Danish red cabbage (Rødkål) is a sweet-and-sour braised cabbage dish cooked slowly with apples, vinegar, sugar, and black currant juice. It’s tender, fruity, and an essential part of a traditional Danish Christmas dinner, usually served alongside roast duck and caramel potatoes.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make Danish braised red cabbage:
This Danish red cabbage is made with simple, everyday ingredients but has a really special flavor. Red cabbage is slowly cooked with onion, apple, red wine vinegar, honey, and brown sugar, plus warm spices like cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and cardamom. Butter and duck fat add another layer of flavor.
What really distinguishes Danish Rødkål from similar braised cabbage dishes in neighboring countries (like this German braised red cabbage) is the addition of black currant juice and/or red currant jam – I use both, which gives the cabbage a deep fruity flavor and beautiful balance of sweet and sour. I use lightly sweetened, diluted black currant juice, not very sweet, concentrated juice; if yours is very strong, use just a little and replace the rest with water. If you don’t have black currant juice, just use water and add a bit more red currant jam.
If you don’t have red currant jam, simply leave it out and add a little more sugar or honey – the cabbage will still be delicious.
How to make it step-by-step
STEP 1: Prepare cabbage: remove outer leaves, cut into quarters, remove the core, and cut/shred into thin slices.
Grate the apple on the large holes of a box grater and dice the onion.
(2 pounds (900g) red cabbage, 1 small head, 1 medium onion, 1 tart apple)
STEP 2: Heat butter and duck fat (if using) in a large Dutch oven, then add the onion and all the spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, bay leaves, orange zest). Cook over medium heat for about 5–7 minutes, until the onion is very soft.
(3 tablespoons butter, or 1 Tbsp butter + 2 Tbsp duck fat, if you have it, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamom pods, 6 cloves, 2 allspice berries, 2 bay leaves, a couple of strips of orange zest)
Optional – remove the small spices – allspice, cloves, and cardamom, so you don’t have to look for them later in a whole pot of cabbage.
STEP 3: Add all the other ingredients – grated apple, vinegar, honey, sugar, black currant juice, and red currant jam. Season very slightly with salt.
(1/3 cup (80ml) red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons honey, ¼ cup (50g) brown sugar, 1 ½ cups (360ml) black currant juice, 2 tablespoons red currant jam)
STEP 4: Cover the pot completely with a lid and cook for 2 hours (or to your desired texture of the cabbage, at least 1 ½ hours). Stir the cabbage from time to time, making sure there is enough liquid in the pot, and nothing sticks to the bottom.
When the cabbage is ready (soft enough for your liking – some like it softer and some more crunchy) and there is too much liquid in the pot, increase the heat and cook, stirring, without the lid until the liquid is evaporated. I cooked my cabbage in a closed pot for 1 hour 45 minutes and then 15 minutes uncovered.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. Adjust the sweet-sour balance if necessary by adding more sugar or more vinegar (but be careful with adding vinegar).
Serve warm.
Enjoy!
Storage
This Danish red cabbage keeps really well and actually tastes even better the next day. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4–5 days. Reheat gently in a pot over low heat, adding a splash of water or juice if it looks a bit dry.
You can also freeze it: let it cool completely, then portion it into containers or freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat on the stove until hot.
More Danish Christmas Recipes
- Danish Christmas Duck
- Danish Caramel Potatoes (Brunede Kartofler)
- Risalamande (rice pudding with cherry sauce)
- Glogg – Danish mulled wine
- Aebleskiver – Danish pancake balls
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Danish Red Cabbage (Rødkål)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (900g) red cabbage 1 small head
- 3 tablespoons butter or 1 Tbsp butter + 2 Tbsp duck fat, if you have it
- 1 medium onion
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 cardamom pods
- 6 cloves
- 2 allspice berries
- 2 bay leaves
- A couple of strips of orange zest
- 1 tart apple
- 1/3 cup (80ml) red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup (50g) brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups (360ml) black currant juice *see notes
- 2 tablespoons red currant jam *see notes
- Salt and pepper to taste
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Instructions
- Prepare cabbage: remove outer leaves, cut into quarters, remove the core, and cut/shred into thin slices.2 pounds (900g) red cabbage
- Grate the apple on the large holes of a box grater and dice the onion.1 medium onion, 1 tart apple
- Heat butter and duck fat (if using) in a large Dutch oven, then add the onion and all the spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, bay leaves, orange zest). Cook over medium heat for about 5–7 minutes, until the onion is very soft.3 tablespoons butter, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamom pods, 6 cloves, 2 allspice berries, 2 bay leaves, A couple of strips of orange zest
- Optional – remove the small spices – allspice, cloves, and cardamom, so you don’t have to look for them later in a whole pot of cabbage.
- Add all the other ingredients – grated apple, vinegar, honey, sugar, black currant juice, and red currant jam. Season very slightly with salt.1/3 cup (80ml) red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons honey, ¼ cup (50g) brown sugar, 1 ½ cups (360ml) black currant juice, 2 tablespoons red currant jam
- Cover the pot completely with a lid and cook for 2 hours (or to your desired texture of the cabbage, at least 1 ½ hours). Stir the cabbage from time to time, making sure there is enough liquid in the pot and nothing sticks to the bottom.
- When the cabbage is ready (soft enough for your liking – some like it softer and some more crunchy) and there is too much liquid in the pot, increase the heat and cook, stirring, without the lid until the liquid is evaporated. I cooked my cabbage in a closed pot for 1 hour 45 minutes and then 15 minutes uncovered.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Adjust the sweet-sour balance if necessary by adding more sugar or more vinegar (but be careful with adding vinegar).
- Serve warm.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- The addition of black currant juice or red currant jam is what makes this recipe Danish and differentiates it from braised red cabbage recipes from neighbouring countries. You can omit both if you don’t have them, or use just one of these ingredients – the cabbage will still be delicious.
- Black currant juice – I use lightly sweetened, diluted black currant juice, not a very sweet and concentrated juice. If you have a very sweet, concentrated juice, add just a little and replace the rest with water. If you don’t have black currant juice, just omit it and use water; you can add a little bit more red currant jam.
- If you don’t have red currant jam, just omit it and add slightly more sweetener (sugar or honey).
- Calories = 1 serving (1/8). This is only an estimate!
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