This sweet & simple braised red cabbage side dish is a favorite with our family and guests alike. The first time my husband and I made braised red cabbage our boys shunned it because it was “cabbage” and they didn’t like the look of it. Kids ya know. After we tasted it ourselves, being extremely pleased, we told the kids it tasted like candy. After our oldest taste tester tried it, he agreed and tried to convince his brothers that it truly taste like candy because it was so sweet from the caramelization and of course a bit of brown sugar and butter.
Braised Cabbage Delight
If you have not had braised red cabbage yet and you’re not even a fan of cabbage, this amazingly sweet and delectable dish might change your mind about cabbage. Cooking the cabbage this way slowly caramelizes the cabbage, giving it an even sweeter more succulent taste than just quickly cooking it on a stove top. The butter also helps of course. This combination makes this sweet cabbage dish a winner at any feast.
Sweet & Simple Goodness
This sweet simplicity of this dish will wow your guests and is easy on your kitchen sanity. It’s a great easy hot side dish for a holiday meal. Try it with a rich meat or poultry entree for a perfect balanced holiday feast. If you’re not serving meat it would pair well with a spicy or savory entree. Any potatoes pair well as a secondary dish dish along with this as well.
Give this sweet & simple braised red cabbage a try and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Serves 8
This is an amazing tasting and easy to make hot side dish for a holiday feast or just a special dinner. It's so worth the time. It makes about 3 cups of braised cabbage and may be refrigerated and reheated for about 5 days.
10 minPrep Time
1 hr, 50 Cook Time
2 hrTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1.5 lb red cabbage, finely shredded (1 small head or 1/2 a large head)
- 1 large tart apple, cored and quartered (I normally use a pink lady which is slightly tart, yet juicy)
- 1/2 cup unsalted sweet cream butter
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 large whole cinnamon sticks
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make sure you have oven racks placed with enough room to fit your pot or oven dish
Heat dutch oven or oven safe casserole dish on medium low.
Once warm add butter, brown sugar and vinegar; stir till sugar is dissolved.
Then add apples, cinnamon sticks and remaining spices; cloves, salt and pepper.
Add shredded cabbage to the pot and stir to combine.
Grab a large sheet of parchment paper, enough to crumble a bit and cover your pot. fully wet it and crumble it, place it covering the cabbage as shown in the collage above.
Place pot with cabbage into the oven for 1 hr 30 minutes, stirring every 30 minutes. Also, dampen the parchment paper each time you stir and replace atop the cabbage.
Remove paper and braise another 15 minutes for extra caramelization.
(If you're out of time, the initial 1.5 hrs is just fine and just as delicious)
Serve immediately or keep warm till ready to serve.
Notes
This recipe makes about 3 cups. My nutrition calculator is not working properly on this recipe so the calories are actually divided by 6 for 6 servings. Enjoy!
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info
Please let us know what you think!