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Curtido is a Salvadoran cabbage slaw or relish made with finely shredded cabbage, red onion, carrot, oregano, and vinegar. This is a must-try, authentic Salvadorian recipe.
In Central America, curtido is often served with pupusas (corn cakes) and salsa roja. You could also serve curtido with cheese enchiladas, fish tacos, tamales, or any other food you might serve with coleslaw!
Curtido
Are you familiar with sauerkraut (a German staple) or kimchi (a Korean topping made with fermented cabbage)? I like to think of this Curtido recipe as the South American version of those popular recipes.
What is curtido?
Curtido is a Salvadoran cabbage slaw or relish that is made with cabbage, red onion, carrot, oregano, and vinegar (you can make spicy curtido by adding jalapeno). It's supposed to be a lightly fermented dish, meaning the longer you allow it to sit the more the flavors will compound and the more exciting it will taste. That being said, it tastes great as fresh slaw the day you make it as well.
You will commonly find Curtido served with a popular Salvadoran dish called, pupusas.
Ingredients in curtido:
- cabbage
- red onion
- carrot
- jalapeno
- oregano
- salt
- vinegar
How to make Curtido:
- Rinse cabbage. Place cabbage in a fine mesh strainer. Very slowly pour boiling water over the cabbage. Rinse with cold water. Drain well, pressing out as much water as possible.
- Combine remaining ingredients. Add cabbage to a large bowl. Add carrot, onion, jalapeno, oregano, and vinegar and toss well to combine.
- Marinate. Curtido tastes best after it has marinated for several hours or days, but you can enjoy it fresh if you’d like. Store curtido in a covered container or mason jar for up to 1 week in the fridge.
What to eat with curtido:
Curtido can be eaten with anything that you might put cabbage on including pupusas, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, bratwurst, soups, sandwiches, and more! Consider things you might eat with sauerkraut or coleslaw and chances are, curtido would be a delicious substitution.
Can curtido be made ahead of time?
Yes, in fact it's meant to be made serval days ahead of time and eaten slightly fermented. You can make curtido 1 week ahead of time. It should be stored in the refrigerator after 5 days (or from the day you make it if you prefer).
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Recipe
Curtido
Ingredients
- 1/2 head cabbage , finely shredded
- 1/2 red onion , very thinly sliced
- 2 carrots , finely shredded
- 1 fresh jalapeño pepper , sliced (optional)
- hot boiling water
- 1/2 teaspoon Dried oregano
- salt , to taste
- 1/2 cup white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
Instructions
- Bring 4 cups of water to a boil.
- Place cabbage in a fine mesh strainer. Very slowly pour boiling water over the cabbage. Rinse with cold water. Drain well, pressing out as much water as possible.
- Add cabbage to large bowl. Add carrot, onion, jalapeno, oregano, and vinegar and toss well to combine. I like to put it all in a bowl with a lid and shake it.
- Curtido tastes best after it has marinated for several hours or days, but you can enjoy it fresh if you’d like.
- Store curtido in a covered container or mason jar for up to 1 week in the fridge.
Nutrition
HAVE YOU TRIED THIS RECIPE?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
“Curtido is … supposed to be a lightly fermented dish”.
Lauren, the previous commenters are correct. THIS version of Curdito is NOT fermented due to the addition of vinegar which skips the lacto-fermentation that requires a few days. This distinction is an important one to explain so as not to confuse people.
This version is closer to a quick pickle. I prefer a crunchy Curtido and use 1/2 tsp of salt to sweat the shredded cabbage first. Drain the water after a couple of hours and proceed to add the rest of the ingredients. Crunchy Curtido is a much better texture contrast with pupusas and gives the cabbage flavor.
Kimchi and sauerkraut are fermented, not made with vinegar. No comparison.
Don’t see the point of this comment. Curtido is not kimchi or sauerkraut. It evolved in an entirely different country with it’s own intrinsic value.
I personally found my end result curtido to be remarkably bland. Needed more vinegar, and had to add water to get it to more evenly coat the amount of ingredients.
Is the boiling water poured over the shredded cabbage?
Yes, in step 2 of the recipe.
Why the heck would you rinse cabbage before fermenting it? That makes no sense.
Hey! Great question! The boiling water softens the cabbage slightly and reduces bitterness before marinating. The real flavor comes from the vinegar and spices as it sits. Hope that helps!
-Stacy
Because this is not a ferment. You need to stop the cooking of the boiling water.
I love curtido, especially on pupusas. Do you by chance know if I could can a big batch of this stuff? I make a lot of pupusas and freeze them for easy meals, but would like to can the curtido and salsa to make things even easier.
You should be able to can it. If using the water bath method, you may need to add more acid. Shoot for a pH of 3.5 or lower for home canning.
I love these dishes. Trying to eat healthy and become a better cook at the same time.
This is more of a vinegar based coleslaw. Salvadorean curtido doesn’t have onion it and usually not jalapeños (most Salvadorean food isn’t spicy). There needs to be water as well so the vinegar isn’t to strong
The claim that curtido does not have onions is not universally true; it depends on the regional or family recipe. While some traditional Salvadoran versions of curtido may omit onions, many recipes include them. A small amount of minced jalapeños or serrano peppers can add a subtle kick that goes well with curtido to bring it to another level.