Garlic Ginger Healthy Red Cabbage Recipe (Easy Instant Pot Side Dish) (2024)

FAQs

How do you cook red cabbage without losing color? ›

When cooked in an alkaline liquid like water, red cabbage turns blue. Adding vinegar, lemon juice, or another acid helps the cabbage to retain its red-purple color. Vinegar is also a bright flavor complement to the bold, earthy taste of the cabbage.

Boiling up the cabbage, like boiling any leaf vegetable, ruptures the leaf cells, allowing the chlorophyll and anthocyanin pigments to leach into the water. This becomes a mixture of green from the chlorophyll and purple-blue from the anthocyanins.

Red Cabbage vs.

Red and green cabbage can be used interchangeably in most recipes. The difference between cooking green cabbage and red cabbage is just one extra step. The compounds that give red cabbage its color, called anthocyanins, are water-soluble and will turn an unappetizing blue color when cooked.

Aside from the noticeable difference in color, red cabbage has an earthier taste and bulbs are smaller and denser. Green cabbage tends to turn sweeter when it cooks and a little bigger in size than the red. The leaves of the green are wide fan-like while of red are small fan-like. They both have crunchy texture.

You can add this versatile vegetable to soups, stews, salads, and coleslaw. It's delicious raw, steamed, sautéed, or fermented. It retains the most nutrients when it's eaten raw but is still highly nutritious when cooked. The flavor becomes a little milder when you cook it.

Go raw. Lock in nutrients by eating your cabbage uncooked in salads. Just make sure you slice it very finely.

When you sauté red cabbage, the acids evaporate off and it can turn blue. All you have to do is add lemon juice or vinegar to bring back the bright red color. For this same reason, you may have seen a blue circle around the cherries in cherry muffins.

Crisp it up: Shredded cabbage stays perky if it's soaked in cold water. This also helps cut the pungent edge. Drain well before combining with other ingredients.

Cabbage with an off smell should be discarded immediately. You'll also be able to tell when cabbage has spoiled if the leaves have become soft and discolored. It's best to refer to the old adage: when in doubt, throw it out.

Which cabbage is healthier red or green? ›

While both green and red cabbage are excellent sources of this potent antioxidant, red cabbage contains significantly more ( 2 , 22 ). One cup (89 g) of chopped red cabbage packs in 56% of the recommended intake for vitamin C, which is the same amount found in a small orange ( 22 , 23 ).

Red cabbage, also called purple cabbage, is a leafy vegetable from the cabbage family. It typically comes as a head of cabbage, which is a ball of tight leaves. Red cabbage has broad reddish-purple leaves with a thick white stem at the bottom of the head.

Purple cabbage is a nutrient-rich vegetable linked to a variety of health benefits, including reduced inflammation, a healthier heart, stronger bones, improved gut function, and maybe a lower risk of certain cancers. Purple cabbage, also referred to as red cabbage, belongs to the Brassica genus of plants.

Cabbage is a crop that grows best during specific times, making it challenging for farmers. Additionally, it doesn't make much money as they usually only plant it when it's the right season. As a result, when cabbage is not in season, it becomes more expensive.

Consuming red cabbage can contribute to your daily vitamin C intake and support overall health. Fiber content: Red cabbage is a good source of dietary fiber, which aids digestion and promotes bowel regularity. Fiber also helps regulate blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol, and maintain a healthy weight.

Before cooking, remove any tired or discoloured leaves and always cook red cabbage with a little vinegar. This preserves the beautiful purple colour – without it, the cabbage will turn blue!

Add lemon juice, vinegar, wine or another acidic liquid to the dish while the cabbage is cooking. While the alkaline quality of hard water can discolor the cabbage, the acidic quality of vinegars and other liquids helps protect the color.

Adding acid

One of the easiest ways to keep your red cabbage from turning blue when you cook it is to control its acidity level. Delishably says that by adding a bit of a mild acid like lemon juice, you can slightly boost the acidity of the vibrant vegetable.

When you sauté red cabbage, the acids evaporate off and it can turn blue. All you have to do is add lemon juice or vinegar to bring back the bright red color. For this same reason, you may have seen a blue circle around the cherries in cherry muffins.