Not all housewives have the habit of salting cabbage, so if you suddenly want sauerkraut, you may not have it on hand.

You can buy salted cabbage at your nearest store, but unfortunately, such preparation does not always meet sanitary standards, and the raw materials used are not of the highest quality.

Thinly sliced ​​stalks are very common in store-bought cabbage, but it is better not to put them there because of nitrates.

Just for such a case, there are quick recipes for pickled cabbage, including “Skorospelka” and other cooking methods in just a couple of hours.

Cabbage "Skorospelka"

Ingredients:

• 2 kg cabbage
• 1-2 carrots
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoons salt (heaped)

For the marinade:

• 1 glass of water
• 1 cup vinegar
• half a glass of vegetable oil
• 2-3 tbsp. spoons of sugar

How to make “Skorospelka” cabbage:

1. Cut out the stalk and shred the cabbage thinly.

2. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater or cut into thin strips.

3. Cut the onion into half rings, chop the garlic finely.

4. Mix everything with salt and place in an enamel container.

5. Pour water, vinegar and vegetable oil into a saucepan, add sugar and put on fire. Stirring, bring to a boil.

6. Add the marinade to the cabbage, stir and transfer to a jar.

If you pour cabbage with hot marinade, it will be ready in 2-3 hours, if you pour cabbage with warm marinade, it will be ready in a day.

Keep cabbage in the refrigerator. Its shelf life is approximately 1 month.

Pickled cabbage in 2 hours

Ingredients:

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• white cabbage - 0.5 kg
• sweet bell pepper - 0.5 pcs.
• carrots - 0.5 pcs.
• garlic - 3-4 cloves
• bay leaf - 3 pcs.
• allspice peas - 4-5 pcs.
• freshly ground black pepper - 1/4 tsp.
• water - 1 liter
• vinegar 9% - 100 ml
• coarse rock salt - 2 tbsp. l. (without slide)
• sugar - 0.5 cups

Method for preparing quick cabbage:

1. Chop the cabbage thinly and place in an enamel pan without chips.

2. Add carrots, grated on a coarse grater or a Korean carrot grater, and bell pepper, cut into thin strips.

3. Add garlic, chopped into small slices, freshly ground black pepper and allspice.

4. Mix cabbage with vegetables and spices.

5. Prepare the marinade: pour water into the pan, add salt and sugar. Place on the stove and bring to a boil. Pour in the vinegar and add the bay leaf. Boil for 3 minutes and immediately pour it over the cabbage.

6. Cover with a lid and leave for 2 hours at room temperature.

7. Then transfer to a jar, squeezing out the marinade a little, let cool completely and place in the refrigerator.

Serve with butter and onion rings. Delicious!

You can store this cabbage without marinade for up to 3-4 days.

Quick sauerkraut

Ingredients:

• 3 kg cabbage
• 3 large carrots
• 3-4 cloves of garlic (optional)
• 1.5 liters of water
• 200 g sugar
• 3 tablespoons salt (without top)
• 250 ml vegetable oil
• 200 ml vinegar 9%

How to make sauerkraut quickly:

1. Shred the cabbage.

2. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater.

3. Squeeze the garlic or chop it very finely with a knife. Mix everything.

4. Place marinade water on the stove. Add sugar, salt, sunflower oil.

5. As soon as it boils, pour in vinegar and boil for 2-3 minutes.

6. Pour hot marinade over the cabbage, directly from the stove. This softens the cabbage only a little.

7. Leave in the marinade for 2 hours. And you can eat.

How to prepare early sauerkraut

First you need to choose knives for shredding cabbage. Surely every housewife has some kind of device. I used a large wooden shredder.

We buy a well-knit head of white cabbage at the store. As you know, young green leaves cannot be fermented.

To prepare you will need everything in the photo. I took 3 kg of cabbage, three carrots, coarse salt and, if desired, cranberries. Don’t forget to immediately prepare a three-liter jar in which to salt the cabbage.

We cut the entire head of cabbage with a shredder and crush the resulting straw with our hands. If, when slicing the cabbage, you end up with very thin shavings, then you don’t need to mash the cabbage; it will release the juice on its own.

Grate three large carrots on a coarse grater and mix with cabbage.

We begin stuffing the cabbage into the jar. Fill in about a quarter of the jar. Use your fist really hard and pour a good glass of cold water. Take a handful of salt, not a pinch, but a handful. This is about a tablespoon. And add this layer.

Add another layer of cabbage. You will have half a jar. Sprinkle with a handful of salt and mash. There is no need to add water, one glass will be enough. Repeat this procedure until the jar is filled to the very top. If desired, layer the cabbage layers with cranberries. You will end up putting four tablespoons of salt in the jar.

Once the jar is filled to the brim, add some water. The cabbage must be covered with brine. From one head of cabbage and three carrots I got four liters of cabbage. Place the filled jars on a tray, or better yet, in a deep bowl. After two days, the brine will begin to pour out over the edges. You will need to make a hole in the middle of the cabbage to allow the gas released during fermentation to escape. Pour the brine back. You can drink the excess. On the third day, early sauerkraut is ready. The jar needs to be wiped, closed with a lid and refrigerated to stop the seething process. Once it cools down you can eat it.

A few useful secrets.

The topic of preparing for the winter comes up every fall. We salt, ferment, pickle, put everything that our (and not only our) garden and vegetable garden brought into jars and other containers. During the crisis, efforts doubled. The whole world is obsessed with canning. In addition, October 8 is approaching - Sergei Kapusnik, the traditional time when they began to ferment cabbage. We follow tradition.

When choosing a head of cabbage for pickling, I advise you to pinch off a tiny piece and try: sweet and crunchy - yours. It is dangerous to rely on what is written on the price tag; traders have also learned our preferences and assign any heads of cabbage to the highest quality category - “Slava grade”.

Cookbooks advise putting 100-125 grams of salt and the same amount of carrots per five kilograms of cabbage. My grandfather did it by eye 50 years ago. Considering the great importance of sauerkraut in the family’s food system, preparing cabbage resembled a ritual act. Grandfather independently purchased snow-white, turnip-like heads of cabbage, checking each one for juiciness and sweetness. I especially distinguished those that cracked at the base of the stalk - the ripest ones.

First, he chopped the cabbage, striking the layered, elastic flesh with a knife. The frequency of impacts was phenomenal, small pieces of porcelain scattered to the sides. Grandmother carefully picked them up, everything was in order, nothing was lost. Grandmother had to do “dirty” work - peel and grate carrots.

When the table was covered with a shaggy coat of chopped cabbage, the grandfather would scatter carrots over it and mix everything with gentle movements. The most crucial moment came - the actual salting.

Taking a pinch of salt (of course, coarse salt, “grind No. 1”, in no case iodized), he generously, sweepingly, like a sower on arable land, scattered it over the surface of the cabbage-carrot mixture. And then he began to mix, squeezing the cabbage into handfuls and pressing as a potter does when kneading clay.

I adored this particular stage of the process and immediately got involved. She pressed as hard as she could on the cabbage, but grandfather stopped her: it wasn’t a matter of strength, but of the tenderness of a man’s hand. Sweet and salty juice flowed from the cabbage, which the grandmother collected with the edge of her palm into a puddle, the puddle into a bowl, and then back into the cabbage. A mountain of cabbage was compacted into a huge tank, a circle cut from linden was placed on top of it, and a heavy cobblestone was placed on top of it. Within a minute the load was “floating” in cabbage juice.

The grandfather wiped his hands with a sense of accomplishment and left the grandmother with her “dirty” work - cleaning the room after the “battle.” In addition, she now had a much greater responsibility than it might seem: after a couple of days, she had to start regularly piercing the cabbage to the bottom in several places with a long wooden stick to allow gases to escape, and monitor the brine. As soon as the brine stopped “blowing bubbles” and became transparent, the grandmother hid the cabbage in a cold cabinet under the windowsill in the kitchen.

And then sauerkraut became the basis of culinary life: cabbage soup, solyanka, filling in pies and pies... But most importantly, cabbage is, without a doubt, the best snack! Grandfather respected both ingredients of the sacred action: the products of the domestic alcoholic beverage industry, and the most worthy addition to it - excellent cabbage of his own pickling, for which he invariably received praise from numerous fans of his culinary talent.

Time has made some very significant adjustments to the culinary process. To be honest, vegetables used to be juicier and sweeter. That's why I always add granulated sugar to all dishes with cabbage.

And I also learned to chop like my grandfather. To do this you really need a sharp knife with a heavy blade that swings down onto the cabbage like a guillotine. This is reminiscent of chopping, rather than sawing, wood. Relax your wrist and trust your own sense of self-preservation, it will not let you down. And most importantly, you can chop three or four kilograms of cabbage in about 15 minutes, I promise you that.

Antonov apples, cranberries, and lingonberries added during salting improve the taste, and sweet peppers, among other things, retain vitamin C longer. There are a few more cabbage secrets. If the brine suddenly thickens, it means you didn’t add enough salt (you need to drain it, boil it and add salt). If the brine is too strong, then the cabbage is slowly fermented (you need to drain part of the brine and add plain water). If the room where the cabbage is fermented is cool (below +15 degrees), then the process of lactic acid release will slow down and the cabbage will taste bitter. If your kitchen is hot, fermentation will speed up, but the taste will deteriorate.

Vitamin C in cabbage without brine is quickly destroyed, so take it out and immediately put it on the table. And, of course, do not wash your own pickled sauerkraut, otherwise all the valuable minerals (calcium, potassium, phosphorus) and vitamins that it contains will float away.

Modernity has made its own adjustments to the culinary process. Admiring the classic tradition of pickling cabbage and guided by my own taste preferences, I long ago settled on a sourdough method that is characterized by minimal labor input and maximum output effect. Very tasty, very fast!

Sauerkraut (early ripening)

For three kilograms of snow-white (not green!) cabbage you need: two liters of water (passed through a filter), two tablespoons of salt (preferably coarse), three-quarters of a glass of granulated sugar, three large carrots. Chop the cabbage, add the chopped carrots, place everything in a pan or jar and add cold water with salt diluted in it. Keep warm at room temperature for three days, then pour granulated sugar into the cabbage, mix and refrigerate (in the refrigerator). In a day or two it is ready. To enhance the taste, sugar can be replaced with a spoon or two of honey.

The beauty of this recipe is that you get a lot of brine at once, and in our family we drink it morning and evening, regardless of life circumstances - we just love it. Yes, and useful.

Or this recipe also goes with a bang.

Gurian cabbage

For three kilograms of white cabbage: half a kilogram of celery, half a kilogram of beets, 150 grams of garlic, one hot pepper, two liters of water (boiling water), one tablespoon of salt.

Cut the cabbage into large chunks, celery greens into large pieces, beets into slices, garlic and hot pepper into pieces. Place in rows in a bowl and fill with hot brine. Keep it warm for several days, then put it in a cool place. A mind-blowing snack. And the color! And the taste!

To summarize what has been said: sauerkraut, which retains almost all the vitamins and biologically active substances fresh, is a win-win product in the kitchen. She will never let you down, so don’t doubt that everything will work out for you. Get to work!

Photo: Elena Moiseeva/Rusmediabank.ru

Now is the time to salt cabbage - and it is salted in October-November. It is clear that you can always buy it in bulk or in packaging at the market or in a store. Well, it’s never too late for housewives to pickle or marinate it themselves. So let's try to do this business, and put the recipes in our cookbook.

Cabbage "Bystraya"

Required 2 kg of cabbage, 2-3 carrots.
For the brine: 700 ml water, two thirds of a glass of sugar, 2 tbsp. spoons of salt, 1 glass of vegetable oil, half a glass of 9% vinegar, as well as spices (allspice and black peppercorns, cloves, bay leaf) to taste.

Chop the cabbage and grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Mix. Pour in hot brine.

To make the brine, combine all products except vinegar and put on fire. When it boils, add vinegar, remove from heat and immediately pour hot over cabbage. Put oppression. After 6-9 hours, the cabbage is ready to eat. Place it in a jar, close it with a nylon lid and put it in the refrigerator.

For 1 kg of white cabbage you will need 2-3 carrots, 3-4 cloves of garlic, a quarter cup of vegetable oil, half a cup of sugar, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of coarse salt, half a glass of 6% vinegar, 0.5 liters of water.

Chop the cabbage into thin strips. Grate the carrots on a regular coarse grater. Pass the garlic through a press. Mix all vegetables in a bowl.

Pour water into a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Then add sugar and salt, pour in oil and vinegar. Stir and bring to a boil.

Pour the resulting hot filling into the cabbage.

After 3-4 hours the cabbage is ready.

Be sure to prepare and include sauerkraut in your diet, which is not without reason called a cocktail of vigor and health for its unique combination of vitamins, potassium, iron, magnesium and zinc. Thanks to its biologically active substances, sauerkraut strengthens the immune system, but you can eat it as much as you like.

But since sauerkraut contains a large amount of organic acids, it is contraindicated for patients suffering from high acidity, peptic ulcers of the stomach and intestines, as well as diseases of the liver and pancreas.

Bon appetit!

In Rus', from time immemorial, sauerkraut was prepared for the winter. It was usually stored in wooden barrels in the cold, defrosting as necessary. Traditional sour cabbage was made from such cabbage, it was added to pies and placed on the table as an appetizer. The habit of fermenting cabbage was brought with them by the Russian people who were exploring Siberia.

Classic sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is traditionally prepared in the fall. During the winter, you can prepare various dishes from it - snacks, soups, bigus. Sauerkraut is good in the form of a salad with onions and butter; its taste can be decorated with an apple, cranberry or lingonberry.

Traditional sauerkraut - for the whole winter. Photo: AiF/ Tatyana Rudenko

Ingredients

How to cook

Chop the cabbage, grate the carrots, add salt. Grind the cabbage until juice forms. Place cabbage and carrots in an enamel or wooden container, cover with a plate, and place a weight on top. The released juice should cover the entire cabbage.

The fermentation process takes about 3-4 days; you need to periodically lift the load and pierce the cabbage to release the gas. When gas formation stops and the cabbage acquires a sauerkraut taste, it should be placed in jars and stored in a cool place.

Early ripening cabbage

Early ripening cabbage is cooked with a small amount of salt, which makes it sweetish. It is better to eat it within two weeks, and then prepare the next portion.

Early ripening cabbage should be eaten quickly. Photo: AiF/ Tatyana Rudenko

Ingredients

• White cabbage - 10 kg
• Carrots - 1 kg
• Salt - 100 g

How to cook

Chop the cabbage, cut about a quarter into slices. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Mix shredded cabbage, carrots, add salt. Place the cabbage in a bowl, arranging it in large chunks. Press the cabbage down with a weight. Pickling of early ripening cabbage takes 2-3 days. Then it must be transferred to jars and stored in a cool place. This cabbage can be stored for up to two weeks.

Cabbage "Pilustka"

This white and pink cabbage turns out to be very elegant; it will decorate the table both on weekdays and on holidays. In a cold place, such cabbage can be stored all winter. “Pilyustka” means “petals” in Ukrainian. This recipe was brought to Siberia by settlers from Ukraine who came to explore these regions during the period of Stolypin’s reforms.

Cabbage “Pilustka” looks very elegant on the table. Photo: AiF/ Tatyana Rudenko

Ingredients

How to cook

Cut the cabbage into “petals” with a side length of several centimeters. Cut the beets into thin layers. Cut the garlic cloves lengthwise. Place cabbage leaves, beets, garlic in layers in a jar, add spices.

Prepare the marinade. To do this, boil water, add sugar, salt, boil for 5 minutes. Add vinegar and remove from heat. Pour hot marinade over cabbage. Keep at room temperature for a day, then put in the refrigerator or cellar.

Appetizer of cabbage and eggplant for the winter

This recipe is suitable for those who prefer spicy food and love eggplants. This unusual snack keeps well all winter in the refrigerator or cellar. When serving cabbage and eggplants, you can sprinkle with chopped onions and pour over sunflower oil.

This original cabbage and eggplant appetizer will appeal to spicy lovers. Photo: AiF/ Tatyana Rudenko

Ingredients

• Eggplants - 1 kg
• White cabbage - 1 kg
• Carrots - 300 g
• Garlic - 10 cloves
• Hot pepper - 1 pc.
• Black peppercorns - 10 pcs.
• Salt - 1.5 tbsp. l.
• Vinegar 9% - 0.5 tbsp.

How to cook

Cut off the tails of the eggplants, put them in boiling water and cook for 5-7 minutes. Then cool them and cut them into pieces with a side of 1-2 cm.

Chop the cabbage, add grated carrots. Pass the garlic through a garlic press, chop the hot pepper finely and add to the cabbage. Put peppercorns there too. Add eggplant, salt and vinegar to the overall mixture.

Place the salad in jars and put it in a cool place; it will be ready in a week.

Pickled cabbage without salt

The simplest sauerkraut recipe, which only requires water. Vegetables fermented without salt are very beneficial for digestion.

Sauerkraut without salt is very good for health. Photo: AiF/ Tatyana Rudenko

Ingredients

• White cabbage - 1 kg
• Water - as much as needed

How to cook

Chop the cabbage and put it in a jar, no need to mash it. Then pour cooled boiled water and place in a dark place at room temperature. The first time fermentation without salt takes place within 5-7 days. After this, you can remove the cabbage and leave the next portion in brine to ferment. This can be done many times, each time the cabbage will be tastier and cook in a shorter time. You can store sauerkraut without salt in brine in the refrigerator.