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This cabbage and beet salad is worth discovering. It tastes a little like marinated cabbage salad (a type of sauerkraut), with a little sweetness from the beets. And it’s so colorful! The natural hue will surprise and intrigue your dinner guests, especially if they aren’t from Eastern Europe where beets are used in strange and delicious ways.
My mom grows these gigantic cabbages in her yard – I mean twice the size of my head! So ofcourse you’ll find plenty of cabbage recipes on my blog. We love cabbage raw, marinated, pickled, stuffed, braised, you name it! It’s based on a recipe shared by one of my lovely readers, Vika (I love it when you all write in with your cool recipes!).
Cabbage and Beet Salad Ingredients:
2 medium cabbages (5-6 lb total) *see note on cabbage in notes below
3 medium beets (1 lb)
3 large garlic cloves
Marinade Ingredients:
2 cups filtered water
1 1/4 cup oil (I used light olive oil)
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 Tbsp sea salt (best if it’s not iodized)
How to Make Cabbage Salad with Beets:
1. In a medium sauce pan, combine all marinade ingredients: 2 cups filtered water, 1 1/4 cup light olive oil, 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup sugar, and 2 Tbsp sea salt. Bring to a boil then remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
2. Finely shred cabbage (this is much easier with a mandolin and be sure to use safety gloves to protect your fingers) and transfer to your largest mixing bowl. Grate beets or cut them into matchsticks (we love this julienne slicer), then transfer to your mixing bowl. Finely dice garlic cloves and add them to the mixing bowl.
3. Pour cooled marinade over your chopped ingredients and stir to combine. Create a press to weigh down the cabbage enough to bring the marinade to the surface of the cabbage. We used a large dinner plate and a covered bowl with water for the weight. Refrigerate or let this stand in a cool room for 7-10 hours or overnight. We set it next to an AC vent.
4. Transfer salad to a large glass jug for easier storage in the fridge and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.This salad holds well in the refrigerator for about a week. Pairs well with steak and mashed potatoes
Cabbage and Beet Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients:
- 2 medium heads of cabbage, 5-6 lb total
- 3 medium beets, 1 lb
- 3 large garlic cloves
Marinade Ingredients:
- 2 cups filtered water
- 1 1/4 cup oil, I used light olive oil
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp sea salt, best if it's not iodized
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan, combine all marinade ingredients: 2 cups filtered water, 1 1/4 cup light olive oil, 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup sugar, and 2 Tbsp sea salt. Bring to a boil then remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
- Finely shred cabbage (this is much easier with a mandolin and be sure to use safety gloves to protect your fingers) and transfer to your largest mixing bowl. Grate beets or cut them into matchsticks (we love this julienne slicer), then transfer to your mixing bowl. Finely dice garlic cloves and add them to the mixing bowl.
- Pour cooled marinade over your chopped ingredients and stir to combine. Create a press to weigh down the cabbage enough to bring the marinade to the surface of the cabbage. We used a large dinner plate and a covered bowl with water for the weight. Refrigerate or let this stand in a cool room for 7-10 hours or overnight. We set it next to an AC vent.
- Transfer salad to a large glass jug for easier storage in the fridge and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.This salad holds well in the refrigerator for about a week.
Notes
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Thank you Vika for sharing this wonderful recipe with us! Keep ’em coming! 😉
Do I need to shred the cabbage and beets? I think I would prefer veggies into bite-sized pieces/ bigger pieces- iso shredding , do you think it would still work ok? Thank you for your guidance!
Hi Lucy! It marinates easily with thinner/shredded pieces but feel free to experiment with it. I hope you love the recipe.
I made this yesterday and it’s so good I had some for breakfast! Next time I will use either a “lighter” oil or use less. So yummy
Hi Diane! I’m glad you loved it. Thank you for sharing your experience with the recipe.
Regarding some of the questions below: I halved the sugar and added an extra bit of salt and garlic, and a little less oil. Basically you can tweak this however you want to your tastes. So good and so healthy.
I know our readers will find this helpful! Thank you for sharing, Dave!
Boiling beats first gives the salad much better flavor. But still it’s kind of bland. We had to add some more salt and apple sider vinegar before serving.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Hi, do you think this will pair well if salmon?
Hi Julie, it depends on your preference but I think it should be good with salmon.
Hey Natasha!
Could you please mute all your ads and videos, this became SOOO noisy. There is absolutely no way to start cooking something without waking my napping baby! Or, I’ll need to stop using your site for inspiration at all; it’s so distracting as well! I find the Video recipe I need, but then another starts playing simultaneously, and ads as well! I wonder if it’s same for everyone, but my patience with the mobile site is mostly gone. I understand that this is your income, but PLEASE MAKE ADS AND VIDEOS SILENT by default.
Thanks for understanding
Hi Olga, thank you for sharing your concerns and feedback. The only way we can continue providing free recipes is by having ads on our site so we are not able to remove those at this time. We find that most people would rather see the ads than pay to see the recipes. I appreciate your feedback and I hope you love every recipe you try. You should also be able to close the video window after a while, the x button shows up.
Hi Natasha, can I water-bath can this for shelf storage?
Hi, I honestly haven’t tested that so I’m not sure.
Hi Natasha, did you weight the cabbage with the core?
Thank you
Hi Tanya, yes I weighed the cabbage with the core. I had removed the ugly outer leaves then weighed.
Hi Natasha,
So the marinade goes into the jar too, you don’t drain right? Just get all the cabbage into the jar and then add whatever amount of marinade will fit inside right?
Hi Olga, yes that is correct.
This is the most amazing simple and economical recipe ever and it keeps really well (much longer than the recipe says)
and is now a stock item in my fridge.
That’s so awesome Sarah! Sounds like you found a new favorite!
This cabbage and beet salad is the truth, and that’s no lie. I’ve prepared it for family and friends and I’ve only heard yelps of delight and screams of joy. Unfortunately, when I share the recipe, those scalawags think it’s too much work. So anytime they want it now, I’m the one who has to make it. Oh well. There are worse things to complain about. Thanks for the recipe.
Sounds like you found a party favorite, David! Thank you for sharing that awesome review with us.
So delicious! My friends and I could not stop eating this salad! I love that you can change up the marinade according to your own preference. Next time I would make it a little less sweet since the beets add their own sweetness. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Inna! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
is the best natashaskitcheb
nice to meet you
I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂
Must the beets be cooked or roasted or are they used raw after peeling?
Hi Sarah, the beets are added raw to the salad 🙂
Thanks for your prompt response. Love your website. The marinated tomatoes are great! We used our garden tomatoes and some store bought ones to make a nice bowl. Delicious!! I used dried herbs since I didn’t have fresh and it turned out well. Spashebo! (sp?)
You are so welcome and thank you for sharing that with us!! 🙂
Natasha! Where did you purchase your big tall jar?
Hi Anna, I found that one at TJ Max which is not helpful to you since their inventory is constantly changing. Any 3-liter jar would work for this though or even a glass bowl with lid.
Wanted to give you and some of your fans a little insight into my experience with using Stevia and Stevia/sugar mix with this recipe. The first time I made this recipe, I used the ingredients as listed. Turned out great! The second time I made, this I used Stevia. Results were okay…you definitely know it’s not sugar, as most sugar-substituted foods turn out, but it was still really good. My favorite so far has been using SugarLeaf, which is a half Stevia and half sugar mix. I think this version of the salad was most similar to using 100% sugar in the marinade. As you can tell, this is pretty much a constant item in our fridge. Thanks!!
I just realized I’ve made this salad every week since finding it. LOL
LOL! Sounds like you definitely have a favorite! Thanks for sharing Rosie 🙂
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your tips with other readers Rosie!
This recipe is really good!! Thanks for sharing it. I tossed in a thinly chopped Spanish onion since I love marinated onions. I will definitely make this again. One thing, though…..I’ve never added oil to a pickle recipe, so I felt the oil made this really greasy. But I really liked it, so maybe next time I will use less oil.
Rosie, thank you for sharing your review, I’m so glad you liked the salad. Oil can be added according to your preference.
Have you ever used the purple cabbage for this? I have one and I was wondering how you think it would be.
Hi Carol, I’ve never tried that combination so I’m not really sure how it would affect the flavor or color. It might end up darker in color.