Healthy Cabbage Salad

  • 18 comments
  • June 14, 2023
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This healthy cabbage salad is packed with so many colorful vegetables and dressed with oil and vinegar instead of a mayo, like in a typical cabbage slaw. It’s so delicious and is perfect to serve as a side dish or on top of Fish Tacos, Pulled Chicken Sandwiches and more.

Healthy Cabbage Salad - so colorful and nutritious with so many varieties of vegetables.

This Healthy Cabbage Salad is colorful, crunchy and is perfect any time of year and complements just about any dinner. There is such a variety of vegetables that each bring their own distinct flavor. You only need to season it very simply and toss it with some olive oil and vinegar and it still tastes incredibly complex. The texture is phenomenally crisp and fresh. We all need more healthy dishes in our lives, and this is packed full of vitamins. 

I love how versatile this salad is. You can switch things up depending on what you have on hand or your taste preference. I also really appreciate that this salad is one of the best for meal prepping. You can cut up everything and then all you have to do is add the dressing right before serving.

Ingredients:

  • cabbage
    • most varieties of cabbage will work for this recipe, but I use green/white cabbage most of the time.
  • carrot
    • carrots are a must in a most cabbage salads – crunchy and sweet, they add a wonderful color and flavor to the salad.
  • cucumbers
  • bell pepper
  • radishes
  • celery
    • Any of the above 4 ingredients can be omitted, if you prefer. This salad is really versatile and has many flavor variations.
  • apple
    • Most of the time I prefer using a green Granny Smith apple for salads. It keeps its shape and doesn’t discolor as easily.
  • olive oil
  • apple cider vinegar
    • Since I use an apple in the salad, I like the flavor of the apple cider vinegar, but you can also use red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar or even distilled white vinegar.
  • salt, ground black
  • sugar
    • Instead of the sugar, you can use honey.
  • fresh herbs: parsley, dill, green onions (I often use cilantro instead of parsley too)
Ingredients for Healthy Cabbage Salad

Healthy Cabbage Salad Recipe

  1. Prep all the vegetables.
    • Slice the cabbage, grate the carrot (I use THIS grater), julienne the cucumbers, bell peppers and radishes. Thinly slice the celery. If you’re making the salad right away, julienne the apple. If you’re prepping in advance, cut up the apple right before serving. (Or submerge the apple slices in water with lemon juice to keep it from turning brown.)
    • Finely mince all the fresh herbs.
  2. Dress the salad.
    • Combine the fresh herbs with the oil and vinegar.
    • MIx everything to combine.
    • Season with sugar, salt and pepper.
  3. Refrigerate. Serve cold or at room temperature.
How to make a Healthy Cabbage Salad

You can turn this salad into Coleslaw

If you don’t mind mayonnaise, you can easily make this into a delicious creamy Coleslaw. I love the additional varieties of colors and flavors.

Mix equal parts mayo and sour cream or Greek yogurt (or even buttermilk) instead of the olive oil. Dress the salad with the creamy dressing before serving.

I’ll often cut up all the veggies and then make 2 different salads that week, one with oil and vinegar and another night make Coleslaw.

Healthy Cabbage Salad

What To Serve With a Healthy Cabbage Salad

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Healthy Cabbage Salad

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This healthy cabbage salad is packed with so many colorful vegetables and dressed with oil and vinegar instead of a mayo, like in a typical cabbage slaw.

  • Author: Olga’s Flavor Factory
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 20 mins
  • Yield: 6-8 1x
  • Category: Sides

Ingredients

Scale
  • half a head of cabbage, cored and shredded/finely sliced 
  • 1 large carrot, julienned
  • 2–3 small cucumbers, julienned
  • 1 medium or 1/2 of a large bell pepper, julienned
  • 8 radishes, julienned
  • 1 – 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
  • 1 apple, julienned
  • fresh herbs (green onions, dill, parsley), minced
  • 4–5 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar, optional (or honey instead)
  • salt, pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Prep all the vegetables. Slice the cabbage, grate the carrot, julienne the cucumbers, bell pepper and radishes. Thinly slice the celery.
  2. If you’re prepping the salad in advance, cut up the apple right before serving, or submerge the apple sliced in water + lemon juice.
  3. Mix everything together until evenly combined. Season with salt, pepper and sugar.
  4. Add the fresh herbs, oil and vinegar. Mix to combine. 
  5. Refrigerate. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Keywords: healthy cabbage salad, cabbage vegetable salad

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This is an updated recipe for this Healthy Cabbage Salad was originally published on October 21, 2013. I updated the photos, clarified the instructions and added a video.

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