How to shred cabbage
With the increasing popularity of “taco Tuesday” and the importance of eating healthy, fresh meals, now’s a good time to focus on recipes using a sometimes-maligned member of the brassica family: cabbage. Maybe you wrote off cabbage as a strong-smelling vegetable that can’t do much in the kitchen.
On the contrary — cabbage adds flavor, texture and nutrition to everything from condiments to main dishes. Here’s how to easily shred cabbage in a food processor, and all the ways it makes your food prep easier.
What to know about cabbage
There are over 400 different types of cabbage. The most common cabbages — red and green cabbage — are the workhorses of the kitchen. They hold down your coleslaw and keep salads fresh and crisp.
Other cabbages that are good to shred include Savoy cabbage, bok choy and Brussels sprouts (yes, they’re in the cabbage family, too!). Cabbage is an inexpensive and nutritious vegetable. Depending on which variety you choose, the flavor profile works with a variety of different cuisines and can add texture and flavor to your favorite dishes.
While cabbage can be messy and time-consuming to chop, using a food processor to shred it takes seconds and cuts down substantially on cleanup time.
How to pick the best cabbage
For most cabbages, look for tightly packed leaves on a vegetable that feels heavy for its size. You might discard the outer leaves, but make sure there are no signs of deeper damage or rot.
Napa cabbage is at its best when its leaves are bright and firm. Leave behind any Napa cabbage that has brown spots.
Why use a food processor to shred cabbage?
You could certainly use a sharp knife and some patience to create thin ribbons of cabbage for soups, salads and stir-fries, but shredding cabbage in a food processor is fast, easy and gives you perfect shreds. For recipes that use cooked cabbage, this means an even cooking time. When using cabbage raw, shredding cabbage in a food processor means no one gets stuck with oversized, unwieldy chunks that are hard to eat.
You might be tempted to go with bagged, pre-shredded cabbage instead of messing with a food processor. Freshly shredded cabbage is a better-tasting and more affordable option. This is a big bonus, especially if you’re feeding a crowd.
Finally, cleanup is a snap — simply rinse out the food processor and its accessories and pop them right in the dishwasher.
What else can you shred in a food processor?
Once you get the hang of shredding cabbage in a food processor, you’ll realize how much time it saves during food prep.
A food processor is for more than just shredding cabbage. You can shred any kind of firm vegetable or fruit that you might normally use a box grater for.
The shredding blade in a food processor makes quick work of cauliflower and broccoli for healthy dishes that include riced vegetables.
You can also use the shredding disk in your food processor to make mountains of shredded cheese. Freshly shredded cheese tastes better and is more cost-effective than pre-shredded cheese, which is helpful if you need a lot or are feeding a group.
Using a food processor to shred cabbage
Using a food processor to shred cabbage couldn’t be easier.
If you’ve only ever used the S-blade that comes with your food processor, it’s important to note one difference you might not be used to. Unlike the S-blade of the food processor, the shredding disk sits above the food bowl.
Start the shredding process by making sure the bowl of the food processor is attached firmly to the base, and the shredding blade is perched on top of the bowl. The food processor will not turn on if the food bowl and the lid of the food processor aren’t locked into place. See the instructions that come with your food processor for more guidance on how to attach the shredding disk.
After you’re set up, shred your cabbage in five steps.
Step 1: Cut the cabbage in half
Cutting the cabbage in half makes it easier to handle.
Step 2: Remove the tough core of the cabbage
Use a sharp knife to cut the core of the cabbage out in a triangle shape. Cut from the stem all the way to where the wavy pattern of the cabbage begins.
Step 3: Cut the cabbage to size
Cut each half of the cabbage in small chunks that can fit into the neck of your food processor.
Step 4: Prepare the food processor
Place the lid on the food processor and remove the pushing mechanism from the feed tube. Make sure the lid snaps into place.
Step 5: Shred your cabbage
Turn on the food processor and add cabbage, one chunk at a time, to the feed tube. Press cabbage toward the blade, and repeat until all cabbage is shredded.
That’s it! Once you use a food processor, you’ll never go back to the old way of chopping cabbage.
The best blade for shredding cabbage in a food processor
The best blade to use for evenly sized shreds of cabbage in a food processor is a shredding disk. Many food processors come with two sizes of shredding disk. Each shredding disk produces slightly different sizes of cabbage.
As a general rule, using the smaller disk to shred cabbage in a food processor is best for raw recipes, and the larger disk works well in cooked dishes.
Tips for shredding cabbage in a food processor
To get the best results from your food processor, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Your cabbage will need to be cut into a size that fits into the feeding tube, and vegetables and fruits should be free of pits before shredding. For safety, never put anything into the feeding tube except for the vegetables and the food pusher.
The best food processors
Choosing the best food processor for shredding cabbage comes down to what features you’d like and how much you want to spend. Here are some of the top products on the market.
KitchenAid 9-Cup Food Processor: available at KitchenAid and Amazon
KitchenAid’s reliable food processor is a consistent favorite. The latest model features a no-twist bowl and a latched lid to operate easily and securely.
Breville Sous Chef 12-Cup Food Processor: available at Sur la Table and Amazon
For serious cooks, a Breville food processor is a fantastic pick. With a large-capacity food bowl, this commercial-grade food processor also has a large feeding tube to minimize prep time.
Hamilton Beach Professional Stack & Snap Spiralizing Food Processor: available at Amazon
This model offers home cooks the option to shred cabbage or to make spiralized noodles. With six blades included, it’s an affordable option for people who want to expand beyond chopping or shredding.
Suzannah Kolbeck is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money.
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