition