Look at almost any Icelandic Christmas plate and you will find a small heap of glossy, purple-red cabbage next to the meat. It is sweet, sharp and soft, and it does a quiet but important job: cutting through smoked lamb, salty pork and rich gravy.
Icelanders call it rauðkál, which simply means red cabbage. The dish itself came from Denmark, where rødkål has been a Christmas fixture for generations, and the Icelandic version is still very close to the Danish original.
Here is where the dish comes from, how it is served in both countries, and a reliable recipe you can make a day or two before the holidays.
From Danish rødkål to Icelandic rauðkál
Iceland was under Danish rule for centuries, and a great deal of what Icelanders now think of as festive food arrived through Copenhagen. Sweet-and-sour braised red cabbage is one of the clearest examples.
In Denmark, rødkål is served with roast pork with crackling or roast duck on Christmas Eve, usually alongside sugar-glazed potatoes and brown gravy. Leftovers end up on rye bread the next day as open sandwiches.
Iceland adopted the same combination of cabbage, caramelised potatoes and gravy, then fitted it around its own festive meats. The flavours stayed Danish; the plate became Icelandic.
How rauðkál is served in Iceland
At an Icelandic Christmas table, red cabbage turns up with nearly everything. It sits beside hamborgarhryggur, the glazed smoked pork loin many families eat on Christmas Eve, and beside roast leg of lamb on Christmas Day.
It is just as common with hangikjöt, the smoked lamb traditionally served with white sauce, green peas and leaf bread. If you are planning that meal, our recipe for hangikjöt með uppstúf covers the meat and the sauce.
The usual partner on the plate is brúnaðar kartöflur, small potatoes rolled in melted sugar and butter. The sweetness of the potatoes and the tang of the cabbage balance each other, which is why the two almost always appear together.
Plenty of Icelandic households buy rauðkál in a jar from the supermarket, and there is no shame in that. Homemade cabbage is softer, brighter and less sugary, though, and it keeps well enough that you can cook it days ahead.
For the rest of the festive menu, see our guide to Icelandic Christmas food and traditions.
What makes a good red cabbage side
The dish rests on three things: thinly shredded cabbage, a sour element and a sweet element. Everything else is a family variation.
The sour side is usually vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is mild and fruity, white wine vinegar is sharper, and Danish cooks often use plain distilled vinegar.
The sweet side is sugar plus something fruity. In Denmark that is often red currant juice, called ribssaft; in Iceland red currant jelly, rifsberjahlaup, is the more common choice. Grated apple adds both sweetness and body.
Acid also matters for colour. Red cabbage pigments turn bluish in neutral or alkaline conditions and stay a deep red when there is acid in the pot, so add the vinegar early rather than at the end.
Danish red cabbage recipe (rødkål / rauðkál)
This makes enough for eight people as a side dish. It follows the classic Danish method, finished with red currant jelly the way many Icelandic cooks like it.
- 1 medium red cabbage, about 1 kg (2.2 lb)
- 30 g (2 tbsp) butter, or duck fat
- 1 tart apple, peeled, cored and grated or finely diced
- 100 ml (scant 1/2 cup) apple cider vinegar
- 75 g (1/3 cup) sugar, plus more to taste
- 150 ml (2/3 cup) red currant juice, or water
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp red currant jelly
- Optional: 1 bay leaf, 3 whole cloves, a small piece of cinnamon stick
Step by step
- Remove the tough outer leaves, quarter the cabbage and cut out the hard core. Slice it as thinly as you can, by hand or with a mandoline.
- Melt the butter in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the cabbage and turn it in the fat for 3 to 4 minutes until it starts to collapse.
- Add the apple, vinegar, sugar, red currant juice or water, salt and any spices. Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Cover and cook over low heat for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes or so. Add a splash of water if the pot looks dry.
- Stir in the red currant jelly for the last 10 minutes. Taste and adjust: more sugar if it is too sharp, more vinegar if it is too sweet, a pinch of salt if it tastes flat.
- Fish out the bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon before serving. The cabbage should be very soft and glossy, with only a little syrupy liquid left.
Tips for the best result
Slice the cabbage thinly and evenly. Thick strips stay chewy long after thin ones have turned silky, and they never absorb the sweet-sour liquid as well.
Use a heavy pot with a tight lid and keep the heat low. Red cabbage has plenty of sugar, and a thin pan will catch and scorch on the bottom.
Taste at the end, not the start. The balance changes as the cabbage cooks down, and most cooks fine-tune the sugar and vinegar in the last few minutes.
If you cannot find red currant juice, unsweetened cranberry or pomegranate juice gives a similar tart fruitiness. Blackcurrant juice also works and makes the colour even darker.
Make-ahead and storage
Red cabbage is one of the few side dishes that genuinely tastes better the next day. The flavours settle and the colour deepens, so it is ideal for taking pressure off a busy holiday kitchen.
Cool it quickly, then keep it covered in the fridge for up to a week. Reheat gently in a pot with a spoonful of water, or in the microwave, stirring once or twice.
It also freezes well in portions for up to three months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Leftovers are excellent cold. Pile them onto dark rye bread with slices of roast pork or lamb for a very Danish lunch.
Variations from Icelandic and Danish kitchens
Some Icelandic cooks add a handful of blueberries or crowberries, a nod to the wild berries picked across the country in late summer. They push the dish towards a deeper, jammier flavour.
Others swap part of the liquid for red wine, or add a little orange zest and juice for a brighter finish. A few warm spices, such as cinnamon, allspice or star anise, make it smell like Christmas without overpowering the meat.
In Denmark you will also find raw rødkålssalat, a crisp red cabbage salad with orange, nuts and dried cranberries. It is a fresher alternative for anyone who finds the braised version too sweet.
For a vegan side, use oil instead of butter and check that your jelly is gelatine-free. Nothing else in the classic recipe needs changing.
A small dish that holds the plate together
Red cabbage rarely gets the attention that smoked lamb or glazed pork does, yet a Christmas plate in Iceland or Denmark feels unfinished without it. It brings colour, acidity and a little sweetness to food that would otherwise be heavy and brown.
Make a pot this December, ideally a day before you need it, and serve it warm next to your roast and caramelised potatoes. Whatever stays in the fridge will be just as good on bread the morning after.
Cover photo: "BraisedRedCabbage-0719" by DC Central Kitchen, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
About Sigrún Ólafsdóttir
Sigrún grew up baking rúgbrauð with her grandmother in Akureyri and has spent the last decade collecting recipes from kitchens all over Iceland. She writes Icelandic MAT's recipes, one dish at a time.