Red Cabbage

Red cabbage is a variety of cabbage with striking deep purple to magenta leaves, coloured by anthocyanin pigments that respond to acidity — turning redder in acidic conditions and bluer in alkaline ones. It has a tighter, denser head than green cabbage and a slightly more robust, peppery taste.

Raw, it adds crunch and colour to salads and coleslaws. Cooked, it becomes tender and mellow, and is a classic accompaniment to roast meats in European cuisines — German braised red cabbage with apple and vinegar being perhaps the most well-known preparation. It also pickles beautifully, producing a vivid pink sauerkraut.

Red cabbage is available year-round in Australian supermarkets and keeps well in the fridge for weeks, making it a practical and versatile vegetable to have on hand.

Farmed
photograph to come — from twenty years of markets, farms and kitchens

How it's made

Red cabbage is grown from seed in garden beds or broadacre farms, forming a tight, heavy head of layered leaves over several months. The outer leaves of the plant protect the dense inner head as it develops. At harvest, the head is cut from the stalk at the base, and the loose outer leaves are trimmed away. The heads are then cooled, sorted by size and quality, and packed for distribution.

Nutrition (per 100g)

Energy 31kcal
Protein 2.2g
Carbs 3.2g
Fat 0.3g
Fibre 3.1g Sugar 3.2g
Mass Distribution

1 RACC is about 85 g — roughly 30 kcal of this.

What it costs the planet (per kilo)

Carbon ≈0.5kg
Freshwater ≈130L
Land ≈0.4m²

≈ Estimated — worked out from a category-typical value further up its supply chain. Where this comes from →

Where it comes from

In the kitchen

Used as

raw slaw or braised cabbage

Classic dishes
  • Red Cabbage Slaw
  • Rotkohl
  • Braised Red Cabbage
  • Pulled Pork Slaw

Keeping one at home? Track yours in your cubud →

Where this data comes from

Nutrition data from

FSANZ + USDA

How it was calculated

Analysed

Full credits, licences, and methods: the sources page →

Where to next

made fromRed Cabbage, leaves goes well withapple goes well withvinegar goes well withcaraway goes well withred onion goes well withduck
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