Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Cabbage is the dish that gets cabbage haters to try, and like, cabbage for the very first time.
You get a sweetness from the applesauce and the vinegar makes it tangy. Both turn plain cabbage into something you can’t stop eating.
Cabbage Cooks Perfectly in Your Instant Pot
I love cabbage because it’s inexpensive, easy to get your hands on, and is the perfect candidate for electric pressure cooking and slow cooking. And it’s good for you too!
In the summer we eat a lot of coleslaw, but I like to change it up by mixing in some cooked cabbage too.
While cabbage softens when cooking, it keeps its delightful taste and texture. I learned to love that texture in Indian food and now I love it in most dishes.
Cabbage is a Beautiful Addition to Your Plate
There are so many different varieties and colors that you can choose from. But in my experience, all heads of cabbage taste good.
We’re using red or purple cabbage for this recipe, but you could use green if that’s all you have.
How Can I Make Those Vegan Pierogis?
In the book, this cabbage dish was served as a side to some potato-stuffed pierogies.
I can’t give the whole pierogi recipe, but for a hint, you can take a vegan dumpling wrapper, and add a heaping tablespoon of mashed potato or other veggies.
Then wet your finger and go around the edges to seal. Steam for about 5 minutes and enjoy!
You can use this Vegan Instant Pot Steamed Vegetable Dumplings recipe to get the folding details.
All you need to do is have some leftover mashed potatoes to use a a filling.
This red cabbage recipe got cut from The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot. But the book’s loss is your gain!
Make an Easy Full Meal All at Once
Cook some chopped potatoes either wrapped in foil , or a Pyrex dish or stainless dish covered in foil, on top of the cabbage.
From there you can make mashed potatoes. Or you could start off a little different and toss the potatoes with dill and paprika then cook them. Both will make this a filling meal.
Make cauliflower steaks by cutting 1/2 inch thick slices from the middle of a head of cabbage. Cook these over the cabbage wrapped in foil. Season with fresh dill and lemon juice.
Add in some vegan sausage sliced into rounds for a one-dish meal.
Cook 4 pieces of lightly steamed tempeh with the cabbage. The steaming makes it less bitter.
Why Do Cabbage Haters Love Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Cabbage?
My sweet ad sour cabbage uses flavors that hide some bitterness that cooked cabbage sometimes has.
Also when cabbage is overcooked it can have that unpleasant smell just like cauliflower.
The trick is to not overcook the cabbage and to add some sweetness and a little bit of tartness from the apple cider vinegar.
Red cabbage and apples is a traditional dish that uses its ingredients to show off how wonderful cabbage is.
Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Cabbage
Ingredients
SAUTE INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon water or broth
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 4 cloves garlic minced
PRESSURE COOKER INGREDIENTS
- 6 cups chopped red cabbage
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup applesauce or the same amount chopped fresh apple
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Use the sauté setting over normal, or medium heat, and warm up the water or broth.
- Saute the onion until they become transparent. Then add the garlic and sauté a minute more.
- Add the pressure cooker ingredients listed above and put the lid on and make sure that the vent is closed.
- Cook on pressure cooker/manual setting on high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Carefully move the pressure valve to release the pressure manually.
Karen says
I am assuming that the nutrition statement has an error regarding the sodium content. I will try this recipe because it sounds great and it does not appear to have any high sodium ingredients listed.
Thank you for the recipe.
Karen
Kathy Hester says
Nope, it’s corrected now. For some reason it used garlic salt to calculate the numbers, but it’s corrected now.
Chuck Cunningham says
Is the sodium really 591% ?
Kathy Hester says
Nope, it’s corrected now. For some reason it used garlic salt to calculate the numbers, but it’s corrected now.
Rosy says
Do you leave the peel on the apples? Thanks!
Kathy Hester says
I do if they’re organic, but it’s up to what you like.
Claire says
I had a random red cabbage to try and this was so tasty! I loved the use of the applesauce and the tang. It was a perfect flavor combo.
Patrick says
Thanks for the recipe idea!
April says
is it 113 calories for everything or just a cup?
Kathy Hester says
It should be per serving, but the nutritional calculator in my recipe plugin is a little wonky. That’s why I have a disclaimer under it:
Nutrition information is provided from nutritionix.com as a close estimate. If you have specific health issues please put the recipe information into the nutritional calculator your Dr. recommends.
Carry says
This was marvelous. Unfortunately, the dumplings I steamed on top of it went to total mush! It all tasted good in the end, though.
Kathy Hester says
What kind of dumplings?
Christopher says
Hello, do you think it could be all done without instantpot? Ya know, using a regular kitchen pot instead. I’d be interested in trying this recipe, but I don’t have the instantpot needed to preare the meal; I’m just an old kitchen geek with hadful of basic equipment to cook with. Thanks for reply, btw.
Kathy Hester says
It will work on the stove for sure!
Chrisitna says
This had good flavor but I found it too mushy after 10 minutes. I will try 5 next time. Thanks,
Vaneta says
I purchased a new IP after my 12 year old electric pressure cooker decided to take a break. This was the first thing I made in the new 8 qt Instapot. By default it started at 30 minutes and I didn’t know how to cut the time back. I thought the cabbage, while tasty, was slightly over done. Good, tasty and was served over baked sweet potatoes for a complete meal. Thanks so much Kathy for sharing this delicious recipe.