Classic red cabbage salad made in the Thermomix® is ready in 25 minutes and makes 4 servings. Here is the key method in brief: put 400 g red cabbage in pieces into the mixing bowl, chop 2 onions separately for 5 seconds at speed 5, then add 100 g carrot and 1 tart apple for 3 seconds at speed 5. Mix the dressing of 10 g white balsamic vinegar, 30 g olive oil, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper for 10 seconds at speed 6, fold in 30 g pine nuts, leave to rest for 10 minutes and serve with 20 g walnuts.
Red cabbage, onions, carrots and apple become fresh raw vegetables, with walnuts and pine nuts adding a satisfying crunch. We make this salad as a winter side with roast pork, goose and duck, and in summer as a barbecue accompaniment. If you prefer an Asian twist or an orange version, you will find those variations in our red cabbage raw salad made in the Thermomix®.
Classic Thermomix® Red Cabbage Salad
Ingredients 0 / 11 ✓
- 400 grams red cabbage
- 2 onions
- 100 grams carrots
- 1 apple
- 10 grams white balsamic vinegar
- 30 grams olive oil
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper freshly ground
- 30 grams pine nuts
- 20 grams walnuts
Instructions 0 / 6
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1
Halve the red cabbage, wash, cut into pieces and add to mixing bowl.
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2
Peel and halve the onions, add to the mixing bowl, chop using the spatula for 5 seconds/speed 5 and transfer to a bowl.
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3
Peel the carrots, cut into pieces and add to the mixing bowl. Wash the apple, cut into quarters, remove the core, add to the mixing bowl, shred using the spatula for 3 sec./speed 5 and add to the red cabbage in the bowl.
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4
Add the vinegar, oil, honey, salt and pepper to the mixing bowl and mix for 10 sec./speed 6.
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5
Spread dressing with pine nuts over salad and mix thoroughly.
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6
Let the salad marinate for 10 minutes, mix well again and serve garnished with walnuts.
Tip: Stored in a cool place, the salad will be good for several days, but it should be taken out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.
Nutrition per serving
Why the Thermomix® saves you the tedious kneading
With raw red cabbage salad there are two classic schools of thought. One calls for kneading the shredded cabbage with salt for 5 to 10 minutes to break down the cell walls and make it tender. The other heats the dressing and pours it hot over the raw vegetables, which softens the cabbage as well. We skip both. The Thermomix® chops the 400 g red cabbage in pieces so finely that the cut surfaces absorb the dressing on their own in 25 minutes. No kneading, no hot sauce, no red hands.
The second point is precision of chopping. If you throw everything into the mixing bowl at once and blend for too long, you end up with mush instead of salad. That is why we work in stages: first the 2 onions for 5 seconds at speed 5, then separately 100 g carrot and the apple for just 3 seconds at speed 5. We keep the red cabbage coarse and stop early. That way every ingredient stays the right size, rather than soft carrot and firm cabbage blending into a puree. We show the basic technique for cleanly chopped cabbage in our guide to cutting white cabbage in the Thermomix®.
Apple and honey take the bitterness out of red cabbage
Raw red cabbage carries a slightly bitter edge. That is exactly why 1 tart apple and 1 tsp honey are in the recipe. The apple adds freshness and pectin, which binds the salad better than plain juice. The honey balances the bitter compounds without making the salad sweet. Anyone who prefers not to use honey can use 1 tsp maple syrup or a pinch of sugar. For the apple, we reach for Boskoop or Cox Orange as both are tart enough. A sweet Gala would be too mild for this salad.
The acidity in the dressing also does its work. 10 g white balsamic vinegar to 30 g olive oil gives a mild ratio of roughly 1 to 3. The white balsamic is lightly sweet, making it the most harmonious partner for the bitter cabbage. Apple cider vinegar makes the whole thing fruitier, red wine vinegar gives it more punch. We leave out ordinary table vinegar as it is too sharp and masks the apple.
Three pitfalls with red cabbage salad from the mixing bowl
The salad turns to mush
The most common mistake is blending for too long. Speed 5 is powerful, and just 2 to 3 seconds too many will turn the cabbage into a soggy mass. Our fix: work in short pulses and check through the lid opening. For the coarser red cabbage, brief bursts are enough, so pulse twice quickly rather than once for longer. If you have a TM6 or TM7, use the short Turbo button rather than running continuously at speed 5.
Walnuts go soft
If you add the 20 g walnuts straight into the dressing, after 25 minutes you will have soft nuts with no bite. Our fix: scatter the walnuts over the finished salad just before serving. The 30 g pine nuts can go in earlier as they hold up better during the short resting time. For more flavour, we toast both in a dry frying pan for 3 to 4 minutes, not in the Thermomix®.
Dressing does not distribute evenly
If you simply pour the dressing on top and stir roughly, the cabbage at the bottom stays dry. Our fix: toss the salad firmly by hand, then leave it to rest for 10 minutes and turn it again before serving. If you want to mix it in the mixing bowl, use 10 seconds at reverse blade direction at speed 2. The reverse blade direction moves the ingredients around rather than chopping them further, keeping the raw vegetables crisp.
Five variations from Mediterranean to sweet
Mediterranean: replace the pine nuts with more walnuts and add 80 g crumbled feta, plus a squeeze of lemon. Asian: swap olive oil for sesame oil, add 1 tbsp soy sauce to the dressing and use toasted sesame seeds instead of nuts. Sweet for the festive table: 30 g raisins and a pinch of cinnamon give the salad a Christmassy note. Classic and hearty: serve with fried bacon lardons and 1/2 tsp caraway seeds alongside a roast. Creamy coleslaw style: replace the vinegar and oil dressing with 2 tbsp mayonnaise and 2 tbsp yoghurt, as in our coleslaw with honey bacon made in the Thermomix®.
What goes particularly well with this red cabbage salad
As a winter salad, it sits alongside roast pork, goose or duck at our table, bringing the freshness that rich dishes need. In summer it becomes a colourful side at the barbecue or a bowl topping. On a slice of bread with cheese it makes a quick snack. For more raw vegetables at a buffet, our raw carrot salad from the Thermomix® is a good fit, and anyone looking for a hearty cabbage variation will find it in our Bavarian coleslaw with the Thermomix®.
How long the salad keeps in the fridge
In a sealed container, the red cabbage salad keeps for 3 to 5 days in the fridge as the vinegar acts as a natural preservative. On the second day it actually tastes even more rounded because the flavours have had longer to develop. Before serving, we take it out of the fridge 30 minutes ahead and perk it up with a splash of vinegar or oil if needed. Freezing does not work as the raw vegetables turn mushy when thawed. When storing for longer, we always scatter the walnuts freshly on top so they stay crisp.
Why we add apple and walnut (Cookidoo does not)
Goes well with: duck.
The official Cookidoo recipe uses 500 g red cabbage, apple juice in the dressing and a full two hours of resting time. We take a different approach. We put a tart Boskoop or Cox Orange as a whole fruit into the mixing bowl, plus 50 g toasted walnuts for the crunch. The apple brings freshness and pectin, which binds the salad better than plain juice. When chopping, we stop after 6 to 8 seconds at speed 4.5 and check through the lid opening, otherwise the 400 g red cabbage turns to mush. The walnuts go on only after the 25 minutes of resting time, so they do not go soggy in the apple cider vinegar dressing.
