This Purple Cabbage Slaw is the perfect side dish for fish tacos, fried tofu and grilled chicken. It's a slaw without mayonnaise, instead featuring a light sesame and soy vinaigrette, crunchy vegetables, cilantro and peanuts.
We love a good coleslaw, especially in summer featuring fresh produce from the garden or farmer's market. But we don't always want a heavy mayonnaise-based slaw. That's when we reach for a sesame vinaigrette with lots of crunchy vegetables, fresh cilantro and some lightly salted peanuts to add even more crunch to each bite. This is the kind of side dish that's right at home alongside our Air Fryer Chicken Katsu with Homemade Tonkatsu Sauce or Perfect Seared Shrimp with Garlic and Herbs.
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Ingredients that Matter
We chose these vegetables because they are seasonal, fresh from the garden, crunchy and mostly mild. Here are the ingredients you'll need for this purple cabbage slaw:
- Purple Cabbage. It wouldn't be purple cabbage without the, ahem, purple cabbage! So why choose purple instead of green cabbage? Purely for presentation. The purple combined with orange carrots, green cilantro and white turnips is stunning. You can, of course, swap in green cabbage if that's what you have on hand. You'll need about half of a medium cabbage.
- Carrots. We love adding matchstick cut carrots to our coleslaws, whether traditional or more Asian inspired like this recipe. You can buy pre-cut matchstick carrots, but we prefer to cut our own to ensure we have the freshest carrots possible.
- Salad Turnips. These small white turnips are small, tender and fairly mild, especially compared to their larger purple turnip cousins. You can eat the greens, if you buy them with their tops intact, and there's no need to peel them. Just rinse them well and cut into matchsticks or thinly slice.
- Radishes. Common red radishes or Easter egg radishes add beautiful red hues to the coleslaw, plus a unique pungent flavor. We only use a half cup so they don't overpower the slaw.
- Cilantro. Some chopped fresh cilantro makes this coleslaw super bright and herbaceous. Not a cilantro fan? Swap in parsley or scallions.
- Peanuts. Adding some chopped lightly salted roasted peanuts gives tons of flavor to this slaw and adds little salty pops of crunch throughout. Don't sleep on chopped peanuts in your slaws!
- Sesame Dressing. The dressing for our purple slaw is made simply with reduced-sodium soy sauce (or tamari), rice vinegar, sesame oil and olive oil. It's simple, but quite flavorful.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
This slaw comes together quickly, provided you have a sharp knife as most of the process involves slicing and chopping. Here's how it comes together.
Thinly slice the cabbage and cut the carrots and turnips into matchsticks. Thinly slice the radishes and roughly chop the peanuts.
Make the vinaigrette by whisking together the soy sauce (or tamari), rice vinegar, sesame oil and olive oil in a large mixing bowl.
Add the cabbage, carrots, turnips, radishes and cilantro to the vinaigrette and toss to combine.
Set aside for 10 minutes before serving. Then add chopped peanuts and gently toss to combine.
Hint: Letting the coleslaw sit for 10 minutes before serving gives the dressing a chance to absorb into the vegetables.
Substitutions
This recipe is vegan but there are some tweaks if you have further dietary restrictions.
- Gluten-Free- swap out the soy sauce for tamari to make this recipe gluten-free
- Nut-Free- simply leave out the peanuts to make this recipe nut-free (you could add sesame, pumpkin or sunflower seeds instead)
- No Cilantro- there are lots of people who hate cilantro. If you are one of those people, or making this for someone who doesn't eat cilantro, swap in thinly sliced scallions or chopped fresh parsley.
Variations
Want to up the flavor or add some spice? We have you covered:
- Spicy - add minced or thinly sliced serrano or jalapeno pepper to add some spice
- Grilled- try making the slaw with grilled cabbage (grill wedges of cabbage, cool, then thinly slice)
- Kid friendly - depending on the palette of your kids, you may want to leave out the sesame oil and radishes
Equipment
You don't need any crazy expensive equipment to make this recipe. However, we strongly recommend having a set of stackable glass bowls, especially if they come with lids. We have this Pyrex Smart Essentials 8-Piece Glass Mixing Bowl Set and use it everyday.
Storage
This coleslaw tastes great after a day in the refrigerator. Any longer than that and it gets a bit soft and mushy. You can, however, prep it out ahead of time.
Simply chop all the vegetables (not the cilantro) and add to a large airtight container and store in the refrigerator. Then make the dressing and store in a separate container in the refrigerator. You can make it three days ahead then assemble when ready to serve.
This is not a freezer-worthy recipe.
Top tip
We prefer using a chef's knife to cut all our vegetable for this recipe, but you could use a mandoline to thinly slice the radishes and even cut the carrots and turnips into matchsticks. Just be sure you use a guard, like this OXO Good Grips Chef's Mandoline Slicer 2.0.
FAQ
There are a few options. You could use the large holes of a box grater or the slicing attachment on a food processor. But the easiest way is to use a chef's knife to thinly slice the cabbage. Start by cutting it in half and removing the stem. Then cut into wedges and thinly slice the wedges.
Yes, of course! However, we DO NOT recommend making a mayonnaise-based coleslaw with purple cabbage as that combination leads to a pinkish color coleslaw. Not very appetizing. Instead, use a vinaigrette for the dressing.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These recipes love a side of purple cabbage coleslaw:
Print
Recipe
Purple Cabbage Slaw
- Total Time: 20 min.
- Yield: 9 cups 1x
Description
This Purple Cabbage Slaw is the perfect side dish for fish tacos, fried tofu and grilled chicken. It's a slaw without mayonnaise, instead featuring a light sesame and soy vinaigrette, crunchy vegetables, cilantro and peanuts.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 Tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce (or tamari)
- 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
- 8 cups thinly sliced purple cabbage (from ½ medium cabbage)
- 2 cups matchstick cut carrots (from 3 medium carrots)
- 1 cup matchstick cut salad turnips (from 4 medium)
- ½ cup thinly sliced radishes (from 4 medium)
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for serving
- ½ cup chopped lightly salted peanuts, plus more for serving
Instructions
- Whisk together in a large bowl the olive oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil until well combined. Add the sliced cabbage, carrots, turnips and radishes and toss well to combine. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Stir the mixture again to ensure the slaw is well coated in the sauce then add cilantro and gently toss. Add chopped peanuts and toss. Serve with more peanuts and cilantro.
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.
- To make ahead further, chop the vegetables and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator then make the dressing and store in a sperate container in the refrigerator. When ready to serving, toss the veggies in the dressing and add the cilantro and peanuts.
- To add some heat, stir in minced jalapeno or serrano peppers and grated garlic into the dressing.
- If you have a nut allergy, swap out the peanuts for sesame, pumpkin or sunflower seeds.
- Prep Time: 10 min.
- Cook Time: 0 min.
- Category: Salads
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: American
Food safety
Even though this is coleslaw without mayonnaise, do not leave it out at room temperature for more than 2 hours. And be sure to wash all produce before consuming.
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