How to preserve cabbage for the winter in jars, with and without sterilization

Not all housewives know how to preserve cabbage in jars for the winter, but it’s quite easy to do. This vitamin-rich snack will always be relevant: for a simple dinner or for a sudden visit from guests.
Preserving cabbage can be done in different ways, but it is advisable to follow the classic recipe and proven tips from experienced chefs.
Content:
- How to select and prepare cabbage
- How to preserve cabbage for the winter in jars
- Pickled cabbage for the winter in jars without sterilization, recipes with photos
- Canned cabbage pieces, crispy
- Pickling cabbage for the winter, recipes for sauerkraut in jars
- Classic pickling recipe
- Sauerkraut for the winter
How to select and prepare a product
This vegetable is one of the most popular in our country and it is no secret that if you add it to a dish, it becomes much healthier.
Heads of cabbage contain valuable vitamins, fiber and microelements. Experienced housewives know that canned cabbage contains many useful substances and prepare more jars for the winter.
It’s very easy to make pickled cabbage, but before that you need to take into account a few more important steps: choosing good heads of cabbage and preparing the vegetable for preservation.
General signs of good cabbage: it should be dense, weighty, with fresh leaves. You should not buy a head of cabbage if it shows some dryness, lethargy or excessive hardness.It is recommended to buy this vegetable only in trusted stores, as it is prone to the accumulation of nitrates.
Sometimes it contains more salts and nitrogen compounds than watermelons.
The stalk should be white. The head of cabbage should be firm to the touch.
The only exception is young cabbage, when its stalk is not yet completely hard. When purchasing, you should look at the stalk: if it is too large, then most likely this vegetable was grown on nitrates. If in doubt, after buying a vegetable at home, you need to cut out the stalk and remove the top leaves.
It is advisable to ferment cabbage in late autumn, when late varieties have already ripened. For pickling, it is advisable to choose the hardest possible heads of cabbage. If you follow the folk superstitions of our great-grandmothers, then you need to ferment on the new moon so that it is vigorous and crispy.
Sauerkraut in aluminum containers is strictly prohibited. The best option is wooden tubs and glass jars.
It is optimal to prepare coarse rock salt in advance, but iodized salt is also undesirable. For 10 kilograms of cabbage, the ideal amount of salt is 200 grams. The larger the vegetable was cut, the better its vitamin composition will be preserved.
If possible, it is recommended to add apples, cranberries or lingonberries to the cabbage.
When cabbage is cut after frost, it loses its bitterness, so the head can be frozen in the freezer before cooking.
The washed vegetable must be removed from the top leaves and stalks. You don’t have to finely chop the leaves so that they don’t lose their vitamins. Fresh green leaves will also be needed during the cooking process.
How to preserve cabbage for the winter in jars
This appetizer is great as a separate dish. Canned cabbage perfectly complements cabbage soup, solyanka, pastries, dumplings, and vinaigrette.
Often this snack is preserved with the addition of vinegar essence, such as wine or apple essence.
Successful analogues of vinegar are:
- lemon acid;
- fresh lemon juice;
- aspirin.
It is recommended to replace vinegar if there are children or diabetics in the family who do not want to eat this acid.
It is also important to preserve the heads of cabbage with the addition of other vegetables. Carrots are an indispensable component in the preparation of marinated cabbage salad. If desired, you can add bell peppers, beets, apples, horseradish root. Some recipes even include plums, pears and cranberries.
In cooking, the standard dressing for such a snack is sunflower aromatic oil mixed with sugar, salt, vinegar and water.
For spice, add standard seasonings:
- laurel;
- carnation;
- allspice;
- chili or jalapeno;
- garlic;
- coriander;
- dried dill and parsley.
Canned cabbage is prepared very quickly. Its beneficial properties last for a long time, and if you prepare more of this snack, you will have a supply of vitamins for the winter.
For those who have not canned vegetables before, you should know that before you start cooking, an important step is sterilizing the jars.
You need to make sure that the dishes are free of chips, cracks and other defects. The easiest way to clean a steam jar. You need a pan of boiling water and a wire rack on which the jar will stand. The jar is considered sterilized when steam condensation appears inside it. Before rolling the cabbage, the jars must be dry.
Pickled cabbage for the winter in jars without sterilization, recipes with photos
Eating this vitamin-packed cabbage can significantly improve your immune system.
Also, pickled heads of cabbage help reduce joint pain, relieve symptoms of fever and other inflammations. This appetizer can be made by cold salting without sterilizing the jars.
For the recipe you will need:
- 1 large mature cabbage head;
- 3 juicy carrots;
- 2 liters of filtered water;
- 4 black peppercorns;
- 2 laurel leaves;
- half a glass of rock salt;
- 1 cup of sugar;
- 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar;
- 1 aspirin tablet per jar.
Cooking steps:
- Chop the washed cabbage not very finely using a special grater or a knife.
- Cut the carrots into large strips.
- Mix vegetables in a bowl.
- Pour water into the carafe, mix it with salt, sugar, and spices. Stir with a spoon and pour into a saucepan. Heat the spicy water to a boil over low heat. Remove from heat and pour in vinegar.
- Distribute cabbage and carrots into clean jars.
- Pour the cooled marinade over the vegetables. Add an aspirin tablet to each jar. Close the jars with metal lids and roll up.
Let's watch a video on how to pickle cabbage for the winter in jars without sterilization:
Canned cabbage pieces, crispy
In order for the vegetable to retain maximum beneficial properties, it is recommended to marinate cabbage leaves in larger pieces.
Nutritionists say that large pieces contain twice as much vitamins as shredded pieces.
Such a treat will become an indispensable snack on a holiday, and such a salad will decorate and diversify the daily menu.
Required Products:
- white cabbage, mature and juicy, about 2 kg;
- 1 large beet;
- 6 cloves of garlic;
- 1.5 liters of clean filtered water;
- 3 tablespoons of coarse table salt or sea salt;
- 4 tablespoons refined sugar;
- 8 pieces of allspice peas;
- 3 laurel leaves;
- 100 ml of wine or regular 9% vinegar.
Step-by-step recipe for pickled cabbage pieces:
- Cut the head of cabbage into large pieces, removing too hard leaves and stalks.
- Beets can be grated or cut into strips.
- Cut the garlic into medium-sized slices.
- Mix all the vegetables together in a deep saucepan or bowl.
- It is advisable not to mash the cabbage so that it is as crisp as possible.
- Place vegetables in jars.
- Pour water into an enamel saucepan. Place on the fire until it boils. Next add salt and sugar. Add spices and boil for 10 minutes over low heat.
- It is not recommended to pour hot marinade into jars to prevent the glass from cracking. You need to wait until it cools down, and also don’t forget to add vinegar to it.
- Pour the prepared marinade over the cabbage.
- Close with rotating metal lids.
Pickled cabbage salad should be refrigerated. It will be ready after 24 hours.
You can serve pickled cabbage with beets with vegetable oil and additional spices if desired.
Pickling cabbage for the winter, recipes for sauerkraut in jars
Salting and fermenting vegetables are two different methods. It turns out that when pickled, cabbage loses many of its beneficial properties, while sauerkraut is much healthier.
Today, there is practically no difference between salted and sauerkraut, since both versions use salt.
Classic recipe for pickling cabbage
In addition to heads of cabbage, carrots are added to the salad recipe. This dish always turns out tasty and juicy, and preparation does not take much time.
Ingredients:
- 1 large head of cabbage;
- 3 medium carrots;
- 5 tablespoons of coarse salt;
- 1 tablespoon sugar.
Cooking option:
- The head of cabbage needs to be finely chopped.Mix the pieces with salt and mash them well.
- Grate the carrots separately and mix with granulated sugar.
- Combine the vegetables with each other, mix thoroughly and compact into containers.
- Place a pressure on top (for example, a bottle of water). Place the container with the cabbage in a bucket in case excess juice leaks out.
- Leave the vegetables in a room at room temperature for three days.
- After time, drain off the excess juice and place the cabbage in sterile jars. Store in the refrigerator or cellar.
Sauerkraut for the winter
An old recipe for real sauerkraut without adding salt will be an ideal vitamin-rich snack during the cold season.
Necessary products for one enamel bucket:
- 6 kg of ripe white cabbage;
- 2 kg carrots;
- 3-4 cloves;
- 3 laurel leaves;
- 2 tablespoons of dill seeds.
Recipe:
- Chop the cabbage and coarsely grate the carrots. Mix vegetables with dill seeds.
- If desired, you can add other spices.
- Pack the cabbage tightly into the bucket.
- Place a plate on top and place pressure on it.
- The secret of delicious cabbage is in the weight - preferably it should be from 10 to 20 kg.
- The cabbage will release juice after 30-36 hours. After this, you can replace the oppression with a lighter one of 2-4 kg.
- After three days, the load must be removed. Leave the cabbage for another 5 hours and after this time the appetizer will be ready.
Ready sauerkraut should be stored in the refrigerator in glass jars.
Making delicious canned cabbage for the winter does not require a lot of time, effort and experience. Both an experienced cook and a beginner can prepare such a vitamin salad.
Let's watch the video and find out another very tasty recipe for pickling cabbage:
Comments
For the winter, we always preserve cabbage with carrots and spices with sterilization, and periodically prepare sauerkraut, a couple of cans at a time. Sauerkraut is ready to eat literally in three days, it is very tasty, and the recipe is very simple.
Once upon a time, stores sold “Nezhensky” pickled cabbage salad. I didn’t really like it, although it also has its own piquancy. I like sauerkraut better and it’s healthier because it doesn’t use vinegar.
I never sterilize jars for pickled cabbage. I just pour boiling water over it and that’s it. However, I keep it in the cellar. It's quite cool there. Maybe if you store it at room temperature, you need to sterilize it.
Some people cook borscht from such cabbage in winter, I really don’t advise you to do this, the cabbage itself is very tasty, but borscht with such cabbage is sour and loses all its taste, it’s better to buy it.
And I love sauerkraut, I prepare it every fall. How? I plan it on a special machine into an enamel bucket, add layers of salt, grated carrots and special seasoning. Then, when the cabbage gives juice, I press it down with pressure and leave it in a warm place for several days, while every day it must be pierced with something sharp to the bottom. Then I put it in jars and place it in refrigerators. Sauerkraut with onions, drizzled with sunflower oil is a great appetizer!