Braised Red Cabbage

This delicious sweet and sour Braised Red Cabbage is perfect side for Christmas Dinner. My modern take on this gorgeous savory side is without refined sugar, sweetened with apples, no butter, and is ready in Instant Pot in just 6 minutes. Vegan, gluten free and paleo.

Oh, and don't worry if you don't own an Instant Pot. I have also included instructions to cook this recipe in simple dutch oven/heavy bottom pan. (check in notes) 

Alright then. It's time to make some Braised Red Cabbage. For everyone who always wondered what to do with Red Cabbage except tossing in slaw.. This recipe is a MUST try! If you love cabbage in soups, you will fall-in-love with this braised savory cabbage. From gorgeous color to flavor, it made me feel like a holiday dinner cooking in kitchen.

Don't wait. Let's feast!

Braised Red Cabbage is very humble recipe. You can say, flavor find itself in this. No much work involved. Just put ingredients in a pot and cook. At lease this is how I learned to make it. Every time I make some, we eat it on side with all meals.. Those juicy bits of cooked flavor-soaked apples.. (can you spot those in pictures?) are truly my favorite.

Vishal is not so veggie fan. And not huge fan of vinegar either. On top of that, I like to keep his sugar in-take on check. So I don't like to cook with lot's of sugar for him. Making a braised cabbage recipe which he will like and I like to serve was my challenge behind this recipe. 

So for my take on braised red cabbage, I did some Modern day adjustments.

1) First, I decided to go completely refined sugar free. This recipe uses Agave Syrup which I'm in LOVE with these days. Agave has low glycemic index and a little goes a long way. 
2) I added 2 peeled and diced apples to give it natural fruity sweetness without sugar. BTW, there is nothing modern about this one. Braising Red Cabbage with apples is as old as chicken and dumplings.
3) Also, I used Apple Cider vinegar instead of red wine which is not that sharp and gives cabbage hint of tang without making it too sour. It was at right point of sweet and sour for my family. We been enjoying it on side with every meal. (stays good in refrigerator for a week) 

4) I did not finish braised cabbage with butter/oil (traditional) as it was delicious as-is. If you prefer, top hot cooked cabbage with some butter just before serving for dinner. The aroma and looks of this savory braised cabbage with butter sure makes delicious impression on guests. 

Shortcut on cooking red cabbage a.k.a Instant Red Cabbage:

Cooking red cabbage is very easy. It just need time until it reaches to the perfect tender cabbage with still some bite (not mushy). To make this process quick, I followed 10-minute cooking in my Instant Pot. 

Since I owned Instant Pot 2 years ago and it was life changing experience. I had pressure cooker before but after Instant Pot, I started using it more often than my stove pressure cooker.

One benefit of Instant Pot is quick cooking for lots of meats, grains, legumes and veggies which otherwise need long time to cook. Like my Instant Pot Pho. That broth needs 8+ hours of cooking. In instant pot, it is matter of 45 minutes. Amazing and so convenient. Isn't it? 

Other than long cooking time, braising (sear and cook in liquid) is one more thing that Instant Pot does beautifully. You can sear the meat/veggies in the pot on saute setting. Next, just add the liquid and let cooker do it's magic. Like this Braised Red Cabbage recipe needs 30 minutes of cooking. In IP, it needs 6 minutes. And the resulting cabbage is perfect tender. It has little bite which we desire from braised cabbage. Yet it is not mushy. 

Friends, this Braised Red Cabbage recipe is perfect to serve for Christmas dinner. Look at the colors. Isn't it scrumptious looking? So, next time you bring home some red cabbage, try this recipe. Perfect it before upcoming holiday dinner.

Wish you a wonderful day ahead.

-Savita