Plain cabbage should not be packed into jars and canned as a vegetable. The National Center for Home Food Preservation and Cooperative Extension services do not have a tested process for it, and they advise against using cabbage in pressure-canned soups as well.
That does not mean a surplus of cabbage has to go to waste. Three methods are tested and recommended: ferment it into sauerkraut and water-bath can the finished kraut, pickle it in a tested vinegar recipe such as Ball’s spiced red cabbage, or cook it into a high-acid relish such as piccalilli. Those are the canning cabbage recipes worth making.
Why Plain Cabbage Is Not a Tested Canning Product
Cabbage is a low-acid vegetable. Low-acid foods need a pressure canner to reach temperatures that destroy Clostridium botulinum spores. Even so, researchers never published a safe home-canning process for plain cabbage. Two problems blocked it:
Heat penetration. Tightly packed shredded or chunked cabbage is dense. Heat may not reach the center of the jar in a predictable way, which is why untested “just add salt and water and pressure can it” methods are a risk.
Quality. Cabbage darkens and develops a stronger, often unpleasant flavor when canned without acid. Michigan State University Extension notes that cabbage “usually discolors and grows stronger in flavor when canned,” which is why they recommend sauerkraut or pickling instead.
Adding a splash of vinegar to a jar of plain cabbage does not fix this. Acidification only works when a recipe has been tested for a consistent, safe pH throughout the jar. Guessing the vinegar amount is not a tested method.
Do not use cabbage in the USDA mixed-vegetable or vegetable-soup canning recipes. Those formulas specifically exclude it. If you want cabbage in soup later, can a soup base without it and add fresh or frozen cabbage when you open the jar.
Which Method Matches What You Want in the Jar
| Goal | Safe method | Canner | Best use after opening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tangy, fermented cabbage | Sauerkraut, then water-bath can | Boiling-water bath | Reuben sandwiches, pork, soups, braises |
| Sweet-sour side dish | Tested pickled / spiced cabbage | Boiling-water bath | Roast dinners, sausages, slaws |
| Condiment for meats and beans | Piccalilli or other tested cabbage relish | Boiling-water bath | Hot dogs, ham, beans, cheese boards |
| Cooked cabbage for soups later | Freeze, do not can | Freezer | Soups, casseroles, stir-fries |
If the recipe did not come from USDA/NCHFP, a current Ball book, or a university extension publication, treat it as untested.
Canned Sauerkraut: The Most Useful Cabbage Recipe
This is the USDA/NCHFP recipe. Salt is not optional. It controls which bacteria grow and helps keep texture. Do not reduce it.
Yield: about 9 quarts from 25 pounds of cabbage Salt ratio to remember: 3 tablespoons canning or pickling salt per 5 pounds cabbage (the full batch uses 3/4 cup salt)
What you need
- 25 pounds firm, fresh cabbage (start 24–48 hours after harvest when possible)
- 3/4 cup canning or pickling salt (not iodized table salt)
- A food-grade fermentation crock, large glass container, or food-grade plastic container
- A plate or follower plus a weight so the cabbage stays under brine
- A clean towel to cover the container
Do not use aluminum, copper, brass, galvanized, or iron containers.
Ferment the cabbage
- Work in 5-pound batches. Discard outer leaves. Rinse heads, drain, quarter, and remove cores.
- Shred or slice about as thick as a quarter.
- Put the shredded cabbage in the container and add 3 tablespoons salt. Mix thoroughly with clean hands.
- Pack firmly until the salt draws juice. Repeat until all cabbage is in the container. Leave 4–5 inches of headspace above the cabbage.
- If juice does not cover the cabbage, add cooled brine made from 1½ tablespoons salt per quart of water.
- Weight the cabbage so it stays submerged. Cover with a clean towel.
Temperature matters more than the calendar.
- 70–75°F: fully fermented in about 3–4 weeks
- 60–65°F: 5–6 weeks
- Below 60°F: may not ferment
- Above 75°F: often turns soft
If you weight the crock with a brine-filled bag, leave it undisturbed until bubbling stops. If you use jars as weights, check 2–3 times a week and remove any scum.
Fully fermented kraut can stay refrigerated, tightly covered, for several months. To shelf-store it, can it.
Water-bath can the finished sauerkraut
Hot pack: Bring kraut and its liquid slowly to a boil, stirring often. Pack firmly into jars with juices, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
Raw pack: Pack fermented kraut firmly into jars and cover with juices, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
Wipe rims, apply lids, and process in a boiling-water canner with jars covered by 1–2 inches of water.
Processing times for sauerkraut
| Pack | Jar | 0–1,000 ft | 1,001–3,000 ft | 3,001–6,000 ft | Above 6,000 ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot | Pints | 10 min | 15 | 15 | 20 |
| Hot | Quarts | 15 min | 20 | 20 | 25 |
| Raw | Pints | 20 min | 25 | 30 | 35 |
| Raw | Quarts | 25 min | 30 | 35 | 40 |
Do not pressure-can sauerkraut. It is already high-acid. Extra heat makes the texture worse and is unnecessary.
Sauerkraut problems you can still use — and ones you cannot
Soft kraut from high fermentation temperature or low salt is a quality problem, not automatically a safety problem, if it smells clean and sour. Use it in cooked dishes. Slimy kraut, pink slime, or colored fuzzy mold means discard the batch. Keep cabbage fully submerged during fermentation; exposed cabbage is where spoilage starts.
Spiced Red Cabbage: A Tested Pickled Recipe
Ball’s Complete Book of Home Preserving includes a two-day pickled red cabbage that Extension agents treat as a reliable source when USDA has no matching formula. It is a vinegar pickle, so it is processed in a boiling-water canner, not a pressure canner.
Yield: about 5 quarts or 10 pints Vinegar rule: use 5% acidity vinegar. Red wine vinegar is what the recipe was written with. White or cider vinegar of 5% acidity can be substituted, but the flavor will change. Do not use homemade vinegar unless you have confirmed 5% acidity.
Ingredients
- 12 pounds red cabbage (about 3–4 heads), cored and shredded
- 1/2 cup canning or pickling salt
- 8 cups red wine vinegar (5% acidity)
- 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup mustard seed
- 1/4 cup ground mace or nutmeg
- Spice bag: 1/4 cup whole cloves, 1/4 cup whole allspice, 1/4 cup whole peppercorns, 1/4 cup celery seed, 2 cinnamon sticks broken into pieces
- Optional: Ball Pickle Crisp, following label amounts
Green cabbage can be used, but the flavor and color will be different. Do not skip the vinegar, salt, or sugar in this formula. Those ratios were part of the tested product. Spices can be left in a bag and removed; they should not be treated as the only “preserving” ingredient.
Method
Day 1. Layer shredded cabbage and salt in a large glass, crock, or stainless-steel bowl. Cover and let stand in a cool place 24 hours.
Day 2. Drain. Rinse under cool water. Drain thoroughly, then spread on towel-lined trays for about 6 hours so excess water is gone.
Tie the whole spices in cheesecloth. In a large stainless-steel pot, combine vinegar, brown sugar, mustard seed, mace, and the spice bag. Bring to a boil, then boil gently 5 minutes. Remove the spice bag.
Pack cabbage into hot jars, leaving a generous 1/2-inch headspace. Pack firmly enough that the jar is full, but not so tightly that brine cannot move through the center. Ladle hot liquid over the cabbage, still leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, and apply lids fingertip-tight.
Process in a boiling-water canner:
- 0–1,000 ft: 20 minutes
- 1,001–6,000 ft: 25 minutes
- Above 6,000 ft: 30 minutes
Wait 5 minutes after turning off the heat before lifting jars out. Cool 12–24 hours, check seals, label, and store in a cool, dark place.
This is a condiment and side dish, not a substitute for fresh boiled cabbage. The vinegar and sugar are what make the jar safe.
Piccalilli: The Official Cabbage Relish
When you have cabbage and green tomatoes, NCHFP’s piccalilli uses both. It is a cooked relish, not a raw pack.
Yield: about 9 half-pints
Ingredients
- 6 cups chopped green tomatoes
- 1½ cups chopped sweet red peppers
- 1½ cups chopped green peppers
- 2¼ cups chopped onions
- 7½ cups chopped cabbage
- 1/2 cup canning or pickling salt
- 3 tablespoons whole mixed pickling spice
- 4½ cups vinegar (5%)
- 3 cups brown sugar
Method
- Combine the chopped vegetables with the salt. Cover with hot water and let stand 12 hours.
- Drain and press in a clean cloth to remove as much liquid as possible.
- Tie spices in a bag. Add the bag to the vinegar and brown sugar and bring to a boil.
- Add vegetables and boil gently 30 minutes, or until the mixture reduces by about half. Remove the spice bag.
- Fill hot jars with the hot mixture, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, and apply lids.
Processing times for piccalilli (hot pack, half-pints or pints)
- 0–1,000 ft: 5 minutes
- 1,001–6,000 ft: 10 minutes
- Above 6,000 ft: 15 minutes
NCHFP also points to chow-chow, fall garden relish, and rummage relish as other tested ways to put cabbage into a jar. Use those published formulas rather than inventing a coleslaw canning recipe. Many “canned slaw” posts online change vinegar, sugar, or vegetable ratios in ways that have not been lab-tested.
How to Use Jars of Canned Cabbage Products
Sauerkraut. Rinse only if it is too salty for the dish. Heat it with bratwurst or pork shoulder, fold it into a Reuben, stir it into potato soup, or bake it with apples and onions. Canning kills the live cultures, so canned kraut is a cooked, shelf-stable ingredient, not a probiotic food.
Spiced red cabbage. Serve cold or warm with roast pork, duck, or sausages. It also works as a sharp side next to rich meats. Let sealed jars sit a few weeks before opening so the spice flavor evens out.
Piccalilli. Spoon onto beans, ham, burgers, or a cheese plate. It is closer to chow-chow than to sauerkraut.
Do not treat any of these as a 1:1 stand-in for raw cabbage in coleslaw. Texture after processing is softer than fresh cabbage.
Mistakes That Make Cabbage Canning Unsafe or Disappointing
Using an untested “easy canned cabbage” recipe. Packing raw cabbage with salt and water, then water-bath or pressure-canning it, is the version that shows up most often in blogs and is the version Extension does not support.
Water-bath canning low-acid cabbage. A boiling-water bath reaches 212°F. That is not hot enough to destroy botulism spores in low-acid food.
Assuming a pressure cooker or Instant Pot is a canner. Dial- or weighted-gauge pressure canners built for canning are the tools for low-acid foods. Electric multicookers are not approved for pressure canning.
Changing pickle ratios. Reducing vinegar, increasing water, cutting salt in sauerkraut, or swapping untested thickeners changes pH and texture. Follow the tested proportions.
Old or loose cabbage. Soft heads make soft kraut and soft pickles. Use heavy, tight heads and shred soon after harvest for sauerkraut.
Skipping altitude adjustments. Processing times above assume you increase time as elevation rises. Water boils at a lower temperature at altitude, so the extra minutes are part of the safety margin.
Ignoring a bad seal or a suspicious jar. Bulging lids, spurting liquid, off smells, or mold mean the contents should not be tasted. Discard them safely.
If You Only Want Cooked Cabbage Later, Freeze It
Freezing is the method NCHFP recommends when you want cabbage for cooked dishes rather than pickles. Frozen cabbage is for cooking only; it will not stay crisp for slaw.
- Choose solid, freshly picked heads. Trim coarse outer leaves.
- Cut into medium-to-coarse shreds, thin wedges, or separate leaves.
- Water-blanch 1½ minutes.
- Cool promptly, drain, pack with 1/2-inch headspace, seal, and freeze.
Use the frozen cabbage in soups, casseroles, and stir-fries. For stuffed-cabbage recipes, freeze leaves separately after blanching so they are easier to roll later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I pressure-can plain cabbage if I leave extra liquid in the jar? No tested process supports that workaround. Density and heat penetration are the issues researchers flagged, and soup recipes still exclude cabbage.
Is kimchi a USDA-tested canning recipe? Fermented kimchi is a refrigerator food unless you have a specific tested canning formula. Do not water-bath or pressure-can a family kimchi recipe and assume it is shelf-stable.
How long do sealed jars last? Store in a cool, dark, dry place and use within a year for best quality. Safety depends on a good seal and a tested process, not on an arbitrary date printed on the lid.
Can I can German sweet-and-sour red cabbage cooked with apples and wine? Only if you use a tested pickled recipe like Ball’s spiced red cabbage, or freeze the cooked dish. A stovetop German cabbage recipe is not automatically a canning recipe, even if it tastes acidic.
Why did my canned sauerkraut turn out mushy? Common causes are fermentation above 75°F, too little salt, old cabbage, or pressure-canning kraut that should have been water-bath canned. Soft kraut that still smells clean can be cooked; moldy or slimy kraut should be discarded.
Do I need special cabbage varieties? Standard firm green cabbage is the usual choice for sauerkraut. Red cabbage is traditional for the spiced pickle. Very tender types such as savoy or napa soften faster and are a poorer first choice for canning.
Cabbage keeps well in a cold cellar or refrigerator for weeks, which is often the simplest “preservation” method of all. When you do put it in a jar, use a tested sauerkraut, pickle, or relish formula. That is the difference between a pantry staple and an untested experiment.