Ingredients You’ll Need and Why

These are all standard, inexpensive wintertime ingredients that I can either get locally or from storage all through autumn, winter, and early spring. It’s an excellent alternative to lettuce salads during the colder months. These are my notes from testing over the years and the full recipe card is below.

• Red cabbage: this adds colour, but red cabbage also has a slightly stronger flavour than white. Red cabbage is also high in antioxidants (source) so it’s a good vegetable to include in your day-to-day cooking.
• Apple: fairly traditional, apples add sweetness and make a more complex coleslaw. Use a good eating apple that’s a bit tart, like elstar or boskoop.
• Onion: red if possible, but white onion can be substituted. Red onion adds a little more sharpness than a salad onion but is less sulphuric than yellow. If you’re sensitive to raw onion, try substituting shallot or pivot to carrot apple salad instead.
• Vinegar: apple cider vinegar, preferably, but white wine vinegar or plain white vinegar can be used. Lemon juice can be substituted for vinegar. Use about 3 tablespoons, or the juice of an average lemon.
• Mustard: Dijon or German, but never yellow hotdog mustard. I recommend a good sharp mustard that you really like – you will taste it in the salad (as you should). Mustard also helps to emulsify the dressing and make it creamier.

How to Make Vegan Coleslaw

This comes together in minutes, especially if you have a food processor. The important bit is to massage the salad with your hands. If you skip that and serve right away, you’ll end up with a coleslaw that’s too crunchy and tastes a bit bland.

Step 1: make the vinaigrette in a jar or small bowl. I always keep a small tightly lidded jar on hand for mixing vinaigrettes as it’s the quickest and easiest way. If you want less dishes, you can mix the vinaigrette right in the salad bowl, but you have to be very careful to fully mix so that it coats the vegetables.

Step 2: grate or thinly slice the vegetables, add to a mixing bowl, and add the vinaigrette. Use a large mixing bowl so that you don’t need to worry about the salad going over the sides while mixing.

Step 3: use your hands to massage the vegetables. If you’re uncomfortable mixing with your hands – they’re your best kitchen tool! – use a spoon instead and let the salad rest for at least half an hour before serving.

Step 4: once mixed, serve immediately or store in the refrigerator. Taste before serving to see if you want more acidity or salt.

Expert Tips for the Best Coleslaw

• Change up the vegetables: use all red or all white cabbage if preferred. You can leave the carrot out or replace it with more cabbage, but don’t omit the apple or onion. Kohlrabi is a nice addition. A vegan coleslaw will rely more on good ingredients, as there isn’t a thick dressing coating everything.
• Make quick work of shredding: use a food processor fitted with the thinnest blade attachment to quickly slice the cabbage. I use my food processor for both the cabbage as well as grating the carrot, apple, and onion (it’s just so much faster). Alternatively, thinly slice by hand and use the large side of a box grater.
• Increase for a crowd: if you want to make enough coleslaw for a large group, simply increase the recipe to make as much as you need. Keep in mind the amounts of red and white cabbage and carrots should be approximately equal.
• Serve at room temperature: if the salad has been refrigerated, bring it out to warm up for half an hour at room temperature before serving.

More Tasty Cabbage Recipes

Sautéed Red Cabbage
Red Cabbage Salad with Orange
Cabbage Potato Hash
Roasted Red Cabbage

If you make this German Cabbage Salad or any other vegetarian side dish recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.