Crisp and colorful, cabbage salad is the perfect complement to any meal!
This easy cabbage salad recipe is super tasty and nourishing too. The sweet and sour dressing goes quite well with the simple crunchiness of fresh green apples and cabbage.
Why We Love this Cabbage Salad
Recipes for cabbage salad often involve a slightly soggy scoop of shredded slaw mixed with mayo, but not this recipe! With a tangy-sweet dressing drizzled over crispy, crunchy leaves, this is one salad that will redefine things for good.
It’s fresh and crisp and because the base is cabbage instead of lettuce, leftovers keep for a day or two as well! It can also be made ahead of time.
The dressing is homemade but with just a handful of ingredients, it’s ready in just minutes.
This salad pairs well with just about any entree.
Ingredients & Variations
This salad has more additions than a traditional slaw recipe. It’s easy to get creative and mix things up with this recipe.
DRESSING: No maple syrup? No problem, just use honey or even brown sugar mixed with warm water. ½ teaspoon of dry mustard powder mixed with 1 ½ teaspoons of mayo can substitute for dijon in a pinch.
CABBAGE: Napa, red, Asian, purple cabbage – any of these can be used. Feel free to matchstick some carrots, chop some kale, or even shred a broccoli stalk for extra flavor and nutrition.
TOPPINGS: Any crumbly, salty cheese can work, including goat cheese or even blue cheese. Toasted walnuts or toasted sunflower seeds can be substituted for pecans.
How to Make Cabbage Salad
- Thinly slice cabbage and apple (as per recipe below).
- Shake dressing ingredients thoroughly in a sealed jar.
- Toss together in a salad bowl and top with feta, cranberry raisins, and nuts.
Tips for Success
- If you aren’t serving this right away, a squeeze of lemon juice over keeps the apples from browning. (Or use Opal apples that never oxidize, keeping their fresh appearance).
- Toss the cabbage and dressing thoroughly and let it sit a few minutes before serving if time allows.
- Toast the raw sunflower seeds, chopped almonds, chopped walnuts or the pecans in a dry skillet for about 1 minute or until slightly browned.
Leftovers
Leftover cabbage salad doesn’t get soggy like tossed salad might. Just keep it covered tightly and refrigerate any leftovers.
Cabbage salad tastes great served atop pulled pork sandwiches or tucked into fish tacos!
Other Savory Salad Recipes
- Classic Coleslaw Recipe – a perfect summer salad
- Creamy Apple Slaw Recipe – a refreshing side dish
- Dill Pickle Coleslaw – creamy & flavorful
- Easy Asian Slaw– quick and easy!
- Creamy Broccoli Slaw – crunchy & tangy
Did you enjoy this Cabbage Salad? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups green cabbage thinly sliced
- 2 cups purple cabbage thinly sliced
- 1 small granny smith apple cored and sliced
Dressing
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 small clove garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon each salt & pepper
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
Toppings
- ⅓ cup feta cheese
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- 3 tablespoons toasted pecans chopped
Instructions
- Place cabbage and apple in a large bowl.
- Combine dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well to combine.
- Pour dressing over cabbage (you may not need all of it) and toss to combine.
- Sprinkle with feta, cranberries and pecans. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Salad, Side Dish
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At first I thought rice vinegar sounded odd, but the dressing turned out so well, both tangy and sweet. I used honey dijon mustard as i was out of regular.
I love the namebof your website…sounds
So glad you enjoyed this dressing, Pat! Honey Dijon Mustard sounds like a delicious substitution.
This is so good! I was pleasantly surprised. I used the bagged tri color cabbage so it was super easy to make.
I am looking for recipes with low salt for my husband with congestive heart failure.
I do not have specifically low salt recipes however some recipes can be made without salt (and with no sodium or low sodium products).
So good, and so easy! Thanks for this great recipe.
I wanted to make this for 2 but can not for the life of me figure out how much 0.67 tablespoon is nor 0.33 of a clove clove might be???? Your measurements are weird my dear perhaps if you weighed them in grams it would be helpful.
Your recipe sounds great but your way of measuring ????
Yvonne
Hi Yvonne, this recipe was measured and tested for 6 servings. Leftover cabbage salad doesn’t get soggy like tossed salad might, so you can store leftovers covered tightly in the refrigerator. You can also try this recipe convertor as well.
Love to! Thank you for the wonderful recipe and tips
I have always loved cabbage salad. And you’re right, this would go so well with any summer meal. Can’t wait to try!
We hope you love it Matt!