Quick Pickled Cabbage, a Refrigerator Staple

Like any quick pickle, pickled cabbage is a speedy side and topping you can make once and keep in the refrigerator for a couple weeks. It boosts every meal it comes into contact with – it adds crunch, acidity, and a beautiful colour to anything it touches. There’s no need for a full canning process here and this recipe is ready in minutes.

You need just a quarter of a red cabbage, some vinegar, coriander seed, water, honey, and salt for this recipe. It’s a bit flexible, and you can use different spices, replace honey with sugar, or try a different type of vinegar. Any substitutions are outlined below.

If you like pickled onions or pickled beets, then this is right up your alley and you can add it to the pink pickles shelf in your fridge (which I don’t have, but it would be nice).

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Ingredients You’ll Need and Why

It really is that easy. Unlike my pickled onions, this recipe does use a hot vinegar mixture for a faster pickle. These are my notes from recipe testing – I’ve been making this for decades – and you can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.

• Red cabbage: when buying any cabbage, choose one that feels heavy for its size, but is on the smaller size for this type. The leaves should be bright and crisp. White cabbage can be subbed for red if that’s what you have. The only real difference will be in colour.
• Vinegar: apple cider vinegar is best. A lower acidity white vinegar or white wine vinegar, at 5%, can replace it.
• Coriander: this is optional and can be omitted if you want a very simple version. Peppercorns, cumin seed, caraway, or fennel seed are all good substitutions. Try adding bay leaves or other spices to the jar too.
• Honey: don’t skip the sweetener. Without it, the pickled cabbage is one-note, pure vinegar. If you don’t eat honey then I recommend using twice the amount of sugar rather than maple syrup.
• Water: there not enough liquid without it, and the pickle is too vinegary.
• Salt: not only for flavour, salt also acts as an additional preservative in the brine. If you choose to reduce the salt note that your pickle probably won’t last as long before spoiling.

How to Serve Pickled Cabbage

• Try as a topping on any veggie burgers. I particularly like it with lentil burgers and black bean burgers.
• Serve with any vegetarian tacos, like these roasted cauliflower tacos, or in a burrito.
• Top your grain bowls or burrito bowls.
• Add to sandwiches, salads, and more. It’s often served as a sushi side in Sweden.

Expert Tips for the Best Pickled Cabbage

• Keep it covered: make sure the cabbage is submerged in liquid during storage, or the parts exposed to air will start to spoil.
• Rest before serving: it needs some time to fully pickle and reach the ideal texture. After an hour, it’s perfect, and it’ll just keep getting better over the next week or so.
• Don’t can this recipe: this is a quick pickle, or refrigerator pickle, and is not safe to preserve for longer periods outside of the refrigerator. I would not recommend trying to can the cabbage.
• If substituting sugar: honey is generally twice as sweet as sugar. If you’re going to use plain sugar, double the amount by volume for the same level of sweetness.

More Cabbage Recipes

We eat a lot of cabbage, almost every day, and these are my top cabbage recipes using this versatile vegetable, with recipes for both cooked and raw options.

• Roasted Red Cabbage
• Vegan Coleslaw (no mayo)
• Sautéed Red Cabbage
• Swedish Pizza Salad