Warm Red Cabbage Salad with Feta and Pecans

At this time of year, I love exploring a wide range of winter vegetables. Cabbage sometimes gets unfairly cast as a boring vegetable.  This warm red cabbage salad shows how versatile and tasty a head of cabbage can be.   A longtime favorite recipe at our table, it offers a mix of textures and outstanding flavors in a vibrantly colored dish.

After making this salad recently, I read that 2026 is going to be the year of the cabbage.  “Live, laugh, leaf,” Pinterest’s Prediction board says. Folks are looking for fiber, flavor, and ease of preparation. I’d say this warm red cabbage salad has all of those qualities.

Harmony of Flavors

While warm, silky red cabbage is the star of the dish, fresh apple slices and pecans add crunch. In addition, Kalamata olives and feta cheese contribute a salty note, and the onion and garlic build an earthy base. 

This red cabbage salad is adapted from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.  I changed the order and length of cooking time for some of the ingredients.

Madison starts the salad with oil, vinegar, and garlic, then cooks red onion for 30 seconds.  I like to start with cooking the onion more slowly in olive oil to take away its bite. Once the onion has mellowed in both texture and intensity, I add minced garlic.  Next the cabbage and a bit of vinegar go in.  Tossed in the heated pan, the cabbage becomes softer yet vibrant in color.

When the cabbage has cooked to the right texture, the rest of the ingredients join the fun.

I add a bit more sherry vinegar at this point in the salad’s preparation to ensure that its bright flavor remains when the salad is served. And then I taste the salad before serving and add more vinegar, if needed.

Variety in each forkful

Each bite of the salad is full of interest.  The nutty pecans play well with the feta, and surprisingly, the olives complement the crisp apple slices.  There is a melody of salty vs. sweet, crunchy vs. delicate, acidic vs earthy that is quite special.

While I’m a big fan of all of these flavors, not everyone is.  I sometimes hold back the feta, pecans, and olives and then serve them in separate small bowls alongside the cooked cabbage. That way my friends can add what they like or leave out what they don’t like or can’t eat.

The intense pinkish-purple hue of the cooked cabbage makes this a great dish for a Mardi Gras table.

I think starting the year with a bowlful of crunch and color is a good idea.

Warm Red Cabbage Salad with Feta and Pecans

Sunnyside Cook

Dawn Dobie

This cabbage creation combines beautiful colors and textures and can be served as a salad or vegetable dish.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Roasting pecans 10 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup pecans toasted (see below) and then roughly chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red onion peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon or more sherry vinegar (divided, see below)
• 1 small red cabbage about 1 1/4 pounds, quartered and thinly sliced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 red apple cored, quartered and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup pitted and chopped kalamata olives
• 3 ounces feta cheese crumbled or cut into small cubes
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Instructions

 

For the pecans

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and put in oven. Bake for 5 minutes. Stir the pecans and bake an additional 5 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to plate. Allow the pecans to cool to room temperature, then chop and set aside.

For the salad

• Heat the olive oil in a large, wide skillet over medium heat and add the sliced onion. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft and a light pink color.
• Add the minced garlic and cook an additional minute.
• Turn the heat to high heat and add the cabbage, one teaspoon of sherry vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Toss often with tongs until the leaves begin to soften and become more pink.
• Remove the skillet from the heat and add 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, the apples, olives, parsley, and pecans. Return to medium high heat, toss until all these elements are well combined with the cabbage, remove from heat, add the feta and toss again.
• Taste to see if more salt or vinegar is needed. Add one or both to taste. Add freshly ground black pepper and toss again. Serve warm.

Notes

Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison.