Original and traditional recipes for pickled cabbage with peppers

Preparing the ingredients

When pickling cabbage, carrots are usually added. When marinating for winter preservation, the list of ingredients expands somewhat to include bell peppers, onions, and garlic. Sometimes lingonberries, cranberries, grapes, viburnum, and barberries are added.

For fermentation, and therefore pickling, it's best to use juicy cabbage with light green, thick leaves that form a large, tight head, slightly flattened at the top and bottom. Any damaged or diseased leaves are removed and the cabbage is shredded. Some cooks wash the head before shredding. Traditionally, the cabbage is cut into narrow strips, but some prefer to cut it into small squares.

Choose large, brightly colored carrots, wash them, peel them, and usually grate them on a coarse grater. Korean-style carrots are less common, and even less common are long, thin strips. For bell peppers, it's best to choose thick-walled red or yellow ones—they have more juice and sweetness. Wash them, remove the seeds, and cut them into large strips or narrow half-moons.

Use semi-sweet onions; red ones are ideal; they'll add the right amount of spiciness without being too bitter. Peel and slice into half rings.

Apple cider vinegar is often recommended, but regular vinegar (9%) will also work.

Video: "Quick Pickled Cabbage with Bell Peppers"

This video shows you a quick recipe for pickled cabbage with carrots and bell peppers.

Simple and clear recipes

Sauerkraut and pickled cabbage have a beneficial effect on the body; they retain more nutrients than fresh cabbage, which gradually disappear during storage. There are various recipes for pickling cabbage with bell peppers for the winter; they differ in their ingredients, cooking time, and even shape.

Most often, cabbage, peppers, carrots, and onions are cut into strips and mixed together, but sometimes peppers stuffed with cabbage are preserved for the winter. Fresh bell peppers are stuffed with cabbage, carrots, and onions, and then marinated together, creating a very beautiful dish.

Classical

If you're planning on making a three-liter jar of ready-made salad, you'll need the following ingredients:

• cabbage head weighing 2.5 kg;
• red pepper – 0.5 kg;
• semi-sweet onions – 0.5 kg;
• salt – 2 full tablespoons;
• sugar – 2–3 tbsp. l.;
• vegetable oil – 1 cup;
• vinegar – 50 ml.

The dish isn't difficult to prepare. Place the shredded white cabbage in a wide saucepan, season with salt, and then lightly mash to release the juices. Add the chopped bell pepper and red onion to the cabbage, sprinkle with sugar, pour in the oil, and gently mix everything together (preferably by hand) so that the vegetables are not only mixed but also evenly coated with the oil, salt, and sugar. Then pour in the vinegar, slightly diluted with clean cold water (30–50 ml), and mix thoroughly again.

Transfer the vegetable mixture from the pan to a clean, or better yet, sterilized, jar, lightly compact it, and seal with a nylon lid. Store the jar in a cool place, such as the refrigerator or cellar. Enjoy the mixture after 2-3 days.

Provencal

For 2 kg of cabbage, take 0.5 kg each of pepper and carrots, 5-6 bay leaves, 8-10 allspice peas, 4 tablespoons of salt, 6 tablespoons of sugar, 1 cup of vegetable oil, and 0.5 l of apple cider vinegar (4%). This will make a full three-liter jar.

This “quick” recipe is good because after 7–8 hours the dish is ready to eat, and the vegetables will be tasty and crispy.

The cabbage is lightly mashed, mixed with the other vegetables, and bay leaf and pepper are added.

To prepare the marinade, pour 0.5 cups of water, vegetable oil, salt, and sugar into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, and immediately add vinegar. Pour the hot marinade over the vegetables, cover with a wooden circle or a suitable plate, and place a jar of water on top. After 5-7 hours, the cabbage will be ready and can be removed and refrigerated.

Spicy

For those who love spicy dishes, you can prepare a hot pepper preparation for the winter.

For 1 kg of cabbage take:

• 0.5 kg pepper;
• 1-2 onion heads;
• 3-4 cloves of garlic;
• 1-3 (to taste) hot pepper pods;
• 2-3 bay leaves;
• 5-8 peppercorns;
• 2 tbsp. salt;
• 1 cup of sugar;
• 100 ml of vinegar.

For this dish, it's recommended to blanch the peppers for a couple of minutes before chopping. Then, combine all the vegetables in a large bowl, add the spices, stir, then arrange them in jars and pour the hot marinade over them. Prepare the marinade in the usual way: bring water, oil, sugar, and salt to a boil (to dissolve the crystals), then turn off the heat and add vinegar.

You can eat it in 1-2 days. But if you're storing it for the winter, you'll need to sterilize the jars for 25 minutes and then seal them with lids.

With pepper and carrots

Cabbage is most often pickled together with carrots. Here's another quick recipe.

For 1.5 kg of cabbage, take 250 g of bell pepper and carrot, 6-7 cloves of garlic, several bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, 100 g of sugar, a full tablespoon of salt, 100 ml of water and the same amount of vinegar.

There is no need to salt the chopped cabbage, just lightly mash it, combine it in a saucepan with other vegetables (it is better to crush the garlic or chop it very finely), mix, pour in the hot marinade, prepared in the usual way.

Place a plate slightly smaller in diameter than the saucepan itself on top of the marinated vegetable mixture, and place a three-liter jar filled with water on top. This weight will help you cook a delicious dish in 6-8 hours.

Before serving, it is advisable to cool the cabbage slightly in the refrigerator.

It can be stored for 3 weeks, but it is always better to quickly prepare a new portion, especially since you can even use frozen peppers.