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This Rødkål (Danish Red Cabbage) is a Danish recipe we love. It is a side dish similar to sauerkraut but a little sweeter.
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If your taste buds are craving something a little more exotic; something with beautiful color and a sweet and sour flavor, well, you’ve come to the right blog post. Danish Red Cabbage, or Rødkål, is a great side dish for the Frikadeller or any other Danish recipe really. It is roughly pronounced “roeth kohl”. It is a fun, bright side-dish that tastes similar to sauerkraut but a little sweeter. You can also serve this with smoked sausage, bratwurst, pork chops, or pork roast.
Ingredients to Make Danish Red Cabbage
This easy recipe only uses 5 simple ingredients. It is one of the easiest red cabbage recipes you can make. You can always add some apple slices, sliced onion, or spices (garlic, cloves, a bay leaf, a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg) but we like to keep it simple and just use these basic ingredients:
- Red cabbage (aka purple cabbage)
- Granulated sugar
- White vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- Salt
- Water
A Taste of Family History
Although you are certainly not required to have Danish ancestry to enjoy this delicious dish, knowing this is a food some of your ancestors enjoyed certainly makes it feel more authentic. One reader commented that they’ve always enjoyed Red Danish Cabbage, along with other Danish foods, as traditional Christmas Eve fare. Exposing your family to food from another country and culture can be an excellent way to broaden their horizons and pique their interest in learning even more.
Tips for Making Red Cabbage
- Don’t rush the process. It takes at least an hour for the cabbage to become perfectly tender and cooked through.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezing is not recommended as it may alter the texture of the cabbage when thawed.
- Serve cold leftovers over burgers, hot dogs, tacos, sandwiches, or salads.
More Traditional Danish Dishes To Try
If you’re interested in making this Danish Red Cabbage into a full meal, pair it with the Frikadeller mentioned above. Then, add some Danish Caramelized Brown Potatoes on the side with Danish Rice Pudding for dessert. Or go a completely different direction with Danish Goulash, a thick and hearty Danish-style stew. You will feel like you’ve taken a trip to Denmark without ever leaving home.
Read Next: 33+ Easy Dinner Ideas for Busy Weeknights
FAQs about Red Cabbage
Red cabbage is the most nutrient dense when it is eaten raw. However it still is very nutritious when cooked.
YES, red cabbage contains up to 10x the amount of vitamins and nutrients as green cabbage (source: Pediaa)
Taste wise, cooking the cabbage down makes it taste better. It can also be tossed with salad or in slaw to off-set the strong flavor.
Rødkål or Danish Red Cabbage
Ingredients
- 1 small head red cabbage cored and shredded
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 cups water
Instructions
- Place the cabbage in a large saucepan, and stir in the sugar, vinegar, salt and water.
- Place on the stovetop over and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 hour.
- This can be served immediately, or chilled and reheated later in smaller portions.
Notes
- Don’t rush the process. It takes at least an hour for the cabbage to become perfectly tender and cooked through.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezing is not recommended as it may alter the texture of the cabbage when thawed.
- Serve cold leftovers over burgers, hot dogs, tacos, sandwiches, or salads.
Nutrition Information
So easy except the cabbage was so hard. How do you get it shredded?
You can use a mandolin slicer or just use a large sharp knife to cut the cabbage into small shreds!
I halved the recipe and reduced the sugar. It was too sweet for my taste, so next time I will only use 1/4 cup sugar for 1/2 head of red cabbage. After an hour cooking, there was still a lot of liquid, so I continued to simmer the cabbage uncovered until the liquid was reduced. This dish is good both warm and straight out of the refrigerator. I might add caraway or a little bit of cloves next time.
Have been making danish red cabbage for forty years,my mother in laws recipe and my husband is danish, we substitute some of the sugar with blackcurrant juice ,delicious.
I’ve been making Danish red cabbage for many years, trying to keep family traditions alive. The family loves it and I’ve been relatively happy with mine. That is until my wife and I made a couple trips to Denmark to visit her relatives. Her Aunt’s red cabbage moved the bar way up. That got me looking through recipes to see what might improve mine. Just made this simple recipe for thanksgiving and it’s the best yet …
Except of course my wife’s auntie’s!
I love this recipe and so does my family. I usually make it when serving benlose fugue. My mom (Danish side of my family) called it pig in a blanket. Imagine my surprise when I moved to California at 12 yrs old and ordered pigs in a blanket and got breakfast sausage wrapped in a pancake!
Our family made this every year around Christmas. Absolutely delish with almost any protein. The big difference in our family is that we use Strawberry Jam in place of the sugar, the cheapest Jam you can find. If mades the dish a bit more red without cheating and using food colouring (lol). We freeze it and use it all through the winter. It keeps for a very long time courtesy of the vinegar. We even store it outside in the dead of winter. As you can tell, we are a frugal family.
Apple cider vinegar works as a great substitute. I personally like splitting the vinegar into equal parts white and apple cider.
This was a new cabbage recipe for us, and we loved it! I love the tang of the vinegar and it has just the right amount of sweetness. Perfect!
Red cabbage is one of my favorite things. This recipe is amazing!!
I’ve been taught a slightly different way by my Mor.
It’s the same way as above but I use caster sugar not standard sugar. Not sure if there’s a lot of difference to be honest. I also add half a jar of bramble jelly and a table spoon of Lurpak butter. The butter has the effect of making the cabbage ‘shine’ making it more appealing to the eye.
These three food items are what my family makes! My dad is from Denmark and my mom has made a point to keep the tradition alive in our family. The red cabbage and browned potatoes are part of our christmas eve tradition. Mom mom also makes a traditional pork roast, and for dessert we have rice pudding with raspberry danish dessert along with danish pastry. Its fun to see others are eating danish food too!
These three food items are what my family makes! My dad is from Denmark and my mom has made a point to keep the tradition alive in our family. The red cabbage and browned potatoes are part of our christmas eve tradition. Mom mom also makes a traditional pork roast, and for dessert we have rice pudding with raspberry danish dessert along with danish pastry. Its fun to see others are eating danish food too!
If you are in a hurry , you can cheat (shortcut) this recipe. Go to to your local grocery store and buy a jar of red cabbage and a small jar of red-currant jelly. Blend together the red cabbage with about 1-2 tbsp of the red-currant jelly until you reach the consistency and flavor you like (the jelly adds sweetness to the red cabbage). Gently heat your red cabbage mixture on the stove top until warmed to your desired temperature – then serve. Experiment and enjoy!
Hey Glen– thanks for the great tip! We will have to try this next time!
holy bats! i'm so excited about these danish recipes! that's where some of my ancestors originated from, so i'm always stoked to find recipes from denmark, especially those that look. so. dang. good!
thank you. 🙂