Raw red cabbage has a reputation for being too tough for a salad. That is exactly why this recipe starts with a single step: leave it to sit with salt for 30 minutes. This softens the cabbage without any cooking and prevents the typical crunch that makes so many raw red cabbage salads unpleasant to eat.
We have been making this salad regularly throughout the winter season for years, when red cabbage comes fresh from the market and pears are at their best. By now we know exactly what matters: it is not the blender that saves the salad, but the pre-treatment of the cabbage and the ratio of sweetness to acidity in the dressing. With 400 g of red cabbage, a ripe pear and a handful of walnuts, you get a side dish in 10 minutes of active time that goes just as well with game as with a cheese board.
Red Cabbage and Pear Salad, Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 12 ✓
- 400 g red cabbage
- 1 pear
- 1 onion
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 tbsp honey
- 20 g white balsamic vinegar
- 30 g olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 40 g walnuts
- 20 g cranberries
- parsley to garnish
Instructions 0 / 5
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1
Chop the red cabbage.
Remove the outer leaves from the red cabbage, cut into quarters, cut out the core and place the pieces in the mixing bowl.
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2
Prepare the pear.
Wash the pear, cut into quarters, remove the core and add to the mixing bowl.
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3
Add the onion.
Peel the onion, halve it, add to the mixing bowl and chop for 5 sec / speed 4.5 using the spatula.
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4
Mix the dressing.
Add the lemon, honey, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, 30 g walnuts and cranberries to the mixing bowl and mix for 10 sec / reverse direction / speed 3.
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5
Serve.
Divide the salad between plates and serve garnished with the remaining walnuts and parsley.
Tip: This salad can be prepared well in advance, as it keeps very well in the fridge.
Just give it a good stir before serving.
Nutrition per serving
Why salting before blending is essential
Red cabbage has dense cell walls and a high proportion of firm fibres. If you simply chop it in the Thermomix® and serve it straight away, the result is more like cabbage straw than a salad. The trick: we put the finely sliced cabbage into a bowl, sprinkle 1 tsp of salt over it and leave it to rest for 30 minutes. During that time the salt draws water out of the cells, the fibres relax slightly and the cabbage becomes tender without losing its crisp freshness.
We pour away the water that collects at the bottom of the bowl after the 30 minutes. Otherwise it will dilute the dressing and the salad becomes flat. You can squeeze the cabbage gently with your hands, but do not overdo it: a little of the natural juice keeps the pear combination juicier.
Sweet and sharp balance from red cabbage and pear
Chop, do not puree. We add the red cabbage to the mixing bowl in manageable pieces and work in short bursts. With longer blending, red cabbage quickly turns to mush, and that is no longer a salad. Short pulses at speed 5 give a fine but still recognisable cut. By hand you would need a sharp knife, a mandoline and 15 minutes. The Thermomix® does it in a fraction of the time and delivers a more even result.
Sweet and sharp in one step. In the same mixing bowl used to chop the cabbage, you can then process the pear and onion. We do not rinse it out. The residual moisture helps with the finer cutting of the softer ingredients and closes the loop: the sweetness of the pear meets the bitterness of the cabbage, the sharpness of the onion meets the mellowing effect of the honey.
The dressing emulsifies on reverse direction. With 10 seconds on reverse direction at speed 3 we blend lemon juice, honey, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and seasoning into a creamy dressing. The reverse direction prevents the walnuts and cranberries, which we add at the same time, from being chopped up. This keeps the dressing rustic with pieces that give bite in the finished salad.
When the salad is too firm or the dressing too sweet
The cabbage stays hard and crunches when you chew it
This happens when the red cabbage is sliced too coarsely or the salt step was skipped. Both are causes with the same remedy: more patience in the preparation. Our fix: Leave the cabbage with 1 tsp of salt for at least 30 minutes before mixing it with the other ingredients. For particularly firm winter vegetables, an hour is fine. If you are in a hurry, knead the salted cabbage firmly with your hands for 2 minutes to speed up the process.
The pear turns brown and looks unappetising in the salad
Pears oxidise quickly once cut. In a salad this becomes noticeable after 10 minutes as the white flesh turns brown and soft. Our fix: We drizzle the cut pear immediately with the juice of the half lemon from the recipe. The acidity stops the oxidation, and the lemon flavour fits perfectly into the dressing anyway. If you want to serve the salad later, leave the pear out and add it shortly before bringing it to the table.
The dressing tastes too sharp or too sweet
Pears vary considerably in sweetness. A ripe Williams is noticeably sweeter than a firm Conference. Our fix: We taste the dressing before mixing it through. With very sweet pears we reduce the honey to half a tablespoon. With firm, less sweet pears we increase both honey and balsamic vinegar in parallel so that the balance is maintained. A good rule of thumb: the sweetness and the acidity should cancel each other out, and neither note should dominate.
Variations that work well
With apple instead of pear. Works just as well, but gives a sharper acidic note. We use a Bramley or Braeburn and add an extra half teaspoon of honey so the apple does not overpower the cabbage.
With feta for a more substantial lunch. Fold in 100 g of feta in rough chunks at the end. The salty note of the cheese plays against the sweetness of the pear and the salad becomes a meal in its own right.
With pomegranate seeds instead of cranberries. Pomegranates are in season in winter and bring fresh acidity and a good crunch. Half a fruit is enough for the quantity in this recipe. The cranberries can go in your porridge instead.
With toasted walnuts for more depth. We toast 40 g of walnuts dry in a frying pan for 3 minutes until they are fragrant. The aroma becomes more intense and the bitterness of the skins softens. Only then add them to the salad.
Festive roasts, game dishes or a simple side
This salad is a classic winter side dish. With game such as venison or deer it brings the fruity note that balances rich sauces. It works equally well alongside a cheese board with ripe Brie or blue cheese, because the sweetness of the pear offsets the saltiness. On cold days we often combine it with a warm soup as a starter. Anyone looking for inspiration for more winter salads will find plenty in our salad hub. The lamb’s lettuce with pear and walnuts follows the same sweet and sharp logic. For a matching repertoire of dressings, we recommend our collection of salad dressings with the Thermomix®.
Keeps for 2 days in the fridge, actually better on day 2
The salad keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for two to three days. It actually tastes even better on the second day because the dressing soaks deeper into the cabbage fibres. Give it a good stir before serving and freshen it up with a little lemon juice if needed. What we do not recommend: freezing. Red cabbage turns mushy when defrosted and loses its crispness. Pears go brown. We prefer to make the salad fresh twice a week, which is quick enough.
When we prepare larger quantities for a gathering, we chop the cabbage, prepare the pear and mix the dressing separately in advance, then combine everything about an hour before serving. This keeps each component at its best and the salad looks fresh on the buffet rather than collapsed.
How other recipes approach this differently
Many Thermomix® recipes chop the red cabbage and pear together in the mixing bowl in five seconds at speed 4. We prefer to do more of the work by hand because the salad otherwise becomes too fine and mushy. For the dressing, some recipes use raspberry vinegar or maple syrup instead of balsamic vinegar and honey, while others add a dollop of mustard for extra sharpness. The toppings vary considerably: Cookidoo sticks to plain walnuts, while other blogs scatter feta, blue cheese or pomegranate seeds on top. The pear variety is rarely specified; we prefer the firm Conference because it holds its shape and its gentle acidity supports the dressing.
More side dishes with the Thermomix® can be found in the sides section, more raw salad classics in the salad hub, and matching dressings in our dressing collection.
