Cabbage Salsa
GOOD.
I didn’t really know cabbage salsa was a thing until we moved to Colorado. One of the very first times we went out to grab Mexican food here the server brought out a big basket of warm chips with standard salsa and also a small bowl of cabbage salsa.
I didn’t think I would like it. After all, it’s kind of a weird idea. After I tried it though, I knew the server would need to be bringing me a larger bowl!
There’s a lot to like about cabbage salsa when you think about it. The flavors are fantastic but it’s costs almost nothing to make because cabbage is a lot cheaper than tomatoes. Also, just like traditional salsa, you can adjust the spice levels to your tastes.
Cabbage Salsa
Yield: Makes 10 cups of salsa
Prep Time:
Total Time:
Ingredients:
6 cups chopped cabbage
2 cups diced white onion (about 1 large onion)
2 green jalapenos, diced
2 red jalapenos, diced
1 cup diced radish
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced
2 limes, juice only
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
Tortilla chops for serving
Directions:
1) Chop cabbage very finely. You can use a food processor for this, but it only takes about five minutes by hand and gives you more control.
2) Stir cabbage with onion, jalapenos, radish, tomatoes (with juice), cilantro, and lime juice.
3) Season with salt and let sit for 20-30 minutes before serving so flavors can meld.
Serve with tortilla chips and store leftovers in fridge for up to a week.
The Basics
Most of the ingredients in this salsa are pretty standard salsa ingredients. Basically, I just replaced the tomatoes for a huge head of cabbage and some radishes for extra crunch.
Good simple flavors.
The most important part of this salsa is to make sure you take the time to get your cabbage really well shredded. I used a knife for this and it took me about five minutes, but you could also use a food processor.
Personally, I like a knife because it lets you get the cabbage to the exact size you want. I’ve had this salsa with large chunks of cabbage and also versions with very tiny strands of cabbage. It is totally up to you. For my homemade version, I ended up with a middle of the road shred. Not too thin and not too thick.
Spend some time on this.
I used about six cups of shredded cabbage for my salsa, but you can definitely just eyeball it. It’ll be fine if you use five or seven cups.
Once the cabbage is shredded, take some time to dice up your other ingredients. I used a few jalapenos along with a large white onion.
Lots of spice is good.
The diced radish adds a small amount of spice but also gives the salsa great crunch and color. They aren’t the most important flavor in the salsa so you could leave them out, but if you have a chance toss them in.
A small can of diced tomatoes gives the salsa some acid. In the finished salsa you can almost not even see the tomatoes, but a few canned ones help even out the flavors. Don’t bother draining them. Just pour in the juice and everything.
You don’t need a ton of tomato.
Season the salsa with a big pinch of salt, a lot of fresh cilantro, and lime juice.
Lime juice is very important. Don’t skimp on it!
Most important.
Stir this all together and let the flavors mingle for thirty minutes or so before serving.
Will keep great for a week.
The nice thing about this salsa is that it gets better as it sits in the fridge. I think it’s at its best on day two or three. After that it starts to degrade a bit and by day six or seven the cabbage starts to taste off.
This is way different than traditional salsa obviously, but I think most people will be surprised by how wonderful it turns out.
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Thank you so much for posting this! I love this stuff and have always wanted to find a recipe for it.
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I really like this idea. I have never heard of it before.
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Do you cook the cabbage at all? Or is it just raw cabbage?
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Nick replied: — November 26th, 2012 @ 12:42 pm
Nope! Raw.
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Such a great idea! I have never heard of this before. I would love to try with some black beans added as well! Thank you!
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Never heard of it! But if you say it’s good, it’s worth a shot.
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I’m thinking this has fish taco topping written all over it.
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That’s kind of like a crazy slaw that would rock on some bbq beef tacos, I’m pinning this one too.
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just curious, did you happen to eat this cabbage salsa at Arceo’s Mexican Restaurant? I live in the springs and that is the restaurant i tried it at and i love it! my dad wanted me to get the recipe but your recipe looks pretty good to me :)
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Nick replied: — March 22nd, 2013 @ 7:43 am
Nah… different place, but I think this is a standard app in a ton of mexican places in the colorado area. I’ve had it at multiple places. Hope you like my take on it!
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I live in Colorado also and had never had cabbage salsa until I visited Casa Vallarta restaurant in Aurora. I love it! I always liked cabbage but so many people turn their noses up at it but the flavor is so good! Thanks for the recipe!
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