This Rødkål (Danish Red Cabbage) is a Danish recipe we love. It is a side dish similar to sauerkraut but a little sweeter.
Danish Red Cabbage
If your taste buds are craving something a little more exotic; something ethnic 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, or pork.
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.
More 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. You will feel like you’ve taken a trip to Denmark without ever leaving home.
If you want to try a few more ethnic dishes besides these Danish offerings. Check out these recipes here:
- One Pot Thai Peanut Pasta — features shrimp or chicken, noodles, vegetables, seasonings, and peanuts all cooked together in a light, creamy peanut sauce.
- Coconut Curry Chicken with Peanuts — sweet, slightly spicy flavors and is the perfect warm, comforting meal for any night of the week.
- Mexican Baked Strawberry Empanadas — perfect for dessert with any meal; and easy to make!
- Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu) — moist, flavorful and delicious.
- Pork and Veggie Potstickers — restaurant quality, with a homemade touch.
- Italian Stuffed Pork Tenderloin — quite possibly the best pork tenderloin ever!
- Steak Fajita Bowls — A perfect dinner made of tender steak and sautéed veggies over a bed of Spanish rice.
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.
- Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over medium heat for 1 hour.
- This can be served immediately, or chilled and reheated later in smaller portions.
Nutrition Information
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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. 🙂