Today, Healthy Recipes 101 offers you an easy red cabbage salad recipe. It’s mixed with a tangy dressing, perfect to go with any meat or fish and enjoy on National Cabbage Day (February 17).
This is a basic salad guide for both beginning and advanced cooks. You can follow our recipe or be creative and tweak it to your liking.
Is Red Cabbage Salad Healthy?
Yes, our red cabbage salad recipe is healthy. Here’s why:
1. Low in Sodium
Raw salads are usually heavily seasoned to bring out the taste of the vegetables. However, we are very cautious about the sodium content in our food.
For this recipe, we were able to leave out the salt entirely without making the salad bland. We’re using Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, and mayonnaise to add flavor to our cabbage.
And since the mayonnaise is well-seasoned and rich, you don’t need to use much. Our red cabbage salad ends up with 204 mg of sodium per serving.
2. Calories
There are 245 calories in one serving of our red cabbage salad. It also contains 2.8g of saturated fat, 11g of carbs, and 3.6g of fiber.
We adjust all the ingredients so that the nutritional content follows our healthy eating guidelines.
Health Benefits
Red cabbage is low in calories but is still a good source of fiber and vitamins A, C, K, and B6.
The large amount of fiber found in red cabbage is good for the digestive system. It promotes frequent bowel movements and improves the gut’s microbiome.
Besides fiber, red cabbage also contains anthocyanin, an antioxidant.
Antioxidants are diverse and their functions vary from one to another. However, they all help boost your immune system and prevent diseases.
Ingredients You Will Need
Here are the main ingredients for our red cabbage salad recipe:
1. Red Cabbage
Red cabbage is our pick for today’s recipe. However, you can mix in some white cabbage, too.
Other than cabbage, you can customize the recipe and add more vegetables if you’d like. We suggest similarly crunchy vegetables such as carrots, bell peppers, cucumbers, and celery.
The preparation is simple: all you need to do is slice all the vegetables to the same thin profile.
2. Dressing
For today’s red cabbage salad recipe, we’re making a simple dressing using only the following ingredients:
- Dijon mustard
- Apple cider vinegar
- Mayonnaise
- Olive oil
- Black pepper
You can add other spices or herbs such as mustard seeds, mint, chili flakes, fennel, coriander, or parsley seeds as well.
If you’re a fan of cabbage, check out our easy pickled cabbage recipe as well. You only need a few simple ingredients to make it, but it will keep for a long time.
How to Shred Cabbage
- Place a head of cabbage on the cutting board so that it sits upright.
- With a sharp knife, cut the cabbage into quarters vertically.
- Lay a quarter of cabbage down on one side. Make a diagonal cut to remove the thick, white core in the bottom center of the cabbage.
- Once the core is removed, cut across the cabbage leaves so they get sliced into thin shreds.
Things to Serve This Side Salad With
This tangy, crunchy, flavorful veggie side dish can pair with almost any food. Here are a few prime examples:
1. Meat and Fish
Whether it’s chicken, beef, pork, meatloaf, salmon, shrimp, or crab, pick your favorite and add red cabbage salad. They will make an amazingly delicious and nutritious meal.
To cook your protein, we recommend pan-searing, grilling, baking, or slow-cooking. This compliments the flavor of the protein and pairs better with the veggies.
2. Sandwich/Burger
This red cabbage salad is a great addition to sandwiches or burgers as it provides fiber and makes the dish fresher. Since our salad is slightly sweet and tangy, it’ll give your sandwich/burger a complex flavor profile.
To have perfectly salad every time, check out our top 44+ healthy salad roundup.
FAQ
How Long Does Red Cabbage Salad Last?
This red cabbage salad can last up to 3 days in the fridge. You can prolong its shelf life by storing it in an airtight container.
We recommend cleaning the containers thoroughly first. This should be done with soap and water. Then soak them in hot water to sterilize them.
At this point, you can either leave them to air-dry on a kitchen rack or put them in the oven. Make sure the containers are dry before you put the salad in.
We recommend cleaning your containers this way because it eliminates a lot of the bacteria that would otherwise spoil your raw red cabbage salad. This way, it can stay fresh and safe longer.
Red Cabbage Salad Recipe
This red cabbage salad recipe requires a few simple ingredients. We bet you have most of them in your refrigerator or pantry already.
- by Tuyet Pham, Luna Regina, 2021-07-26
- prep TIME 15 mins
- total TIME 15 mins
- COURSE Side Dish
- CUISINE Global
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 245 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 14.1 oz red cabbage (shredded)
- 4 oz carrots (peeled and cut into thin strips)
- 0.7 oz almonds (toasted)
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 5 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp traditional Dijon mustard
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the dressing: In a large mixing bowl, add 5 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, and 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Whisk to combine.
Toss the salad: Add shredded cabbage and 4 oz carrots into the bowl. Mix to distribute the dressing evenly.
Serve: Transfer to a serving platter. Sprinkle 0.7 oz toasted almonds over the salad and serve.
NUTRITION
Tuyet Pham
Head Chef, Culinary ConsultantLuna Regina
Writer, AuthorLizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD
Nutrition Reviewer- Jaden TaylorThis recipe is great as is. Delicious and so easy!