German Style Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

Name: German Style Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 2 pounds 1 small head red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced; 2 tablespoons sugar; 2/3 cup red wine vinegar; 2 teaspoons bacon fat (or butter, or olive oil); 2 medium apples (* cored and cut into large dice (or slices)); 1 red onion; 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice (or ground cloves if you don't have allspice); 1 bay leaf (torn); 1/4 cup dry red wine (optional (if you don't want to use the wine, use water or some vegetable or chicken stock in its place)); Salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)

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German Style Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage is a combination of sweet, sour, and savory flavors along with fresh apples. Ready to eat in 35 to 40 minutes it makes a tasty low-calorie, low-fat vegetable side.

Bright red German Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage in a white bowl. — A delicious bowl of German Style Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

How to make German Style Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

German Style Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage was served often during the winter in my childhood home. Mom, being German, made it pretty much the same way all the time, with minor variances. Cabbage, bacon fat, apples, onions, red wine vinegar, sugar…you know, sweet and sour along with some savory elements. Mom didn't cook her cabbage to death either, leaving it with just a bit of textured crunchiness. It's all good stuff.

Some of the ingredients being used in German Style Sweet Sour Red Cabbage. — Some of the ingredients are shown here, but there are more.

Ingredients for German Style Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

Red Cabbage
Apples - you can use green or red apple. I like green for it's tartness. Red would be more sweet.
Red Onion
Fat - I prefer to use bacon fat for extra flavor, but you could use olive oil or butter or a combo.
Red Wine
Red Wine Vinegar
Sugar
Bay leaf
Alspice - or clove

Why use bacon fat?

Bacon fat.

Everyone use to keep their bacon fat.

In a small container, in the refrigerator.

Bacon fat could be used to flavor all kinds of dishes without actually having to buy and cook up the bacon. All the flavor, none of the work. No one keeps bacon fat anymore.

Well, almost no one. I do. But then, I'm odd that way.

FAQ's

Do I need to use red cabbage? Can I substitute white?

I have a few recipes using white cabbage, such as Apple Onion Braised Cabbage with Bacon, but this particular preparation really is much better using red.

What type of apple works best?

I like using a tart apple such as Granny Smith or a Lodi Apple. You can use red apples as well. If using red apples stick to varieties such as Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Jonathan.

Do I have to use bacon fat?

While explained further below, the simple answer is no, you don't have to use bacon fat. While I feel it adds a lot of extra flavor, you could use olive oil, vegetable oil, or butter. Or even a combination of any or all of these.

Do I have to use wine?

Again the simple answer is no, although the wine does add flavor. If using wine use a dry red wine, like a Merlot, Malbec, Cianti, or Sangiovese. Remember, the alcohol will cook off leaving only the flavor. If you choose not to use wine, you can use chicken stock, vegetable broth, or even water.

But really Fat is FAT

When I tell people I save bacon fat, chicken fat, and duck fat, they think I'm a crazy lady.

But seriously, fat is fat.

Calorie for calorie it's all the same. 100 calories per tablespoon. It's just a matter of how much is saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, and polyunsaturated fat.

Bacon fat obviously has more saturated fat than does olive oil, or another vegetable oil, but they obviously don't have the same flavor as bacon fat. So while I'm not advocating that you use bacon fat on a regular basis, sometimes, it's a good "go-to" fat.

And if you glance over at the nutritional information I've provided, you can see there is a total of 2g of fat in this dish. In total. So what the heck, you may as well add the bacon fat. If you don't have a container in your refrigerator and you wanted the bacon flavor, you could fry up a few slices of bacon, remove it from the pan, and then just use the pan drippings to sauté the vegetables to add that depth of flavor…or you could use butter (also a saturated fat) or heck, go ahead and use that olive oil or coconut oil. It just won't have that smoky bacony goodness.

It will still be good. Honest. I've made my sweet and sour cabbage with and without. I prefer with. But it's good without.

Without also keeps it vegetarian.

So let's make some now...

German Style Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage goes perfectly with a number of dishes but is perfect with Lindy's Favorite Meatloaf, Homemade Salisbury Steak with Gravy, and Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops jump immediately into my mind. Tell me which is your favorite go-with dish.