Swedish braised red cabbage
90 min · 2 g protein · 89 cals / serving
Swedish Christmas red cabbage, braised slowly with apple, onion, vinegar and a spoonful of dark syrup until it is glossy, tender and deep purple. Clove, allspice and cinnamon give it the warm, sweet-and-sour taste of the julbord, and it is even better the day after.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 medium head (2 1/4 lb) red cabbage, cored and finely shredded
- 2 tart apples apples, cored and diced
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp dark syrup (mörk sirap)
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/4 tsp cloves, ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice, kryddpeppar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
Steps
- Melt the butter in a large, wide pot over medium heat and cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft.
- Add the cabbage, apple, vinegar, syrup, water, cloves, allspice, cinnamon and salt and stir well. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes and adding a splash of water if the bottom catches.
- Take the lid off and cook for 10–15 minutes more, stirring, until the cabbage is soft, glossy and the liquid has almost gone. Taste and balance it: more vinegar if it is flat, a little more syrup if it is sharp.
Good to know
How far ahead can I make it?
Up to three days in the fridge, and it freezes for months. The flavors deepen as it sits, which is why many families make it the weekend before Christmas.
Why does it need vinegar?
Acid keeps red cabbage a vivid purple; without it the cabbage turns a dull blue-grey as it cooks. It also gives the dish its sweet-and-sour balance against the ham.
Per
- Calories
- 51
- Protein
- (8%)
- 1 g
- Fat
- (20%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (72%)
- 10 g
- of which sugar
- 7 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sodium
- 185 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 709 kcal goes into the pot and 1649 g of ingredients comes out as about 1400 g of food: 51 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.