No Christmas table is complete without a side of vibrant red cabbage – and this recipe is one of our all-time favourites. Seasoned with cinnamon, thyme, cloves, and tangy redcurrant jelly, it's packed with festive flavour and perfect for pairing with traditional roast turkey, as well as roast ham and vegetarian mains.
We've also included handy tips on how to freeze and thaw this recipe, in case you wanted to prepare ahead.
Find more of our favourite family-friendly recipes for the festive season.
Yields:
8
Prep Time:
20 mins
Cook Time:
2 hrs 6 mins
Total Time:
2 hrs 26 mins
Cal/Serv:
100
Ingredients
25g
(1oz) butter
3
red onions, finely chopped
900g
(2lb) red cabbage, shredded
2
Bramley cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
4Tbsp.
redcurrant jelly (or light muscovado sugar if you prefer)
4Tbsp.
red wine vinegar
1
cinnamon stick
1
whole clove
2
thyme sprigs
Directions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 170ºC (150ºC fan oven) mark 3. Melt the butter in a large flameproof casserole. Fry the onions for 7-10min until beginning to soften.
Step 2
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together. Season mixture well.
Step 3
Cover casserole and cook in oven for 2hr, stirring once or twice during cooking. Tip cabbage into a container, discarding the thyme, cinnamon stick and cloves.
Step 4
To freeze. Cool quickly in a sink of cold water. Cover and label, then freeze for up to one month.
Step 5
To serve. Thaw cabbage at cool room temperature or overnight in the fridge. Tip into a pan and reheat over a low heat for 10min or until piping hot. Serve with roast chicken, turkey or ham.
Per Serving:
Calories: 100
Total carbs: 17 g
Sugars: 5 g
Total fat: 3 g
Saturated fat: 2 g
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An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
