Pickled Red Cabbage to give a tangy crunch to your favorite dishes.
Quick Pickled Red Cabbage is a vibrant, tangy, 5-minute fridge pickle perfect for tacos, sandwiches, salads, bowls, and meal prep. It’s sweet, tangy, crunchy, and very delicious! This budget-friendly recipe takes no longer than 5 minutes to put together, and it’s totally customizable.
I’m a huge fan of pickled and fermented vegetables. I have fermented dill pickles, and pickled onions, green tomatoes, radishes, and mixed veggies with tamari. And my new obsession?
Quick Pickled Red Cabbage!
I have made 5 batches of these in the last month, and I still can’t get bored of it.
What’s so great about Pickled Red Cabbage that you can flavor it with so many different things, and the result will be each time something magical! The base of this recipe is shredded cabbage that you marinate for a few hours in a mix of apple cider vinegar, water, maple syrup, salt, pepper and whatever flavoring you like.
You can add for example sliced spicy chilis, garlic, ginger, or jalapeños to the cabbage. Or try some black pepper corns, cloves, anise, bay leaves, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, or cumin. You can even add things like hot sauce or soy sauce to the marinade for extra flavor.
Once you mixed everything together, all you do is wait a few hours until the flavors combine, then voila, you have Pickled Red Cabbage!
And what to do with Pickled Red Cabbage? Just eat it straight out of the jar. Seriously. It’s a great snack.
But you can also put it on your breakfast toast, it’s especially great with hummus. Or scatter some over cheesy fries. Or put it in sushi or onigirazu. I also love it in potato salad, mixed salads and vegan grain bowls, and it makes a great topping for tacos, wraps, burgers, and hot dogs as well. Or tossed with roasted veggies.
Pickled Red Cabbage is also pretty and delicious in summer rolls, or on top of savory pancakes or flatbreads. For example with cashew cream cheese and grilled asparagus.
Love this? You might also enjoy these recipes
- Pickled Rainbow Cauliflower
- Quick Pickled Onions
- Homemade Fermented Dill Pickles
- Quinoa Potato Cakes with Pickled Radish
- Quick Pickled Green Tomatoes
If you try this recipe, let me know! I would highly appreciate if you could leave a comment and rate it. Also don’t forget to take a picture and tag it on Instagram (use the hashtag #greenevi) or post it on Facebook! I love seeing what you come up with! ♥︎
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Quick Pickled Red Cabbage
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 large jar 1x
Ingredients
- 4 cups of shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup of apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup of water
- 2–3 tbsp maple syrup (or sugar)
- salt, pepper
- flavorings of your choice (see notes below)
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Place cabbage in a large jar. If using garlic, chili, or ginger, add those to the cabbage as well.
- In a bowl mix together vinegar, water, maple syrup, about 1 tsp of salt, large pinch of pepper, and flavorings of your choice.
- Pour marinade over the cabbage, and cover with a lid. Let marinate at room temperature for at least 2-6 hours. Shake or stir occasionally.
- After 2-6 hours place in the fridge until ready to serve. Pickled Red Cabbage will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks. Enjoy!
Notes
- Vinegar: I like a mix of apple cider vinegar and white vinegar for balance, but you can use just one if you prefer.
- Sweetener: Maple syrup gives a subtle depth here, but agave or even coconut sugar work too.
- Optional add-ins:
- For a spicy kick, add a sliced jalapeño or pinch of chili flakes.
- For a German-style twist, add mustard seeds and a bay leaf.
- For an Asian vibe, toss in fresh ginger, sesame oil, and a splash of rice vinegar.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
Yum! This looks so good! I love the bright colour.
That pink goodness really makes any dish cool 😉
Gorgeous colour and it looks so crunchy and tasty.
I’m so in love with this color too 🙂
The red cabbage looks fab. I have red cabbage in my refrigertor but never thought to make pickled cabbage. I didn’t even taste it before. So BIG yes to this recipe. I am sure we are going to like it.
I’m sure you’d like it! Let me know if you try it, would love to hear your feedback 😉
I love pickles and I find cabbage a bit hard on my diet. But this is a helpful way to pickle them and eat. Awesome clicks and loved the red hue it brings. Thanks
Oh, I know what you mean. Raw cabbage is sometimes hard on my stomach too, but I can eat unlimited amount of pickled cabbage 😀
Why does it only last 2 weeks in vinegar
Well, it might last longer actually. I can guarantee that 2 weeks, but about anything more I am unsure 😉
Perfect quick recipe – tastes amazing too thank you! S x
Thanks for the lovely feedback, I’m so glad you liked this!