Whether with pork or duck roast, braised red cabbage is a staple of Czech cuisine. In this recipe, you will learn how to cook sweet and sour red cabbage like Bohemian grannies used to make it.
About the Recipe
Czech braised red cabbage is made from a whole head. A shredded cabbage head is stewed in a base of fried onions and caramelized sugar. Vinegar, salt, and caraway seeds ensure a great flavor.
The result is a sweet and sour red cabbage, and it’s the best accompaniment to pork roast and roast goose or duck.
TIP: In Czech, this red cabbage is called “dušené červené zelí”. If you like cabbage dishes, definitely try my following recipe for braised sauerkraut!
One fresh head of cabbage is enough for about six servings of braised cabbage, served as a side.
Ingredients
To make Czech-style braised red cabbage, you need:
- Red / purple cabbage head
- Onion; finely chopped
- Lard; possibly cooking oil, e.g., sunflower or canola oil
- Sugar; classic white
- Caraway seeds; whole
- Salt
- Vinegar; white wine vinegar works great in this recipe
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
Quick Instructions:
- Halve the head of red cabbage, cut out the tough stem and remove the top leaves.
- Chop the cleaned head roughly.
- In a saucepan, fry onions in the fat, add sugar, and leave to caramelize.
- Add cabbage, and season with salt, vinegar, and caraway seeds. Stir well.
- Simmer under a lid until the cabbage is soft.
- Serve the braised red cabbage as a side dish with the roast.
TIP: Want to make your side dish creamy? Try this recipe: Creamy sweet and sour red cabbage
➜ Detailed Instructions with Photos
STEP 1: Halve the cabbage and cut the tough stem from both head halves. Remove the wilted top layer of cabbage leaves. Slice or grate the cabbage thus prepared.
STEP 2: Peel and finely chop the onion. In a large enough pot, heat the lard and fry the onions in it until light brown.
STEP 3: Move the onion to the side of the pot, sliding the pot if possible, so that the onion part is away from the heating source.
STEP 4: Put the sugar on the free surface of the pot and let it melt; if necessary, increase the heat to speed up the caramelization of the sugar.
STEP 5: Once the sugar starts to turn golden, add the chopped cabbage and mix everything. Don't be alarmed if the sugar forms hard lumps – it will dissolve as the cabbage stews.
STEP 6: Now salt the cabbage, add caraway seeds, and pour in vinegar. Stir, and turn down the heat. Cover the pot with a lid and simmer at low heat for about 45 minutes.
STEP 7: Remove the lid, raise the heat to be medium and allow any liquid that the cabbage has released to drain. Stir from time to time.
Once the liquid has evaporated and the cabbage starts to fry and stick to the bottom of the pot, you're done! This takes another 30-45 minutes.
➜ Serving
If you wonder what to make with cabbage, here is how we eat it in the Czech Republic: The best option is to serve braised red cabbage warm as a side dish with roasted meat - pork, goose, or duck.
Potato dumplings or bread dumplings are suitable as an additional side dish!
➜ Kitchen Equipment
A wider pot or pan with higher rims is suitable for preparing braised cabbage. Cabbage is quite a lot, so you need cookware that can handle a larger volume.
I took myself a cast iron pan with a diameter of 11 inches (28 cm).
➜ Useful Tips
- In this recipe, I got inspired by the Czech Great Cookbook of Bohemia and Moravia. Roman Vaněk, the cookbook author, recommends adding a tablespoon of lard at the very end of the stewing and stirring. This step will polish the cabbage and give it a little more flavor.
- Cabbage in the recipe doesn't need to be thickened. Neither with floury roux nor with grated potatoes.
- The longer you simmer the cabbage under the lid and then without, the darker its color will be.
More tasty recipes
- Čočka na kyselo – Czech sweet & sour lentils
- Braised sirloin steaks – Czech "roštěnky"
- Chicken Paprikash – with dumplings
- Sweet and sour green cabbage
- Fried cabbage and noodles (haluski)
- Czech vinegar based coleslaw – zelny salat
Tried this recipe?
Leave a review down in the comments! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Czech Braised Red Cabbage
Tap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 1 head red cabbage
- 3 medium onions
- 2 Tablespoons pork lard (or canola / suflower oil)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup vinegar 5% acidity
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
Instructions
- Halve 1 head red cabbage and cut out the tough stem from both halves. Remove the wilted top layer of cabbage leaves. Slice or grate the prepared cabbage.
- Peel and finely chop 3 medium onions. In a large enough saucepan, heat 2 Tablespoons pork lard and fry the onions until they are light brown.
- Move the onions to the side of the saucepan, sliding the pot if possible, so that the onion part is away from the heat source.
- Put ½ cup granulated sugar on the free surface of the saucepan and let it melt. If necessary, increase the heat to speed up the caramelization of the sugar.
- Once the sugar starts to turn golden, add the chopped cabbage and mix everything together. Don't be alarmed if the sugar forms hard lumps; it will dissolve as the cabbage stews.
- Now season the cabbage with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, and pour in ½ cup vinegar. Stir well, then turn down the heat. Cover the pot with a lid and simmer on low heat for about 45 minutes.
- Remove the lid, raise the heat to medium, and allow any liquid that the cabbage has released to evaporate. Stir occasionally. Once the liquid has evaporated and the cabbage starts to fry and stick to the bottom of the pot, you are done!
Notes
- SERVING: Serve the braised red cabbage warm as a side dish with roasted meat such as pork, goose, or duck. Potato dumplings or bread dumplings make a suitable additional side dish.
- The cabbage in this recipe doesn't need to be thickened, either with a floury roux or with grated potatoes.
- One medium head of cabbage is enough for about six servings of braised cabbage when served as a side dish.
Barbara says
My father was czech and Mom learned to make many receipes. I can make some, so I am anxious to learn some easy ones
Mom would always make Paska for Easter dinner. These memories were never forgotten. Thank you, keep those recipes coming. Barbara
Petra Kupská says
Thank you so much for your kind comment and for remembering your mom's cooking!
Joe says
I had only had jarred red cabbage before. If you're like me and you've only had the jarred version, do yourself a favor and make this recipe! This recipe has earned a bookmarking in my browser.
Petra Kupská says
In the Czech Republic I also sometimes buy jarred red cabbage. I then heat it in a pan and season if necessary. Thanks for the interesting recipe tip, I will try to look for some and try it. If I succeed, I'll be happy to post the recipe here!
Morgan says
Hello, I would like to serve this to a Czech friend on a trip out of town. This meal won’t be until the third day and I would like to prepare as much as I can in my own kitchen as we’ll have only shared kitchen facilities where we’re staying. If I make this ahead, will it still taste good/have the appropriate texture after 3 days in the fridge? Alternatively, do you think it would freeze well? Excited to try this. Thanks!
Petra Kupská says
Hello Morgan, cabbage made ahead according to this recipe will definitely keep for three days if you store it in the fridge! You can freeze it if you want to be sure, but I don't think you need to. Fingers crossed 🙂 Petra
Sebastian says
Thanks. The recipe turned out well. I doubled the amount of Caraway seed. My mother used about 4x the amount in her Cervene Zely. I have many of her versions of old Czech recipes written down, but didn't have this one. Thanks again Petra!
Petra Kupská says
You are very welcome, Sebastian, and thank you for your nice feedback. You can't go wrong with more caraway seeds; these are a surefire way to show your Czech heritage!
Jean says
This was so delicious! Made it to serve with the Duck recipe from your site. Now just have to try the bread dumpling, some kind of soup, rye bread, and the kolachke recipes and I will have a totally authentic meal!
Petra | Cook Like Czechs says
Amazing! I am so glad you loved it. Serving it with the duck was definitely a great choice! I hope everything else turns out just as delicious – you’re off to a fantastic start. Enjoy the rest of your cooking adventure!
Peter Vanicek says
I have now made this several times and it is always easy and so delicious to make. It is a perfect complement to a roast pork loin or any roast meat dish.
My little 1 year old granddaughter loved it...it's nice to see those Czech genes getting passed on. I will start to work on her with caraway seeds. 🙂
Petra Kupská says
Sounds like the caraway seeds will be her first step toward becoming a true Czech food connoisseur! Soon she'll be asking for kolaches instead of cupcakes. I would wait with the beer though! 😄