A terrific, highly versatile Everyday Cabbage Salad. Think of it like Coleslaw – minus the mayo dressing. Pairs brilliantly with light dishes like fish and seafood, as well as as rich hearty meals like roasts and stews. Can’t-Stop-Eating-It delicious!
A great Cabbage Salad for everything!
Keeping this post short and sweet because it’s an extra recipe I’m publishing today alongside the Brown Sugar Garlic Butter Pork Roast!
The dressing is a bit tangy (not sharp) with a touch of sweet, and it’s neutral enough to serve alongside almost any main, any Cuisine. I’d serve it as a side for almost any Western dish, it’s certainly at home with European dishes (Eastern and Western), South American and even Indian and Asian.
It’s an excellent stand by salad because cabbage holds up so well once chopped, so you can keep bags of the shredded cabbage in the fridge alongside a jar of the dressing, then toss it together when you need it.
Give it a bit of time to wilt, just like Coleslaw – the cabbage will sag and the salad becomes nice and juicy. Nobody wants to try to shove stiff bits of cabbage sticking out everywhere into their mouth!!
What I put in Cabbage Salad
I make this with just green cabbage (any type) or when I want to add a splash of colour, I mix it up with purple cabbage and carrot, as pictured. A touch of green onion wouldn’t go astray either, but there’s enough tang in the dressing such that it’s not required.
What this goes with
I call this my Everyday Cabbage Salad because it’s just that. Serve it with everything from Schnitzel to Pan Fried Fish, Meatloaf to Baked Chicken Breasts. Try it with these fabulous Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken breasts, quick crispy Garlic Chicken Thighs or these sticky Country Baked Pork Chops.
With a few little tweaks I’ve suggested in the recipe notes, it can be easily transformed into an Asian Salad to have as a side with any Asian food, including Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese. 🙂
Enjoy! – Nagi x
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Everyday Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
Salad:
- 5 cups shredded green cabbage
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage (or more green)
- 1 cup shredded carrot (or more cabbage)
Dressing:
- 1/4 cup cidar vinegar
- 2 tbsp oil (vegetable or canola, or light olive oil)
- 1 1/2 - 2 tbsp white sugar (adjust to taste)
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Shake Dressing ingredients in a jar. Start with 1 1/2 tbsp sugar and adjust to taste.
- Place Salad ingredients in a large bowl. Pour over Dressing, toss. Set aside 20 minutes - mound will reduce by almost half and become juicy! Serve.
Recipe Notes:
- Once dressed, the cabbage wilts and it becomes like Coleslaw which I love, so I have this for 2 to 3 days after dressing the Coleslaw.
- Storage / make ahead - I like to keep the chopped cabbage and dressing in the fridge, ready to use as required. It lasts up to a week, depending on how fresh the cabbage is!
- This recipe is an extra recipe I'm sharing as a side to this slow roasted Brown Sugar Garlic Butter Pork.
- Garlic is always a welcome addition to the dressing, but if you do add it, the dressing is only good for 3 days (on salad or in jar).
- Asian - Use rice vinegar instead of cider vinegar, add 2 tsp of soy sauce instead of the salt, and 2 tsp sesame oil. 1 tsp grated ginger and 1 minced garlic clove would be a bonus. Serve alongside Asian mains.
- Indian Style - use 3 tbsp of oil, heat in small pan over medium heat and sauté 1 finely chopped garlic. When it is starting to turn golden, add 1 tsp of cumin seeds. Allow to cool then use in Dressing. Serve alongside Indian main dishes.
- Middle Eastern - add a handful of torn mint leaves or coriander/cilantro leaves or a mix of both. Serve alongside Middle Eastern main dishes.
- Mexican - use lime in place of the vinegar and extra virgin oil as the oil, and add 1 garlic clove, minced. A handful of coriander/cilantro leaves would be ideal too. Serve alongside Mexican mains.
- Mediterranean - Use red wine vinegar instead of cider vinegar, add 1 garlic clove minced, and 2 tsp of dried oregano. Serve alongside Mediterranean mains.
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
When Dozer came dress shopping…. I live in a very dog friendly area!
Awesome recipe! Finally found a yummy coleslaw that didn’t have mayo
Yes! I love this lighter version!
For the Indian version, do you use the cumin/garlic oil in place of the oil in the original dressing recipe or add it as well to the recipe? Making tonight alongside the chickpea & potato curry😊
I use it on top of the oil in the dressing – I hope you love it!
Done both original and Asian versions and both delicious !
That’s great Chanetelle!
Can I use apple cidar vinegar? Can I use store bought/bagged cabage?
Sure can Theda!
Asian variation of this do I add the Dijon mustard and sugar?
Try this one Majelline – https://www.recipetineats.com/asian-slaw/
Fantastic salad , thank you !
Thanks Anastasia!
So tasty! We just ate a huge donburi (big Japanese bowl) full of this as a side dish to spatchcock chicken. Thank you!
The only coleslaw I’ll ever eat. I added in some finely mandolined red radishes from my garden. Just delicious, Nagi! Like every recipe of yours that I’ve tried.
That sounds so delicious Kerry!
Thank you so much for the recipe it’s delicious! I made the Asian style recipe.
Looks delicious! Do you think I could use honey or maple syrup instead of sugar in the dressing?
100% absolutely ! Start with same quantity then adjust per taste 🙂 N x
Nagi, this is an AWESOME dressing! I made a double batched recipe and within 3 days, it was gone! (just two of us) My husband said we needed to make this again. That’s a good sign! Thanks for posting this one!
Glad you enjoyed it Chris! AND hubby – high praise! Thanks for letting me know – N x
I’m back to report on this salad. It’s fantastic, and the basic dressing is so much lighter and better than any other I’ve had. I usually take a pass on coleslaw (vinegar or mayo-based) because it’s just sort of meh. Not this one. Not too sweet or tart, it’s like Baby Bear, just right. I portioned out enough for tonight’s dinner and added a drizzle of soy sauce to give it an Asian flair. So good! I can’t wait to see what happens when I add cumin and lime and use it to garnish carnitas tacos on Friday.
Glad you enjoyed it Sandy! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Brilliant idea, Nagi, and I can already imagine 3 easy mains to use it with; pulled pork, teriyaki chicken skewers, and grilled chicken tacos. But the thing is, I know my husband would scream if I tried to serve the exact same side several times in one week. I’m thinking of making the dressing as written to use as a base and adding a little soy sauce to the tossed slaw to pair with the teriyaki chicken, or sprinkling some cumin in for the tacos. Do you think those additions would conflict with the mustard? If so, I could just make the dressing without the mustard and add it back for pulled pork.
Hi Sandy! I hear you 🙂 Well, I hear your hubby! I am thinking of doing a Meal Plan where I do exactly that – one base dressing, add this and that to change it up! What I would do is use this dressing as is for one version, then add a small dash of soy and sesame oil to completely change the flavour of it and make it Asiany. A sprinkle of cumin would add a great South West touch to it! The other option is adding some lime zest, and for another version adding lemon zest. You can’t taste the mustard so it’s fine to leave it in for all – the reason I use it is because it thickens the dressing slightly. 🙂 I suppose it would be good to write these tips in the recipe, wouldn’t it??? If you agree, I will!! N x
Hi Nagi,
Thanks for getting back to me, just in time, too! This is going to be the salad (with soy sauce) for tonight’s ginger-orange chicken, with jasmine rice to round out the meal. It’ll re-appear with carnitas on Friday, and I’ll definitely add lime to it (good tip!) along with the cumin. I know I’ll have plenty of slaw mix and dressing left, so I’m thinking of adding it to next week’s Chinese chicken salad, adding hoisin sauce to the dressing to approximate the hoisin dressing in the recipe.
Please add your tips to the recipe!
THIS IS A GOOD RECIPE , MADE BETTER IF YOU ADD CUMIN SEEDS TO THE DRESSING .
ALSO GOOD IF YOU ADD ONION SLIVERS TO THE SALAD . YOU CAN USE YOUR IMAGINATION
I ALSO ADD SOME SESAME SEED WHICH IS ALSO GOOD
That would be wonderful Margaret! Thanks for the suggestions! N x
THATS MY WAY OF having cabbage . YOU can use savoy much softer . Or YOU can put bit OF salt Wait 20-30 Mins rinsed IT and ready to go. love IT. Enjoy Your weekend.
YES! Agreed!!
This sounds like something I need to try. I am forever trying new ways to do slaw (I didn’t realize that coleslaw meant mayo dressing), and this is a nice variation on what I’ve been doing lately. My mother used to make coleslaw with red cabbage and a sour dressing that used cream rather than mayo.
Oh to be honest, I don’t know either! I just happen to call it Coleslaw when there’s mayo dressing, and everything else is Slaw!