Christmas Red Cabbage

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A super easy Christmas Red Cabbage recipe – sweet braised red cabbage with apples. A foolproof Christmas side dish that’s perfect every time.

When you’re cooking a Christmas Dinner, it can often be a little stressful!

And that’s why we’ve put together a really delicious range of Christmas Side Dishes that are super easy to prepare and cook. 

Our Christmas red cabbage recipe is so simple to make. Braised with apples and sprinkled with nutmeg, it just tastes so good, great alongside a homemade Christmas Dinner.

And don’t worry, if you’re cooking for more than four people I’ve scaled up the ingredient quantities at the bottom to help out with making this easy vegetable side dish.

Christmas Red Cabbage Ingredients

Our easy spiced red cabbage recipe just needs a handful of ingredients – you’ll love how easy this Christmas recipe is!

• 30g butter

• 1/2 red onion – sliced

• 1/2 small red cabbage – washed, chopped and shredded

• 2 apples – peeled, quartered, core removed & thinly sliced

• 2 tsp Brown Sugar – add more or less sugar to your own taste.

• 50ml Boiling Water

• Pinch Grated Nutmeg – I buy a jar of whole nutmeg and grate off what I need.

• Salt and Black Pepper

Equipment Needed

Everything you’ll need to make our easy red cabbage recipe

• Weighing scales (or just estimate butter quantity)

• Large skillet or saucepan with a lid

• Chopping board

• Sharp vegetable knife

• Teaspoon

• Grater

• Measuring jug

• Kettle

How To Cook Christmas Red Cabbage

You’ll really like how easy our spiced red cabbage for Christmas Dinner is to make!

Step 1 – heat up the skillet pan on the hob

• Put the skillet pan over a low heat on the hob and melt the butter.

Step 2 – soften the onion

• Gently fry the onion in butter over a low heat for 5 minutes.

Step 3 – cook the Christmas red cabbage

• Once the onion has softened, tip in the shredded red cabbage and sliced apples.

• Sprinkle over the brown sugar and season with salt and cracked black pepper.

• Pour over the boiling water and then cook with the lid on for around 20-25 minutes over a low heat. Stirring every so often. If needed you can add a little more water.

• Once the red cabbage and apples are tender, cook the red cabbage with with lid off for around 5 minutes, just to cook off any excess liquid.

Step 5 – serve the red cabbage Christmas recipe

• Tip the red cabbage and apple into a serving bowl and then grate over some nutmeg.

Christmas Red Cabbage Recipe Variations

Okay so we’ve given you a totally yummy way to serve your easy red cabbage recipe, but you can make this tasty cabbage side dish recipe in your own way, try…

• Adding some more spice. Try cinnamon, a touch of ground cloves and some more nutmeg.

• Switch the brown sugar for honey or maple syrup.

Christmas Cabbage Recipe Tips!

• Prepare ahead of time – If you’re wondering if you can prepare this dish ahead of time then yes totally! You can either prepare the veggies and apple ahead of time, by shredding and storing in air tight containers in the fridge for up to 48 hours before cooking. Just remember to toss the apple in lemon juice before storing to stop it browning.

• How to reheat the red cabbage Christmas dish – you can prepare the whole dish ahead of time, then cool and store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 48 hours. To reheat the cabbage just tip it back into a pan and warm through slowly on the hob for around 15 minutes until piping hot (minimum of 75C) throughout. Only reheat food once!

• How long does Christmas red cabbage last? – if cooled quickly and stored in an air tight container in the fridge the red cabbage should keep for 2 days.

• Love your leftovers – leftover cabbage is totally delicious served up as bubble and squeak with a poached or fried egg on top.

Christmas Side Dishes

Get even more tasty Christmas vegetables and Christmas Dinner side dishes here. 

• Christmas Sprouts

• Christmas Carrots

• Honey Roast Parsnips 

• Garlic and Herb Mashed Potatoes

• Mustard Mash

• Christmas Parsnips

Christmas Red Cabbage – Ingredients Quantities When Feeding A Crowd

If you’ve got guests for Christmas Dinner then here’s our easy scaled up Red Cabbage Christmas Dinner Recipe ingredients to feed 6, 8 and 12

Christmas Red Cabbage – To Feed 6

• 50g butter

• 1 small red onion – sliced 

• 1 small red cabbage – washed, chopped and shredded

• 3 apples – peeled, quartered, core removed & thinly sliced

• 3 tsp Brown Sugar – add more or less sugar to your own taste.

• 80ml Boiling Water

• Pinch Grated Nutmeg

• Salt and Cracked Black Pepper

Christmas Red Cabbage – To Feed 8

• 80g butter

• 1 red onion – sliced 

• 1 red cabbage – washed, chopped and shredded

• 4 apples – peeled, quartered, core removed & thinly sliced

• 4 tsp Brown Sugar – add more or less sugar to your own taste.

• 100ml Boiling Water

• Pinch Grated Nutmeg

• Salt and Cracked Black Pepper

Christmas Red Cabbage – To Feed 12

• 100g butter

• 2 small red onions – sliced 

• 1 large red cabbage (or 2 small red cabbages)– washed, chopped and shredded

• 6 apples – peeled, quartered, core removed & thinly sliced

• 6 tsp Brown Sugar – add more or less sugar to your own taste.

• 150ml Boiling Water

• Pinch Grated Nutmeg

• Salt and Cracked Black Pepper

Cooks Note! – The cooking time should be around the same 25-30 minutes, although just note that for the 8 and 12 people recipe you’ll need a really big pan!

Have you checked out our delicious Leftover Turkey Recipes?

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Check out our meal planning here – it’s filled with recipes, meal planning tips and pre-filled printable meal plans weekly or seasonally. We’ve got hundreds of the BEST meal ideas your whole family will LOVE!

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Yield: Serves 4

Christmas Red Cabbage

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Delicious easy Christmas red cabbage recipe - super simple Christmas side dish

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 30g butter
• 1/2 red onion - sliced
• 1/2 small red cabbage - washed, chopped and shredded
• 2 apples - peeled, quartered and sliced thinly
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 50ml boiling water
• Pinch grated nutmeg
• Pinch salt
• Pinch black pepper

Instructions

1. Put the skillet pan over a low heat on the hob and melt the butter.
2. Gently fry the onion in butter over a low heat for 5 minutes.
3. Once the onion has softened, tip in the shredded red cabbage and sliced apples.
4. Sprinkle over the brown sugar and season with salt and cracked black pepper.
5. Pour over the boiling water and then cook with the lid on for around 20-25 minutes over a low heat. Stirring every so often. If needed you can add a little more water.
6. Once the red cabbage and apples are tender, cook the red cabbage with with lid off for around 5 minutes, just to cook off any excess liquid.
7. Tip the red cabbage and apple into a serving bowl and then grate over some nutmeg.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 133Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 103mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 4gSugar: 14gProtein: 1g

Nutritional content will vary depending on the exact ingredients you use and how careful you are with measuring - this nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate - you should always calculate your own nutritional information especially if you have specific dietary requirements.

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And if you’re wondering what to do with too much red cabbage… Then try out this lush homemade coleslaw recipe – it’s great alongside Christmas ham.

Get more delicious meal ideas and easy recipes here