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These step-by-step instructions will teach you how to shred green or red cabbage with ease, using 3 different methods! Now shredding cabbage for coleslaw, soups, or salad doesn’t have to frustrating or complicated. Skip the prepackaged stuff and shred your own cabbage like a pro chef!
How to Make This Recipe
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Prepare the Cabbage.
Rinse the cabbage under cold running water and pat the outside dry. Pull off and discard any wilted or damaged outer leaves.
Place the cabbage on the cutting board with the core end against the board. Using the chef’s knife, cut the cabbage in half vertically through the core. Cut each half vertically again through the core, creating 4 wedges.
Cheryl’s Tip: Make sure your knife is really sharp. Trust me, you’re way less likely to cut yourself with a sharp knife than you are with a dull one. It’s also way easier to slice the cabbage if your knife is sharp!
Position a cabbage wedge with one of the cut sides facing down onto the cutting board. With the knife, make an angled cut into the cabbage to remove the core. Repeat with remaining 3 wedges.
Shred it with a Knife:
Slice each of the cabbage wedges into shreds. Slicing along the vertical edge will make longer shreds; slicing along the horizontal yields shorter lengths.
Shred it with a Mandoline slicer:
Use the blade of your desired thickness and carefully run the wedge of cabbage along the mandoline with the cut edge down. (I like this mandoline that comes with cut-resistant gloves.)
Shred It with a Vegetable Peeler:
Use a vegetable peeler and “peel” the inside and coreless cut edge of the cabbage.
Bonus Recipe: Quick Coleslaw with Shredded Cabbage
A bag of coleslaw mix usually contains a combination of red and green cabbage, but you can also find them with shredded carrots and chopped broccoli. Feel free to add whatever veggies you like!
This recipe is from my ridiculously popular Egg Roll in a Bowl.
- ¾ to 1 cup shredded green cabbage
- ¾ to 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon white or black pepper (more or less to taste)
- salt to taste
Add all the ingredients to a bowl and stir everything together until it’s all well combined. From there, you can serve the coleslaw as-is, or you can sauté it in a hot skillet for about 5 minutes or until the cabbage is tender.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
How To Shred Cabbage (3 Ways)
Equipment
- Sharp chef's knife
- tool of choice sharp chef's knife, mandoline slicer, or vegetable peeler
- running water
- Cutting board
Ingredients
- 1 head cabbage any size, any color
Instructions
To Prepare the Cabbage
- Rinse 1 head cabbage under cold running water, removing dirt from surface and between leaves. Once cabbage is rinsed, pat cabbage dry with paper towels.
- Pull off and discard any wilted or damaged outer leaves.
- Place cabbage on cutting board, placing core end of cabbage against board. Using chef's knife, cut head of cabbage in half vertically, cutting through core. Cut each half vertically again through the core to create 4 wedges.
- Stand one half of cabbage up on cutting board, placing core of cabbage head against board. Slice cabbage half in half vertically, cutting through core, creating 2 wedges. Repeat with other half of cabbage head, creating 4 wedges total.
- Place one cabbage wedge cut-side down on cutting board. Make two angled cuts into core-end of cabbage, then remove core and discard. Repeat with remaining 3 cabbage wedges.
To Shred Cabbage with a Knife
- Slice each of the cabbage wedges into shreds. Slicing along the vertical edge will make longer shreds; slicing along the horizontal yields shorter lengths.
To Shred Cabbage with a Mandoline Slicer
- Use the blade of your desired thickness and carefully run the wedge of cabbage along the mandolin with the cut edge down.
To Shred Cabbage with a Vegetable Peeler
- Use a vegetable peeler and "peel" the inside and coreless cut edge of the cabbage.
- Knife: Make sure your knife is sharp! With a sharp knife, you don’t have to press down nearly as hard, making slipping and cutting other things (like yourself) less likely. Remember to also cut away from your body instead of towards.
- One medium head of cabbage makes about 8 cups of shredded cabbage.
- Storing: Wrap the individual wedges tightly in plastic wrap or add the shredded cabbage to an airtight container. Keep in the crisper of the fridge for 2 days up to 1 week.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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Thanks for the helpful tips
Glad you enjoyed them!
I always thought my grandpa had such a unique way of shredding cabbage – turning the cabbage around and shredding off the sides. Glad to see he’s not alone!
Sometimes grandpas know best. 🙂