What is Kohlrabi?
Kohlrabi, if you are unfamiliar, is a vegetable in the Brassica family along with cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower- and is just as nutrient-dense.
Kohlrabi can be eaten cooked or raw.
The word Kohlrabi is German and translates to “cabbage turnip” and its flavor tastes of cabbage and turnip with a hint of sweetness and a peppery bite. They are fairly common in German-speaking countries and recently have been showing up in masses at our local markets and CSA boxes!
Watch How to make Kohlrabi Slaw!
Kohlrabi ranges in color from pale green to white to deep purple. And kohlrabi greens are edible too! I like to sauté kohlrabi greens in olive oil with garlic and shallot and a splash of sherry.
How to make Kohlrabi Slaw
Kohlrabi has very thick skin and peeling it can be challenging.
Make sure you have a sharp peeler and plan on peeling it twice.
Once it’s peeled, the rest is very easy. The insides are crisp and juicy like an apple or jicama.
If you are uncertain about Kohlrabi and are hesitant to commit to a whole salad made entirely of kohlrabi, you could try substituting part of the kohlrabi in the recipe with shredded cabbage, jicima, apple, sliced cucumber or sliced fennel.
Slice Kohlrabi in to thin 1/4 inch thick match sticks. You could also grate in a food processor, or cut into matchsticks using a mandolin.
Place the kohlrabi in a bowl and add chopped cilantro and lime zest.
Then make the dressing. Using both fresh orange juice and lime juice gives the dressing a delightful and refreshing flavor.
Half a jalapeño gives a perfect little kick. A whole one, for me, was too spicy and detracted from the overall flavor. So very finely chop ½ a medium jalapeño, and maybe even add it a little at a time, tasting, to find the perfect heat for you personally.
Toss it all together.
Combine all the ingredients and toss with the dressing. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with a little zest and cilantro before serving.
Hope you enjoy this Kohlrabi Slaw with Cilantro, Jalapeño and Lime.
This salad can be made ahead and keeps well in the fridge for several days.
Serve the Kohlrabi Slaw with grilled fish, pan-seared salmon cakes or even inside fish tacos! Tasty and healthy!
More recipes you may like!
- Warm Red Cabbage Slaw
- Lebanese Slaw (Salatet Malfouf)
- Easy Crunchy Asian Slaw
- Lemony Kale Slaw (Vegan)
- Mexican Slaw with Cilantro and Lime
- JICAMA MANGO SLAW WITH CILANTRO AND LIME
xoxo
Kohlrabi Slaw with Cilantro, Jalapeño and Lime
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Salad, slaw, vegan, gluten free
- Method: Tossed
- Cuisine: Mexican
Description
Refreshing and healthy Kohlrabi Slaw made with kohlrabi, cilantro, lime, jalapeño and a simple citrus vinaigrette.
Ingredients
- 6 cups kohlrabi -cut into matchsticks or grated in a food processor -about three x 4 inch bulbs (or you could substitute sliced fennel, apple, jicama, cucumber, or cabbage for part of the kohlrabi for more diversity)
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro ( one small bunch)
- half of a jalapeno -minced
- 1/4 cup chopped scallion
- orange zest from one orange, and juice
- lime zest from one lime, and juice
Citrus Dressing :
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice ( juice form one orange)
- 1/8 cup lime juice plus 1 T ( juice from one large lime), more to taste
- 1/4 cup honey ( or agave syrup)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Instructions
Trim and peel kohlrabi. ( I normally have to peel twice to get thru the thick skin). Cut off two ends. Cut in half from top to bottom. Thinly slice, rotate and slice again, making 1/4 inch matchsticks.
Place in a large bowl with chopped cilantro, scallions, finely chopped jalapeño ( 1/2), lime zest and orange zest.
Whisk dressing together in a small bowl. Toss with salad. Refrigerate until serving. Garnish with zest and cilantro. This tastes good the next day too.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 155
I was looking for a recipe to use my kohlrabi we grew this spring. I didn’t have a huge harvest, so much of the slaw was bagged slaw from the grocery store (which made this quick to put together). I really enjoyed the flavor and plan to make again. I did use only a 1/4 of the jalapeno as I wasn’t sure I’d like the heat, but I think next time I’ll do a half as the recipe suggests.
So glad you liked this one Heather!
Delicious!
Delicious! I grate the kohlrabi instead of cutting it into matchsticks — quicker and the flavors blend better.
Good idea Sandra!
I keep coming back to this recipe. Love it
Thanks Ariel!
Soooo incredibly delicious! Harvested a kohlrabi from my organic garden and made this as directed. Truly refreshing for these record heat days and so appreciated. Thank you!
Thanks Suze! Love those homegrown veggies!
Needs more vinegar
Feel free to add to taste!
Very refreshing!
So happy you enjoyed!
Love this recipe. So light, crunchy and a great use of Kolhrabi when it’s in season.
Thanks Angeli!
I thank you for this recipe. I will substitute apples, fennel and zucchini
occasionally and even combine different ones. All work great.
Yum, love those additions!
This eas so good
Great to hear Charleen!
Made this tonight with our home grown kohlrabi, chives and cilantro. Added a little cucumber. So fresh and delicious! We had it as a side to chicken fajitas but it would be great with fish, pork or any dish. I will try it again soon.
Thanks so much and glad this worked for you!
Really, really good. I liked this so much. I did think the honey might be too much, but it balances out the kohlrabi perfectly. Next time I will try to cut the kohlrabi with some other ingredients as the kids were not fans. More for me!
Thanks Claire- glad you gave this a go!
Great flavours! I adjusted a bit for what I had – chives instead of scallions, added some garlic scapes, but absolutely loved it. Seems like too much dressing but doesnt impact it. Goes great with pork tenderloin as fish and chicken (and vegan/vegetarian)
Perfect Melissa!
definitely shouldn’t have honey on the recipe at all if you’re claiming it’s a vegan recipe 😉
agave syrup / cane sugar / etc
Right, agave is an option in the recipe. 😉
Still don’t love kohlrabi but this is about as good as I’ve had. Needed to use some up as well as old apples. I didn’t have nor want orange juice, I used extra lime juice. Didn’t have scallions/jalepenos, subbed garlic scapes and some Urfa biber flakes on top. Also didn’t add the cilantro until about ready to serve. AWESOME dinner meal with some huevos rancheros. Will keep this recipe in mind for next time kohlrabi shows up in the CSA box.
Made this with the kohlrabi my CSA gave me this week. I had never eaten it before. We prepared this salad (exactly as described) and ate with Korean short ribs and creamy polenta (two go-to things in our house because they are so delicious) and remarkably the salad stole the show! Thanks so much for getting the kohlrabi out of my fridge and in such a delicious way. Will make again for sure!
Yay Ashley! Glad you like it!
Such a refreshing summer dish. I grow kohlrabi for my husband as I am not particularly fond of it until I tried this recipe.
Awesome! Glad you liked this! 🙌
Super easy and super delicious! Tastes like summer on a plate! Family has requested this multiple times!
So fresh! We added apple and used store bought orange juice instead of fresh but otherwise did everything as listed. Very tasty and a great 1st try of kohlrabi for us!
Awesome!
Beautiful and tasty!
thanks Lisa!
We loved it – we left out the oil and orange juice and zest and cilantro. It was very good. I added 1 shredded zuchini and about 4 mini carrots .
I added about 8 slices of jalepeno diced small – and instead of the scallion I used garlic scape. (similar taste)
Perfect Lynne- glad you liked it! 🙌
Amazing!! I also used your fennel idea with the kohlrabi.
Love it, perfect! 👌
I love this salad! I picked up fresh, young kohlrabi at the farmer’s market yesterday. I had to make some minor substitutions for ingredients I didn’t have on hand – red onion for scallions, jarred jalapeno rings, rinsed & diced, and apple cider vinegar. So many amazing flavors come through. Delicious!!
The dressing is so fresh! I had extra that I may use as a chicken marinade!?
Great to hear- glad you liked this! You could try it as a marinade?? Not sure here, but don’t see why not. 🙂
Really lovely, fresh, light & very tasty – we used kohlrabi and cabbage – another favourite slaw – thank you.