Uli's Apple Red Cabbage

This is Authentic and Awesome! My parents emigrated from Germany in 1955 and I grew up with my Mothers version of this same recipe. Don’t be surprised if it takes a bit longer to soften up. Mine usually takes about one and a quarter hours on a low simmer. Sehr gut. Machen Sie es!

An experienced cook with German food I am not, but the way this turned out you’d sure think I was. Pleasantly spiced, neither too sweet nor too tangy, this was the piece de resistance of our German dinner. I served this with Jaeger Schnitzel, recipe also from this site, and spaetzle. Hubs said if he closed his eyes he’d think he was in a German restaurant.

Great recipe, very authentic. I like to take a whole small onion and stick the cloves in the onion. You will have the flavor of both without having to fish for the cloves to remove them when finished cooking. Sehr lecker!!

Viel Dank for posting !!!!! It's nice to have the proper ingredients / ratio for this awesome dish. This recipe is as authentic as it gets. The only thing that I would omit is the bacon. My German mom never cooked it with bacon. It tastes great without it. If apples are not available, sugar can be an acceptable substitute. Add it to your taste. This dish is a wonderful balance of slight sweet and subtle sour. Mom never used wine as well, but it does sound like an interesting and additional ingredient for a potential savory flavor. My biggest suggestion is to make this with some spaetzle and rouladen, and you will absolutely have heaven on a plate. It is by far one of my all time favorite meals! It's the definition of comfort food in a major way. :o) !!!! ausgezeichnet !!!!

I made this recipe the other day after having bought a big red cabbage at a farm. I knew I wanted to try making this but I kept procrastinating. I wasn't sure, looking at the ingredients, that my family would like it. Well, it was a pleasant surprise indeed. We all loved it! Will be making it again often. Thank you so much Uli.

2.22.18 Our family Holiday meal is sauerbraten, and I had some leftovers in the freezer. I’ve tried a number of red cabbage recipes on this site, and hands down, this is the best. Seriously, it tastes just like the red cabbage you’d be served at a restaurant in Germany. Many recipes are too sweet, some are just too sour. But this blend of spices (never used bay leaves in red cabbage before) along with the sweetness from the apple and that little bit of sugar balance perfectly with the tang of the vinegars. And what’s not to like about some bacon in there??? Yesterday was like Christmas all over (except it's in the upper 80's now); chowed down on sauerbraten and gravy, homemade sauteed egg noodles, potato balls, and the best red cabbage I’ve ever had. Thanks Uli for sharing, your grandmother really was a Master Cook!

Wonderful recipe as is. However my husband and I decided we like it a bit stronger so we doubled the spices (not sugar) and it was fantastic....even better serving next day.

OK, but overall too bland for me. I am away from home and relying on the Internet, otherwise I would use my old recipe, which has much more flavor.

I am also from Germany and was looking for a good and authentic recipe. This is it! I didn't have red wine so I added a couple TBSP red wine vinegar. I also cut sugar in half and this still came out delicious! My sister raved about it also. Can't wait to pick up some red wine and make again! A keeper for sure! Einfach Wunderbar!

I didn't have an apple to add & it turned out delicious anyway! Very good

My husband and I love this recipe and he asks me to make to often.

Basically followed the recipe, but did not use butter, and substituted soy bacon for real bacon. Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cooked on high for 2 hours and then on low for 3 hours. Could have cooked on high longer. Also added a boullion cube and more spices. Calories came to 157 per serving.

This is one of those recipes that everyone should have or at least know about. I had some cabbage and apples I wanted to use and came across this recipe. I had everything on hand so why not? Today was the first time in the 21 years I've been with my husband that he ate the veggies before the meat and then ate more veggies with the meat. Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

I'll be honest...my rating likely has more to do with my personal preferences than any reflection on the recipe or chef. I'm just not a huge fan of cooked cabbage. That said, it was a nice side dish to compliment the Schnitzel and Spaetzle I had already prepared. I would probably make it again under the same circumstances, but not on its own. I would also likely increase the vinegar and perhaps add some mustard or horseradish to zing it up a bit.

An excellent old fashioned delicious, nutritious and inexpensive side salad. Made it as is. Thanks for posting.

A wonderful side dish. I made it to go with pork chops and my husband and I loved it. It had just the right amount of tang and sweetness. It was easy to put together while I was preparing other foods. My only negative comment would be that while the recipe says that it serves four, it would easily serve 6-8 people. We both had very generous servings and I have way more than half of it left. Next time I will halve the recipe—unless I want some for another day.

My first time making Rotkohl from scratch. It’s hard to find German-style red cabbage in GB, so I used this recipe. My husband is German, and he asked me to leave out the bacon, which I did. Otherwise, I followed the recipe. He said the spices were on point, but it needed to be a little fruitier. He added a wee bit more vinegar and sugar, then apple juice and orange juice. The flavor is milder than a jar brand like Hengstenberg, but personally, we all preferred this recipe.

All of the good reviews had me expecting much more from this dish. I found it tasted like cabbage with cloves in it. I didn't have whole cloves, just gave a sprinkle of ground cloves. Hopefully the flavors will get better after it stands a bit.

Wunderbar! Made this exactly per directions, except I halved the recipe. Made it the day before I served it. Took almost 90 minutes for cabbage to get tender (despite the fact that I shredded it very finely). Well worth the wait, and a day in the fridge allowed all of the flavors to meld. Served it with spaetzle and rouladen. It doesn’t get any better than this if you like German food!

This was great! I threw in some sliced kielbasa in the last 10 minutes of cooking. I had been looking for something different and tasty to do with red cabbage. This is definitely it!

Very good

Excellent recipe ! This is as close to traditional as I've had. Thanks for sharing.

This was awesome! The only thing I did to improve it was to put, like, 4t of flower in to congeal the recipe...

This taste just like my mother in laws red cabbage and she was born and raised in Germany.

I've made this several times and it delicious. The only change I made was that I used 3 large very tart apples and cider vinegar ... made to my taste. Thank you for sharing.

I loved it. My husband isn't a fan of the red cabbage.

Yes ii did substitute some items, used Himalayan Pink Salt, and coconut sugar,

Excellent!!!! Couldn’t help snacking on it all day long!!!!

A little more involved than traditional red cabbage recipes, but very delicious. My German neighbor loved it and asked for the leftovers... I pretty much stuck to the given recipe but added more apples- Yummy

it is just like my mother's in Germany. Great job!

Being from Schwabenland (Esslingen am Neckar) this recipe is the "top of it all" when i make this recipe we always get some "oh what a coincident" visitors so it will be always done in the biggest pot available and seldom is a "next day better" unless i cook it evenings and let it "rest" Thank you for all your brilliant recipes

Great authentic recipe! Not sharp but perfect balance of flavors. Made exactly a written. Hubby and I both enjoyed immensely! Served with Beef Rouladen (Chef John's recipe) and Spatzel (also Chef John's recipe) along with smashed potatoes. Perfect German meal!

This was wonderful,especially with the apple slices and the spicees,even picky husband lovd it!Thankyou Grama Uli!

This is good as is but after making this several times I double the bacon and onion and omit the cloves. Also I have found that dicing the apples works better than slices. Thanks for the recipe!

I served it over toasted buns. It

Great recipe my family loved it. I let it set up in refrigerator for 48hrs, reheated on low until bubbling, was awesome.

No changes. Even better left over.

I prepared this recipe as written. My husband and I thought this was good the night I made it. Then when I had this reheated with a lunch I decided I really don't care for the sweeter cabbage flavor. Perhaps it is a personal preference to prefer savory or tart cabbage. But neither of us want to have it again.

Everyone at the party loved it. I enjoyed eating the leftovers cold the next day. I will definitely make it again.

Delicious result. Had been looking for a recipe for red cabbage with this level of taste.

A great recipe -- followed recipe leaving out red wine... it was fantastic and the German lady I made if for, raved about it. Thanks so much for the recipe. When I make it for myself I will add the red wine hahahah