This cabbage crunch salad makes a colorful addition to meals and it takes no more than 15 minutes to make! It combines shredded cabbage and carrots with crunchy cashews and a flavor-packed sauce that's full of sweet, salty, umami goodness!
Recipe Price: $5.42 | Per Serving: $0.90 | Makes: 6 servings
This Japanese cabbage salad is one of my new favorites - we’ve been eating it all fall long because it is crunchy, affordable, and super satisfying! It’s a great side dish to go with dumplings, crispy stovetop salmon, or your favorite Japanese-style protein.
The leftovers can be tossed with some quinoa and edamame for a complete meal.
Our favorite pairing was with this version of the viral rice paper dumplings, which were SO EASY and SO DELICIOUS.
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What is Cabbage Crunch Salad?
It's a raw vegetable salad that contains cabbage as the main ingredient along with other various crunchy elements that create texture in the salad. The exact ingredients can vary but it often includes shredded cabbage, carrots, and other vegetables for freshness, as well as crunchy additions like nuts or seeds.
The dressing for a crunchy cabbage salad can vary as well. It’s a versatile dish that is customizable to suit personal preferences and dietary needs. It's often served as a side dish at picnics, barbecues, and potlucks due to its refreshing and crunchy nature.
Why You Will Love This Cabbage Crunch Salad Recipe
- No Cooking Required. My favorite thing about this asian cabbage salad recipe is that it requires zero cooking! All you need to do is mix up the dressing, chop some veggies, and mix it all together.
- Budget-Friendly Side Dish. The salad mostly uses simple vegetables and pantry staples. Buy your cashews raw in bulk and toast them yourself to save some money!
- Delicious Way to Enjoy Vegetables. This salad is so colorful, crunchy, and the Asian-inspired dressing infuses it with so much flavor!
Ingredients
Here's a look at the main ingredients you need to have on hand to make this Asian cabbage salad recipe. For the full ingredient list and quantities of each, check the recipe card further down the page.
- Ginger and Garlic: Use fresh ginger and garlic for the most aromatic flavor. It's important to finely grate them so they will mix into the dressing more evenly.
- Rice vinegar: Adds a bit of acid to the Asian cabbage salad dressing.
- Soy sauce or tamari: These add some umami flavor and saltiness to the sauce. Be sure to use gluten-free options if needed.
- Toasted sesame oil: For the best flavor make sure you are using toasted sesame oil which has a more intense flavor than regular sesame oil.
- Honey: Gives a bit of sweetness to the sauce that helps to balance out the vinegar and saltiness of the soy sauce. You can also use another liquid sweetener such as agave syrup or maple syrup if you prefer but the flavor may be slightly different.
- Lime juice: Use freshly squeezed lime juice for the best flavor.
- Cabbage: Purple cabbage makes this sesame cabbage salad so colorful! It also has a nice crunchy texture. We will also be using some green cabbage or napa cabbage along with the color.
- Carrots: Another element of color to make the salad more vibrant.
- Green onions: Perfect for adding mild onion flavor to the salad.
- Cashews: I often buy raw cashews and roast them myself with a little salt. You can use raw, roasted, salted, or unsalted in this recipe. You may have to adjust the salt based on the cashews you choose.
Dietary Modifications and Variations
- Paleo: No, it's not. If you want to make it paleo use coconut aminos in place ofthe soy sauce and leave off the cashews.
- Vegetarian: Yes! This sesame cabbage crunch salad is vegetarian! If you wan tto make it vegan all you need to do is use a vegan sweetener instead of honey in the recipe!
- Spicy: If you want to add a bit of spice to your Asian napa cabbage salad you can add some chopped chilies along with the vegetables in the salad or you can add a bit of sriracha to the sauce.
- Add Protein: If you want to add a bit of protein you can add some edamame, diced chicken, or diced tofu.
- Vegetable Variations: If you're looking to swap some vegetables colored bell peppers, broccoli slaw, chopped blanched broccoli, or chopped cucumber would all work well. When choosing substitutes try to aim for a mixture of colors and crunchy vegetables.
- Nut-Free: Swap the cashews for sunflower seeds!
How to Make Cabbage Crunch Salad
Grab all your ingredients and let's get cooking! Here's a overview of the steps but you will find all the details in the recipe card.
- Make the Sauce: Combine the grated ginger and garlic with the rice vinegar, soy sauce or tamari, sesame oil, honey, and lime juice in a bowl or jar. Shake or whisk together until mixed.
- Combine the purple cabbage, green cabbage, carrots, green onions in a large bowl Add a pinch of salt and toss together.
- Add the cashews and salad dressing to the vegetables.
- Toss together to thoroughly mix. Transfer the salad to your serving bowl and garnish with the remaining green onion, chopped cashews, and optional sesame seeds.
PRO TIP: The more you mix this salad, the more ‘massaged’ the cabbage will become and result in a softer texture.
Serving Suggestions
Serve up this Asian cabbage salad with a variety of dishes to create healthy and delicious meals. It also travels well for picnics, potlucks, or a simple lunch box side.
Enjoy it with this your favorite chicken recipes such as Roasted Coconut Chicken Satay or Orange Ground Chicken Rice Bowls.
It makes a tasty side dish for your favorite noodle bowl! Try it with Soba Noodle Stir Fry, Spicy Peanut Noodles, or Japanese Yakisoba.
Use it as a base and top it with a piece of grilled chicken or pan seared salmon.
Expert Tips
- How to store: Cabbage crunch salad is best served immediately for maximum crunchy texture. You can store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container but it will soften the longer it sits. It's not recommended to freeze this dish.
- Pick a firm, crunchy cabbage. Avoid using Savoy cabbage as its softer and less crunchy.
- Want it extra crunchy? Chill the cabbage and veggies before shredding and chopping.
- Be sure to stir the salad just before serving as the delicious juices will sink to the bottom of the bowl.
FAQs
My ideal texture and size comes from cabbage that has been thinly shredded on a mandolin but I often use my food processor when I’m busy or lazy! You can also use pre-shredded cabbage to save time!
More Cabbage Recipes
Cabbage Crunch Salad
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
- 1 Tablespoon finely grated ginger from fresh - see notes
- 1 clove garlic finely grated (from fresh)
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 ½ Tablespoons GF soy sauce or tamari
- 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 teaspoons lime juice from about ½ a lime
For the Salad:
- 2 cups shredded purple cabbage about 8 ounces
- 2 cups shredded green or napa cabbage from about 8 oz
- 2 cups grated carrots about 2 medium carrots, 7-9 oz
- 4-5 green onions for about ½ cup when sliced
- Pinch of salt more if using raw/unsalted cashews
- ¼ cup salted cashews or any
- For garnish optional: about 1-2 teaspoons of black and white sesame seeds
Instructions
- For the Sauce: Grate ginger and garlic, then combine with the remaining sauce ingredients - rice vinegar, soy sauce/tamari, sesame oil, honey, and lime juice - in a bowl or jar. Whisk to combine.
- Wash all produce and set aside to dry. Using a mandolin, food processor, or sharp knife, shred the purple cabbage, green cabbage, and carrots (see notes). Thinly slice the green onions until you have about ½ cup. Add these ingredients to a large bowl with a small pinch of fine salt and toss to combine. (Reserve some sliced green onions for garnish, if desired.)
- Chop the cashews (if you’d like!) and add to the salad (reserve some for garnish), along with the salad dressing and toss to thoroughly mix. The more you mix this salad, the more ‘massaged’ the cabbage will become.
- Just before serving, be sure to stir the salad again as the delicious juices will sink to the bottom of the bowl.
- Add the salad to your serving bowl and garnish with the remaining green onion, chopped cashews, and optional sesame seeds.
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