This red cabbage salad is a perfect holiday side dish and an easy lunch idea for autumn and winter.

Crunchy red cabbage, juicy orange wedges, mixed green leaves, and nutty pinto beans make a colorful and vibrant salad.

red cabbage salad in a white bowl

Check out our best vegetable sides recipe collection!

We love red cabbage! It’s probably the crunchiest veggie in the world, and it has a slightly spicy and mustardy flavor that we really enjoy.

We often add it to quick salads, pasta salads, and side dishes. Here, however, we’ll show you how to make our favorite purple cabbage salad with thinly sliced raw red cabbage and a few other simple ingredients.

The first thing we do is slice the cabbage as thinly as possible. You can do that with a chef’s knife, mandoline slicer, or food processor.

Then we choose a fruit to add some natural sweetness to the salad. We recommend oranges, apples, or pears.

We then add mixed green leaves like lettuce, arugula, and pinto beans and toss everything into a quick, easy (but flavorful) mustard dressing.

Optionally, you can top the salad with crushed nuts, chopped cranberries, or shaved parmesan cheese.

We think it’s a wholesome and tasty way of eating this incredibly healthy vegetable.

red cabbage and orange in a bowl

Ingredients

Red cabbage and ingredients

Red cabbage

Raw red cabbage (sometimes called purple cabbage) lasts forever in the refrigerator, so don’t be afraid of getting a whole head. We only use 1/4 head in this recipe. However, you can shred some of it in most salads or use it in our other red cabbage recipes.

Like most colorful veggies, red cabbage is packed with antioxidants and micronutrients, which, as you probably know, are beneficial to our health.

Mixed leaves

You can use lettuce leaves, arugula, romaine leaves, spinach, or any other type of leafy greens to mix with the red cabbage.

Pinto beans

We like to add canned pinto beans to make the salad more fulfilling so that we can also eat it as a main for a quick lunch. In addition, beans provide us with healthy carbs, dietary fiber, and a good amount of plant protein to keep us satiated and nourished for several hours.

For pinto beans, you can substitute cranberry beans, red kidney beans, white beans, and chickpeas.

Orange

Orange adds juiciness and sweetness to the salad. You can substitute a ripe pear or apple for an orange.

If you don’t want to add fruit to a salad, try shaved fennel. It’s delicious with red cabbage.

Mustard dressing

Make our mustard dressing with the following:

  • Extra virgin olive oil: substitute with avocado oil.
  • Vinegar: apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or balsamic vinegar.
  • Maple syrup: best if 100% pure.
  • Mustard: Dijon mustard or yellow American mustard.
  • Salt and pepper.

Add-ins

These are optional ingredients. Add one or more based on your preferences:

  • shaved parmesan cheese (or dairy-free parmesan)
  • dried cranberries (or raisins)
  • chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, or pecans)

Instructions

Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, salt, and black pepper in a small bowl.

mustard dressing

Slice the red cabbage as thinly as possible, and add it to a large mixing bowl.

You can do so on a cutting board with a chef’s knife, a mandoline slicer, or a food processor with a slicing disk attachment.

finely sliced red cabbage

Add rinsed beans, orange wedges cut in half, mixed leaves, and optionally dried cranberries, chopped nuts, or shaved parmesan.

mix the veggies and legumes

Pour in the mustard dressing, toss well, and serve.

red cabbage and orange in a bowl

Serving suggestions

Serve this red cabbage salad as a wholesome appetizer with:

Serve it as a side dish for dinner:

Variations

Red cabbage salad with shaved parmesan

Red cabbage salad with parmesan cheese

Our favorite variation is the one with shaved parmesan (or dairy-free cheese). It adds savory notes that go well with the other ingredients.

You can add the parmesan on top or mix it in the salad.

Red cabbage slaw

serve the cabbage slaw on a platter

We make red cabbage slaw with sweet and crunchy carrots, tart green apples, walnuts, and thinly sliced purple cabbage.

You can then choose to dress it with a simple vinaigrette, or with mayonnaise. It’s easy, crunchy, and comforting, just like a white cabbage slaw.

Check out our red cabbage slaw.

Fennel and red cabbage salad

Fennel and red cabbage are a great match, and you can use them together raw to make a deliciously crunchy and aromatic salad.

Shave the fennel thinly and mix it with the thinly sliced cabbage. Add the orange, pine nuts, olives, and pomegranate seeds; then dress the salad with a quick orange dressing.

Here is our fennel orange salad you can use for inspiration.

Storage

Refrigerator: keep red cabbage salad leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The cabbage will lose some of its crunch, but it’s still edible.

Freezer: we don’t recommend freezing this recipe.

More winter side dishes

If you’re looking for Thanksgiving and Christmas side dish inspiration, take a look at these holiday favorites:

More cabbage recipes

Looking for more cabbage recipes? No problem, use up your leftovers with one of these recipes:

For many more salad ideas, check out our salads category page.

red cabbage salad with orange

Red Cabbage Salad

By: Nico Pallotta
5 from 1 vote
This red cabbage salad is a perfect holiday side dish and an easy lunch idea for autumn and winter.
Crunchy red cabbage, juicy orange wedges, mixed green leaves, and nutty pinto beans make a colorful and vibrant salad.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 4 – 6 people
Course: salad, Side dish
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

  • 1 pound red cabbage that's about ¼ of a whole red cabbage
  • ½ can (15 oz) pinto beans
  • 2 oranges or pears, or apples
  • 6 ounces mixed leaves lettuce, arugula, spinach leaves

Dressing

  • tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • tablespoon red wine vinegar or apple cider, or balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon mustard Dijon, or American
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Add-ins

  • cup shaved parmesan or dairy-free chese
  • cup crushed nuts walnuts, pecans, or almonds
  • cup dried cranberries or raisins

Instructions 

  • Whisk together olive oilvinegarmaple syrupmustardsalt, and black pepper in a small bowl.
    mustard dressing
  • Slice the red cabbage as thinly as possible, and add it to a large mixing bowl.
    You can do so on a cutting board with a chef's knife, a mandoline slicer, or a food processor with a slicing disk attachment.
    finely sliced red cabbage
  • Add rinsed beansorange wedges cut in half, mixed leaves, and optionally dried cranberrieschopped nuts, or shaved parmesan.
    mix the veggies and legumes
  • Pour in the mustard dressing, toss well, and serve.
    red cabbage and orange in a bowl

Notes

Nutrition information is an estimate for 1 portion of red cabbage salad out of 4 portions, without add-ins.

Nutrition

Calories: 172kcal, Carbohydrates: 29g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Potassium: 607mg, Dietary Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 17g, Vitamin A: 5118IU, Vitamin B6: 0.3mg, Vitamin C: 101mg, Vitamin E: 1mg, Vitamin K: 91µg, Calcium: 118mg, Folate: 105µg, Iron: 2mg, Manganese: 1mg, Magnesium: 43mg, Zinc: 1mg
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Nico and Louise in the kitchen

Hi! We are Nico & Louise

Welcome to The Plant-Based School, a food blog with easy, tasty, and wholesome recipes.

Our aim is to help you and your family eat more veggies through delicious recipes with simple ingredients.

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5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

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