Name: Curtido (El Salvadoran Cabbage Salad)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: ½ head green cabbage, cored and shredded; 1 carrot, grated; 1 quart boiling water; 3 green onions, minced; 1 cup distilled white vinegar; ½ cup water; 2 teaspoons dried oregano

Curtido is a salad made out of cabbage and served with El Salvadoran pupusas. Stuff cooked pupusas with the curtido for a delicious treat!

Curtido (El Salvadoran Cabbage Salad)

½ head green cabbage,

carrot, grated

water

green onions,

white vinegar

oregano

Combine the cabbage and carrot in a large bowl and pour the boiling water over the mixture. Allow the mixture to steep for 5 minutes; drain well. Return the cabbage and carrots to the bowl. Mix in the green onion, vinegar, 1/2 cup of water, and oregano. Toss until all ingredients are combined. Chill for 20 minutes before serving.


The recipe is fine, but the description is not accurate. Curtido does not go inside of pupusas. It's served on the side after the pupusas are cooked. One should open the pupusa to expose the cheese (and/or beans/pork, etc.) This helps to cool it off. Then one should rip off a bite size piece of the pupusa and pinch a bite of curtido into that piece before eating. Some also like to pour salsa on top of the curtido before eating.

A excellent recipe I love  curtido so yummy with the papusa's. I did use Mexican Oregano as it gives a much stronger flavor that is just my preferance. This also made a wonderful stuffing for my vegetarian tacos and burrritos. 
As for the food police comments  here it does not matter how one likes to eat their curtido, whether it be stuffed inside, thrown on the top,  eaten with hands,fork and a knife ect.. just friggin enjoy this wonderful delicious recipe so gracefully supplied by a lovely member.

I agree with T.L. Curtido doesn't go inside the pupusas. It is served on the side. I like to cut up the pupusa and have some of the curtido (and tomato sauce) with each bite of the pupusa. Most of my friends puree a couple of roma tomatoes by themselves and use that as the tomato sauce that is usually served with pupusas. The sauce can be pretty bland as is but the curtido has strong flavors, therefore, the bland tomato puree kind of mellows it out. Talking about strong flavors, I don't use quite as much vinegar for the curtido as a personal preference. However, the amount stated in this recipe is right and it yields a very authentic curtido. It is supposed to taste vinegary. 

I skipped the oregano and added a minced jalapeno.  The kids didn't touch it but that just left more for me.  Have been eating the leftovers on bean burritos and think I can say this is my favorite "slaw" type salad ever.

I made this specifically for Pupusas.  Alone, I am not a big fan but, pair it with pupusas and it is awesome.  I followed the directions as written (here is the but...) but, doubled the recipe.  My husband thought it tasted better than the stuff we got at the El Salvadoran restaurant.

Deliciously simple! I love this recipe, but I always add a fresh pureed tomato, too, right before tossing together all the ingredients. It adds another layer of flavor that I just can't do without.

This was excellent with fish tacos but it makes me wish we had a place around here to get pupusas. I don't know how to make them and I have a feeling it's one of those things that looks easier than it really is.

I suggest that you use MUCH less oregano  than called for.  I used top quality Mexican oregano, and the flavor was overpowering.  Otherwise, a terrific recipe.

Pretty good recipe,  I add less vinegar for personal taste and add a pinch of salt and pepper. I put this slaw on top of flat crunchy tortillas with mince meat, a slice of boiled egg and grated white hard cheese. Delicious!

I use 1/2 white vinegar &amp; 1/2 apple cider vinegar. Red onion instead of green onions &amp; a couple of jalepeno peppers cut in 1/2 in the jar. The longer it sits the better it is. A thin sauce of pureed tomatoe spiced hot or mild to taste.  Sauce on the pupusas, then curtido. We use curtido instead of regular cole-slaw  its addictive.

love this recipe, although I added "Goya Sazon", and pinch of my homemade "sofrito".

I can't wait to try this. But I believe I'll be adding some crushed red pepper to give it some kick. The Salvadoran restaurant where I first enjoyed this delicious slaw had huge jars of it in the tables. Also, it was spicy (not just vinegary), and the perfect complement to my amazing pupusas! ??

Curtido (cabbage slaw) is a great light alternative to the mayo based Slaw. I travel to El Salvador  quite allot and absolutely love the pupas with this slaw and tomato sauce on side.  But I made this slaw to go along with my pulled pork sandwiches. I did add 1/2diced jalapeño  to spice up.  Mexican oregano is more pungent  which Is okay with me. It's a preference

The vinegar taste was overwhelming.  This recipe was simple and quick to make, but all I could taste was the vinegar, even when paired with the pupusas.  I wouldn't make this recipe again.

I've only had curtido once years ago, so I don't remember what it's actually "supposed" to taste like, but my half Salvadorian son was begging for pupusas, so I gave it a try. I followed this recipe exactly, and I also prepped it the day before for maximum flavor.  My biggest comment is that the oregano was very overpowering, but maybe it is supposed to be that way.  Overall, it was ok, but I wasn't overly impressed.

It was apparent to me very quickly that this was going to be more sour than I really wanted, so I added some water to the marinade.  Easy enough.  I added a teaspoon of salt.  Next time I will probably try it with half apple cider vinegar, half white vinega, and only 1tsp of oregano.  This is a delicious low, low calorie slaw substitute.

I love pupusa. I love curtido. I love pupusa with curtido. But I love curtido even more, I could eat a whole jar by itself just fine. Thanks for sharing this easy recipe. I often find mold growing in the curtido jar at a pupusa restaurant near my house. Ever since, I want to learn how to make it clean. I didn't have green onions and Mexican oregano. I rehydrated my very old oregano in half cup of water before mix with blanched cabbages. Yum.

i'm not from el salvador, and i haven't tried a lot of different curtidos but i can say this is just like any other i have gotten from a restaurant or friend. very simple to make and tastes great. like many others wrote, i only used 1/2 the amount of oregano specified. it maybe could have used another pinch or so but i didn't want to take it too far. we had it with fajitas and everyone enjoyed it! it makes a lot too, i actually only used about 1/4 head of cabbage and still have lots left over. no problem though, it goes great with lots of stuff!

I liked this but my vinegar hating husband was definitely not a fan.  It does lack oomph and next time I'll add some salt, jalapeno, bell peppers, and what not.  I put it on pupusas today and put the leftovers in the freezer to put on fish tacos next time I have them.  I'm looking forward to it!

It was super easy to make and delicious. I opted to add some tomato sauce for a bit of color, as I am use to have curtido with a bit of tomato here in Los Angeles.

It needed about 2 teaspoons of salt per another recipe I found, but once added, was delicious.

Such a great condiment to add to sandwiches, tacos, or as a side dish. Plus great for the digestive tract!

This is good if you didn't plan ahead and make a good fermented curtido but can't replace the real thing. But sometimes you just need it and you need it tonight! :)

I made this to serve as a healthy coleslaw type salad since it didn't include mayo or oil.  Love that it is so healthy and yet so flavorful!  Used chives from the garden because I didn't have green onions, and added some salt and pepper, but otherwise, stuck to the recipe.  Steeping it in boiling water for a few minutes does something to the texture that we really like without making it even a little soggy.  Thanks for sharing!

i used this as a starting point to make a vinegary latiny cole slaw.. just added some season salt, garlic powder, and extra vinegar.. i only used 1 tsp of oregano (Mexican) and it that was plenty.. ty for the starting point for my side dish :) ~~UPDATE: cilantro is also good in oregano's place.. so good!

Curtido (El Salvadoran Cabbage Salad)

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total: 45 minutes

Servings: 3

Cost: $2.71 /serving

Author : Jenny

Ingredients

Instructions

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