Name: Danish Christmas Red Cabbage
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients: 1 small head red cabbage, cored and shredded; 2 cups white sugar; 2 cups white vinegar; 2 teaspoons salt; 3 cups water

Danish Christmas Red Cabbage

"In Denmark it is traditional to serve a cooked pickled red cabbage for the Christmas Eve dinner. This is my mother's, and it is so easy to make and will be a great sidedish to any roast duck, turkey or goose. When reheating, I like to add a tablespoon of black currant jam to enhance the flavor."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 5 ingredients

Why it works: Cabbage and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,924 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Danish Christmas Red Cabbage

12 servings

Prep30 min

Cook1 hr

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

107Calories

4 gProtein

1 gFat

24 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Cabbage + vinegartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,924 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cabbage + sugartop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,037 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar):

Mustardfits better
Capsicumfits better
Cucumberfits better
Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.