This braised German Red Cabbage recipe (Rotkohl) is as traditional as it gets and never absent at German festivals or restaurants. It's sweet and sour flavor comes from brown sugar, vinegar and apple. Whole cloves add to its unique flavor and aroma.
For a complete meal make German Red Cabbage with Rouladen and Spaetzle. It's also great served with bratwurst and boiled yellow potatoes or our traditional potato salad .
I always have to give a shout out to my wonderful parents for a great introduction to international foods as a teenager. My dad lived in Germany as a young adult and knowing his love for German food, our long time German friends used to bring delicious homemade food by the house. Soon enough, my mom mastered several basic German dishes and it's with her help, that I get to present them to you on TBFS.
What we love about German Red Cabbage with apples is that it's easy, cheap, healthy and only gets better every time you warm it up! It's great for a quick lunch to heat up at work along with the starch and meat you have selected.
It's satisfying to know as you munch that cabbage is extra healthy, full of fiber and antioxidants and also high in vitamin K.
Ingredients for German Red Cabbage:
- Red cabbage (also called purple cabbage). You need one whole head of cabbage, thinly sliced.
- Apple: any kind will do, but Granny Smith, McIntosh or other tart apple are especially delicious.
- Apple cider vinegar: or white vinegar will substitute. The vinegar and apple help the cabbage to retain its vibrant color.
- Brown sugar: or granulated white sugar will work too.
- Whole cloves.
How to make German Red Cabbage:
- Shred the cabbage.
- Put half the cabbage into a pot. (Medium sized and heavy: Dutch oven works great!)
- Grate half an apple on top of the cabbage.
- Spick the other half apple with cloves and add to pot.
- Add remaining cabbage to pot.
- In a small bowl, combine vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pepper and pour over cabbage. Add 2 Tablespoons butter and cover the pot with a lid.
- Bring to boil, then simmer for 1 ½ hours.
- Remove clove-spicked apple and discard.
- Stir and serve!
Make Ahead Instructions:
To Make Ahead: You can make this easy German Red Cabbage recipe up to a week ahead of time, stored in the refrigerator. It keeps and warms up really well.
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Recipe
German Red Cabbage
Ingredients
- 1/2 large head red cabbage , about 5-6 cups
- 1 apple , cut in half
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 Tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4-5 whole cloves or ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 Tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Cut the cabbage, shredding into thin, 1/8"-1/4” thick slices. Put half the shredded cabbage into a medium sized heavy pot.
- Grate one-half of the apple on top of the cabbage in the pot. Poke the whole cloves into the other half of the apple and add to the pot.
- Add the remaining shredded cabbage on top. In a small bowl add vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Pour over cabbage.
- Add 2 Tablespoons butter and cover the pot with a lid. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cook 1 ½ – 2 hours.
- Remove apple with cloves and discard. Stir mixture and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe February 2021. Updated July 2023.
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This recipe is fabulous and a perfect accompaniment to schnitzel, bratwurst and cheese buttons! My 86 yo dad requested a German meal for his 86th birthday and when I gave him a pre-dinner taste his eyes welled up with tears! He’d lived in Germany 2 years while in the army! Our entire family loved it and I will be making it many more times. Thank you Lauren for this amazing recipe!
I made this at my club house restaurant. On Greman night.
The only difference I find add greatly
Is saute in goose 🪿 fat. And towards the end I add current jelly. Ya. Das
Gut!
Thanks for the tip Robert!
This recipe is easy and tastes amazing with cloves added. I made it with the roast we had and it went really well together. Didn’t need to add anything extra. It’s perfect as it is.
Excellent recipe easy to follow and turned out great. More recently in years past I’ve been doctoring jars of red cabbage from the store. This was totally easy and so much better.
We really enjoyed it. I thought there wouldn’t be enough liquid, but I only had to add another quarter cup towards the end of the cook time. Have to keep this on a really low light! I added a little more salt and butter about halfway through, but the flavor intensifies so much as it cooks, I’m really not sure that was necessary. It was slightly on the salty side at the end. My only problem was that it didn’t come out the beautiful color yours did.
I’ll make this for Thanksgiving. Can I do it in a crock pot?
Delicious. I may as well be in Regensburg, Germany enjoying red cabbage and sausage.
I notice in the instructions that if I do 1x, 2x, or 3x the number of cups still remains the same, 5-6 cups. Am I missing something?
I’m sorry, that feature only works for the ingredient list. There’s not a way for us to automatically change the text at this time. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Delicious recipe. Highly recommend it.
Tastes really good… with some modifications. I added slightly more salt and butter. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, the recipe does not have enough liquid to do a long simmer. You will need to add more water at some point, and should check and/or stir a few times. I burned the bottom of mine, but the non-burnt part was delicious!
My German bonus dad loved it!
He doesn’t like cloves though so I omitted that and grated the whole apple.