How To Easily Cut & Shred Red (or Green) Cabbage

In this step-by-step tutorial post you’ll learn how to easily cut and shred red or green cabbage for a variety of dishes such as coleslaw, tacos, sauerkraut, Asian-inspired noodle dishes and more!

Ok, so I totally understand wanting to buy shredded red cabbage at the supermarket. Or if you’re making coleslaw, just buy a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix. But sometimes shredded cabbage is hard to find or sometimes it’s not the freshest tasting because it has been sitting in the store for days already.

Hopefully this tutorial post will take some of the intimidation out of cutting and shredding your own from a whole head of cabbage at home. You got this! 💪🏻

How To Wash Cabbage

The first step before you do anything is to wash the cabbage. Even though we will be removing the outer leaves, don’t skip this step 😉. After you cut the cabbage into quarters (see the next few steps) you can wash the cabbage wedges in a colander with running cold water. Shake them dry or dry them with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels the best you can.

Remove The Outer Cabbage Leaves

Usually you just need to remove the few most outer leaves, the leaves that might be wilted or damaged. We want to use the crispiest, freshest part of the cabbage for the best flavor, texture and recipe results.

Slice Off The Cabbage Root

You’ll want to use a sharp, high quality knife for cutting cabbage. I like these kitchen knives. Start with placing the head of cabbage on its side, securely holding it in place and slicing off the bottom root of the cabbage. You can then throw away the root.

Cut The Cabbage In Half

Next, put the bottom (the root side of the cabbage you just cut off) down onto the cutting board. Slice the cabbage in half all the way through.

Cut Into Four Quarters

Put the flat side of one of the halves you just cut down onto the cutting board like this:

Cut each half of cabbage in half again to create four quarters.

Chopping Cabbage

Now here’s where it becomes different depending on whether you want to chop or shred the cabbage.

If you want to chop the cabbage, you’ll start slicing the quarters of cabbage along the short edge like this:

Again, putting the flat, cut side of the cabbage down onto the cutting board. Repeat this for all four quarters of the cabbage.

Then, you’ll chop the slices you just cut into chunks. Watch those fingers! Using a claw grip is recommended.

And continue to chop until you achieve the desired size.

How To Shred Cabbage Using A Knife

To shred the cabbage, repeat all the steps but instead of slicing the cabbage along the short edge, you want to slice the cabbage very thinly along the long edge like this:

The key is to slice it very thin! This is ideal for making coleslaw.

Repeat for all quarters of cabbage and that’s it! 💜 See? Not so intimidating, right?!

Other Methods For Shredding Cabbage

You can also shred cabbage by only cutting the cabbage head in half, and the with the flat cut side down on the cutting board, slice thin slices as you’re rotating the cabbage either clockwise or counterclockwise. I prefer shredding the cabbage with a knife along the long edge of a quartered cabbage as mentioned above. I find it makes longer, thinner shreds. I suppose that is most relevant when making coleslaw.

You can also shred cabbage with a large (wide) vegetable peeler or a mandolin slicer.

Some food processors come with a shredding plate/attachment for shredding vegetables.

You could also try a grater, but a grater will likely make the shreds very small- maybe not ideal for coleslaw or sauerkraut.

* Note: I have not tried some of these other methods as I prefer the knife method.

How To Store Cut Cabbage

Cut cabbage should be stored in an airtight container, preferably glass, and kept in the refrigerator.

How Long Does Cabbage Last?

Cut or shredded cabbage will last for three days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge before it starts to brown (oxidize), so be sure to cut the cabbage when you’re ready to use it, or maybe a day ahead of time for meal prep.

A whole head of cabbage will last a 1-2 weeks if kept in the refrigerator.

How To Freeze Cabbage

Freezing cabbage is possible, however you will need to blanch it prior to freezing. Frozen cabbage will only be able to be used in cooked dishes, not raw cabbage recipes, like coleslaw, because the frozen cabbage will lose its crispness when thawed.

Recipes Using Red Cabbage

More Tutorial Posts

I hope you found this How to Easily Cut & Shred Red (or Green) Cabbage post helpful! I’d love to hear how you’re including red or green cabbage into your recipes! Please leave a comment below or pop any questions you have in the comments box👇🏻.

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Post inspired by Feel Good Foodie