Everything To Know About How To Shred Cabbage

When it comes to cooking, we often want to be as time efficient as possible. That’s why people will sometimes buy ingredients that are already pre-prepared. However, this stuff can sometimes be overpriced and won’t necessarily guarantee the freshness you would get otherwise. Take shredded cabbage as an example.

Rather than buy a head of cabbage, some home cooks choose to get a bag of shredded cabbage instead. There’s no reason to do this, though, when it takes no time at all to shred the ingredient yourself. There are actually several ways you can do this, each of which is quick and easy. So, there’s no reason to spend money on the stuff that’s already prepared.

Shredding cabbage with a knife is the most popular way to do it

The most common way to shred cabbage is with a knife, and this is how you do it. Firstly, you want to remove the outer leaves of the cabbage because you never know what they might have been exposed to. Next, you want to cut off the cabbage’s core if it extends past the bottom of the vegetable before then cutting it in half. Afterward, take one of those halves and place the flat side down on the chopping board before cutting it in half again. Repeat this step, so your head of cabbage is now in four quarters. From there, simply take one of the quarters and start chopping diagonally using a slight rocking motion. How thick you make the slices is up to you. Then, just do the same with the other three quarters until you have a chopping board full of shredded cabbage.

A mandolin is another effective option for shredding cabbage

While using a knife might be the most popular option, there are other ways to get shredded cabbage quickly and easily. One of these is to use a mandoline. Start preparing the vegetable the same as you would with the knife until you’ve got four quarters. Then, take one of those wedges and place it lengthwise on the mandoline. After covering this with the food guard - if you have one - simply slide the quarter of cabbage up and down until there’s nothing left to slice. Again, repeat with the rest of the wedges until it’s all been chopped up. You should find that the mandoline does a good enough job of slicing everything up effectively. However, if there are chunks of cabbage that are still too big for your liking, just take a knife to them until they’re the correct size.

Box graters are also useful if you’re looking to shred cabbage

If neither of these methods appeals to you, perhaps you’d prefer to shred your cabbage with a box grater instead. However, just like the previous two methods, you will have to start preparing your cabbage in the same way. Once you’ve got your vegetable divided into quarters, remove the core from each of them, then place your box grater on the chopping board. Using the side with the largest holes, take one of the cabbage wedges and start rubbing it up and down against the grater. Do this until it’s all shredded, being sure not to catch your fingers on the appliance. Then, simply do the same with the other three quarters, so you have a nice pile of shredded cabbage ready to use in coleslaw, soup, a stir-fry, or another recipe entirely.

If you have a ton of ingredients to prepare or a recipe takes a long time to cook, you may not feel motivated to shred your cabbage yourself. However, as you can see, it’s a very simple task that shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes. So, unless you’re really pressed for time, it’s definitely worth doing it yourself.