A simple healthy recipe for Asian Slaw – easy and crunchy, this vegan slaw can be made ahead and is delicious alongside salmon, tofu, or chicken or stuffed into tacos, topped onto burgers, or added to buddha bowls. A great way to add more veggies into your everyday meals. With a video!
To be fully alive, fully human and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in no man’s land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh. To live is to be willing to die over and over again. ~Pema Chodron
In the next few weeks, beautiful farmers’ market cabbages will start rolling out if they haven’t already in your area. And when they do, I want you to be prepared! Excited even!
A wonderful excuse to purchase one of those stunning cabbages at the farmers market. It’s also a fantastic way to use up all the stray veggies in the fridge- that remaining half cabbage, the stray carrot or parsnip, or the leftover bell pepper. If you are a part of a CSA or shop at the farmers market, many of the veggies you’ll find there can be added to this slaw – like kohlrabi, turnips, beets, or brussels sprouts. Such an easy useful way to add more healthy veggies into our everyday diet.
How to Make Asian Slaw! | video
Time-saving Slaw Tips:
- If short on time, many grocery stores offer gourmet “slaw mixes”, already pre-shredded! These are perfect for this recipe: brussel sprouts slaw, broccoli slaw, carrot slaw… you get the idea. It’s a basic recipe designed to be used as a base for your own creations.
- Use ginger paste (in a tube)
- Use garlic paste
What I love about this easy Asian Slaw is, if I’m in a hurry, I know I can grab a bag of slaw mix from the grocery store, and whip this up in 10 minutes- a healthy, light side salad that goes with so many things. The leftover slaw stays crunchy and seems to even get better with time.
What to serve with Asian Slaw:
- Salmon Cakes
- Chicken Katsu (or Tofu Katsu!)
- Simple Baked Miso Salmon
- Seasoned Japanese Rice with Furikake
- Teriyaki Salmon with Baby Bok Choy
- Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
Asian Slaw Dressing:
The Asian Slaw Dressing is the best! Not only is it made with accessible ingredients you most likely have in your pantry, it seems to have the right balance of sweet, tart and depth with just a little heat. And of course you can personalize it even further to your own tastes.
What you’ll need:
- olive oil
- toasted sesame oil
- rice wine vinegar
- maple syrup, honey, brown rice syrup, or agave
- soy sauce (or GF alternative like Braggs or Coconut Amino Acids)
- fresh garlic
- fresh ginger
- salt
- chili paste (optional)
This is also a great way to use up stray veggies in the fridge, incorporating more nutrients into the slaw- salad turnips, kohlrabi, jicama, radishes… pretty much anything crunchy!
Other veggies to add to Asian Slaw:
- carrots
- snow peas
- bell pepper
- shredded broccoli stems
- cucumber
- radishes
- kohlrabi
- salad turnips
You may also Like these:
- Kohlrabi Slaw with Cilantro, Jalapeño and Lime
- Asian Cucumber Salad
- Thai Crunch Salad with Peanut Ginger Dressing
- Lebanese Slaw (Salatet Malfouf)
- Everyday Kale Slaw (Vegan)
- Mexican Slaw with Cilantro and Lime
- Thai Noodle Salad with the BEST EVER Peanut Sauce
- 40 Must-Try Vegan Salads
- Thai Turkey Burger Recipe w/ Asian Slaw
- What to Buy at an Asian Market!
Hope you are having a great week, finding the beauty in what surrounds you. Even if it is simply in the face of cabbage, a beautiful, giant edible flower full of healing nutrients.
xoxo
Sylvia
Print
Easy Crunchy Asian Slaw (with the BEST Asian Dressing!)
- Prep Time: 20
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Salad, vegan, slaw, dressing
- Method: tossed
- Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Easy Crunchy Asian Slaw- a simple vegan slaw with the BEST SLAW DRESSING EVER that can be made ahead! Serve this alongside fish, tofu, or chicken or stuffed into tacos, topped onto burgers, or added to buddha bowls. A great way to add more veggies into your everyday meals.
Ingredients
- 1 lb shredded veggies (your choice of cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, snow peas, broccoli slaw, Brussel sprouts, etc) roughly 6-7 cups.
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 1 cup cilantro (or Italian parsley or mint) chopped
Asian Slaw Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons honey, brown rice syrup, maple, or agave
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or GF alternative like Braggs or Coconut Amino Acids)
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced ( use a garlic press)
- 1 tablespoon ginger, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes or chili paste ( optional)
Optional toppings:
- Toasted sesame seeds
- roasted, crushed peanuts or cashews
Instructions
- Toss slaw ingredients together in a large bowl. Add cilantro and scallions.
- Whisk Asian Slaw Dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Pour dressing into slaw and toss well.
- Garnish with sesame seeds and/ or nuts.
Notes
- Salad will keep up to 3-4 days in the fridge.
Keywords: asian slaw, asian slaw recipe, best asian slaw, easy asian slaw, crunchy asian slaw, vegan slaw, cabbage slaw, easy slaw recipe, asian slaw dressing, asian slaw dressing recipe
Perfect for the summer. Easy and fast… delicious!
★★★★★
Hello from Montreal!
I’m currently learning some new asian recipes (chinese, thaï, vietnamese, japanese, …).
I had extra vegetables and tried to find a recipe to not lose them and stumbled on you recipe that I used as starter / inspiration.
I used cabage, radichio, fennel, carots, red radish that I cut / mandolined myself.
Also had daikon and green papaya at hand but decided there was enough already.
Replaced olive oil with peanut oil. I was generous with chili, used mint and coriander and added a extra lime at the end.
On my tasting bowl I added fried shallots (tried for the first time last week on a poke bowl, awesome condiment!).
I was very good. Taste and textuxe wise it reminded me of the thaï som tam (green papaya salad) minus the fish sauce and extra sesame oil (not used in thaï cusine). I added a few cherry tomatoes to go with it!
Thanks for sharing!
Eric
★★★★★
Hi Eric! It sounds so good! Love your additions and thanks for sharing!
If you use the ginger garlic and chili paste do
You use the same amounts listed in recipe for fresh?
I would, yes!
This slaw is a favorite at our house! My husband doesn’t eat anything white like Mayo, sour cream, etc. So this is a great little salad that hits all the buttons. Wonderful dressing, so tasty and easy to make!
★★★★★
Thanks Kathy!
Awww, sooo good! Made the dressing as directed (chili paste instead of flakes). Used 1/2 dressing tossed in a half package of regular coleslaw mix, added green onions, sprinkling of sesame seeds and almonds. Making this again for sure. Yummy!
★★★★★
Loved it, thank you for this recipe!
★★★★★
This is it. This is the asian dressing you’ve been waiting for your entire life!
Here’s how to do this…follow the recipe for the dressing EXACTLY. Do nothing different. Once you taste it, you will now have the base of the greatest dressing/marinade for asian cooking. I’ve marinated shrimp, chicken, pork in this…and it’s fantastic.
After your first batch you’ll know exactly how to personalize it. For example, I use hot honey and a bit less rice wine (1 TBSP less). I also diced up some scallions for mine.
Love it.
★★★★★
thanks Kats! Appreciate this!
The whole family loved it. Super easy and very tasty. This will be in our summer rotation.
★★★★★
Awesome Jackie!
Delicious!!! Added edamame and orange segments to the salad and topped with chopped toasted almonds! Yummy! 😀
★★★★★
sounds delicious!
Delicious! This is a keeper.
★★★★★
Amazing!! I used it on a fresh salad: broccoli, jicama, mango, cilantro, and red bell pepper. I served it with coconut lime steak and white rice…
★★★★★
Recipe was just what I was looking for when I bought a pretty head of purple cabbage (half a head per recipe). The great combination of flavors give depth to the result. Making the dressing ahead allows flavors time to blend together. I like a little extra ginger (fresh/frozen/grated finely). I substituted 1/4 tsp. chili powder (ground finely) when I was out of chili paste (yeah, I know, they’re not the same). I can add more veggies to leftovers – if there are any leftovers – and add either lemon juice or more rice vinegar to brighten it all up the second night.
Perfect!
Great dish and tasty dressing
★★★★
This is one of the only recipes I follow exactly to the letter every time. I just love it so much. I had an amazing sweet Asian slaw at a fancy restaurant one time that I fell in love with, and this is the closest I’ve found to a comparable recipe. Thanks 🙂
★★★★★
Delicious! My new favorite salad.
★★★★★
I did a whole pound of cabbage(purple & green) and carrots and I think the dressing was way too much! Absolutely delish but it’s drowning and it’s my fault for not adding a bit at a time lol I just dumped the whole dressing in and tossed! I’ll adjust for next time thank you for yummy recipe
★★★★★
Absolutely delicious and easy to make asian cole slaw recipe. I normally make it with purple cabbage or half purple and green and add more ginger, to my personal taste. Thank you!
★★★★★
I made this with purple cabbage, carrots, cilantro and scallions, leaving out the salt and adding in the optional chili flakes to the dressing… the result was absolutely delicious! Thank you for this fantastic recipe.
★★★★★
Absolutely DELICIOUS dressing!!! Now a firm staple on our dinner menu.
★★★★★
This was delicious with the Simple Baked Miso Salmon! I minced a jalapeno into it for a little heat. Yummy!
★★★★★
Really good! I used a mix of cilantro, mint, and Thai basil for the herbs which was fantastic.
★★★★★
Was looking for the best Asian dresssing..found it!! Thank you so much!
★★★★★
So good my husband teased me because I asked for it in my sleep! Will be making for the umpteenth time with salt and pepper ribs tonight! Thank you for this amazing recipe.
★★★★★
After making this for maybe the 10th time, I feel like I need to make my first comment on a recipe EVER cause this is so dang good!! I am almost never without a jar of this in my fridge, it is absolutely delicious and can be added as a side to pretty much anything. I always add peanuts, they add something special. Yum!!!
★★★★★
So glad you like it!