Curtido salvadoreño is the cabbage and carrot pickle that goes with pupusas. Shredded cabbage, grated carrot and sliced onion sit in a vinegar brine with oregano, garlic and habanero until they sour. It was originally posted here as part of our pupusas recipe, and it is the perfect pair to many other street foods in Belize, including tostadas and panades.
Salvadoran Curtido and Belizean Cortido Are Not the Same
Both are vinegar pickles served alongside street food, and the names are a spelling apart, so they get confused constantly.
Cuisinart Pro Custom 11-Cup Food Processor with Slicing & Shredding Discs (DLC-8SBCYP1)
Recado pastes built from achiote, garlic, and citrus need a processor that grinds them smooth in one pass. An 11-cup bowl is sized for the recado batches that get portioned and frozen.
Curtido salvadoreño is this page. Cabbage and carrot lead, onion supports, and it is left to ferment for a day or more. The carrot brings sweetness and the cabbage is far milder than onion alone.
Belizean cortido is the onion-forward version you meet on a plate of panades or garnaches in Belize. If that is the pink pickled onion you are looking for, that is the recipe you want.
This recipe is commonly found in Belize but it is an import from El Salvador, and it belongs with the rest of our Salvadoran recipes.
If you are planning on making pupusas start by making your curtido. If it has at least a couple of hours to cure, that is best.
Ingredients for the Curtido (makes about 4 cups):
- 1/2 head small cabbage, shredded or grated, about 4 cups (280 g)
- 1 large carrot, grated, about 1 cup (110 g)
- 1 large purple or white onion, thinly sliced in crescents, about 1 1/2 cups (150 g)
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) vinegar
- 3 cups (720 ml) water
- 2 teaspoons (12 g) salt
- 1 teaspoon (1 g) dried oregano, preferably Mexican
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 habanero sliced in rings
Curtido Salvadoreño Instructions
- In a large glass jar or bowl, combine the shredded or grated cabbage, grated carrot, and thinly sliced onion.
- In a separate bowl, mix the vinegar, water, salt, dried oregano, minced garlic, and thinly sliced habanero rings until well combined.
- Pour the vinegar mixture over the cabbage, carrot, and onion, stirring to ensure the vegetables are well coated with the dressing. Press the vegetables down so the brine covers them.
- Cover the glass jar or bowl and let the curtido rest for at least a day before serving. For the best taste, allow it to ferment for several days, as the flavors intensify and develop over time.
Storage and Make-Ahead
Curtido is made ahead by definition. A day in the brine is the minimum and several days is better. Keep it refrigerated in a sealed glass jar and it holds two to three weeks, softening and souring the whole time.
Keep the vegetables under the brine. Anything sitting above the liquid discolours and goes slippery, so press it down each time you take some out.
Do not freeze it. Cabbage collapses on thawing and the whole point is the crunch.
Equipment
A large glass jar, or glass or ceramic bowl. Not metal and not plastic. Vinegar sits on this for weeks and will pick up a taste from a reactive bowl.
A box grater or a food processor with the shredding disc. Cabbage shredded by knife works too and gives a chunkier pickle.
Tips and Variations
Use fresh and crisp cabbage, carrot and onions. The texture you start with is the texture you get, and limp cabbage makes limp curtido.
For a milder version, reduce or remove the habanero. Milder chilli varieties work according to your heat preference, and leaving the habanero in whole rather than sliced perfumes the brine without much heat.
Finely chopped cilantro or a pinch of cumin are both common additions. Neither is required.
The longer it ferments the more pronounced the flavour. Nutrition is estimated from standard ingredient labels, per 1/4 cup serving, about 16 servings from 4 cups.
Related Recipes
The dish this exists for is pupusas. It also goes on tostadas and panades.
For the Belizean onion pickle instead, see Belizean cortido.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is curtido?
A lightly fermented cabbage pickle from El Salvador, served cold alongside pupusas. Cabbage, carrot and onion in a vinegar brine with oregano, garlic and chilli, left to sour for a day or more.
What is curtido in English?
There is no single word for it. Salvadoran cabbage slaw and pickled cabbage relish both get used, and neither quite fits, because it is fermented rather than dressed and it is sharper than a slaw.
How is Salvadoran curtido different from Belizean cortido?
Cabbage and carrot. Salvadoran curtido leads with shredded cabbage and grated carrot, which makes it milder and slightly sweet. Belizean cortido is onion-forward and sharper.
How long does it need before I can eat it?
A couple of hours makes it edible, a full day makes it good, and several days makes it what it should be. It keeps improving for about a week.
Is curtido fermented or just pickled?
This version is a vinegar pickle that also ferments as it sits, which is why the flavour keeps changing in the jar. It is not a salt-only ferment like sauerkraut, so it sours faster and stays crunchier.
Can I make it without the habanero?
Yes, and plenty of it is made mild. Leave it out entirely, or drop the habanero in whole and lift it out after a day, which scents the brine without much heat.
How much does this make?
About 4 cups, which is roughly 16 quarter-cup servings and enough for a big batch of pupusas with plenty left in the jar.
Shop This Recipe
Curtido depends on uniform cabbage shred and onion rings — a chopper delivers consistent strips faster than knife work.
Curtido ferments mildly in vinegar. Tempered glass holds the brine cleanly through the cure.
About Joe Post
Joe Post is the founder and editor of Belize News Post. He grew up in Corozal Town, Belize, on the Caribbean sea with a view across Corozal Bay to Cerro Maya. He has lived in Costa Rica, Kenya, England, Spain, and the United States. He grew up cooking alongside his mother and grandmother, and has personally tested the vast majority of the recipes on this site. He started BNP in the early 2000s as one of the few independent Belizean news sources online. Over the years, the food became the stickiest thing. News comes and goes. Food stays.
