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Use that bag of shredded cabbage in a whole new way with this Chinese Cabbage Salad recipe! Flavored with a homemade sesame dressing and filled with cabbage, peppers, onions, carrots, almonds and chow mein noodles. This is our new weekly go-to side dish.
Hello summer salads! I am HERE for you! I love this Chinese Cabbage Salad Recipe for so many reasons. Mainly because it’s a great cabbage salad recipe that isn’t coleslaw. Ha! It’s like a really delicious love child of a Chinese Chicken Salad and a Thai Peanut Slaw. It’s fresh, simple and really flavorful! You are going to love it.
No Ordinary Cabbage Salad
Like I mentioned above, this salad is all about flavor! When I first was testing it, I wanted to pack as much of a punch as possible using minimal ingredients. Sesame oil, garlic and fresh ginger are the main flavor components of the sesame dressing. I love the brown sugar that adds a hint of sweetness as well as the sweet juicy mandarin oranges. And of course it wouldn’t be a Lauren’s Latest salad without a little crunch! I include chow mein noodles and a few toasted almonds to finish the whole thing off and really create a stand out super flavorful Chinese Cabbage Salad.
Main Ingredients Needed
No surprise here! The main ingredient that makes up the bulk of this cabbage salad recipe is a pre-shredded bagged cabbage. These are widely available nowadays and really inexpensive. You also need carrots, peppers, green onions, red onions, cilantro, canned mandarin oranges, chow mein noodles and almonds. Seems like a big long list, but everything should be easy to find!
The dressing is filled with those flavorful ingredients (garlic, ginger, sesame oil) as well as some brown sugar, canola oil, soy sauce and vinegar. I love this sesame dressing and use a similar version of it on my Sesame Noodle Salad. It’s tried and true and FABULOUS.
What should I eat with this salad? Try these simple main courses: Simple Roasted Chicken, Baked Chicken Legs, Oven Baked Salmon with Garlic Butter Bread Crumbs, Oven Baked Ribs.
Making Cabbage Salad
So, as with most salads, it’s just a matter of chopping all the ingredients and adding them into a bowl. Toss with the dressing and serve! It really is that simple. The hardest part is having to chop veggies for 10 minutes. Yes, really! If you buy that pre-shredded cabbage, and pre-shredded carrots, you will be in great shape! Chinese Cabbage Salad in minutes! It’s really a great side dish for any meal.
Making Ahead/Storing Instructions
The one caveat this recipe has is you have to toss with the dressing right before serving. Those chow mein noodles will get soggy after 30 minutes, so you’ll want to make sure everything is getting tossed right before you bring it to the table. To make in advance, store the dressing and salad separately in the refrigerator and then toss together right before serving.
Storing leftovers is a no-no (in my opinion). Those chow mein noodles really give up the ghost after those first 30 minutes, so your salad won’t taste nearly as good or have the same texture the next day. If this doesn’t bother you, by all means store the extras and enjoy! But I’m picky and really don’t love this. If you want to take special precautions, serve the chow mein noodles along side the salad instead of tossing all together.
Love this Cabbage Salad Recipe? Here are some of our favorites:
- Amazing Chicken Salad (with grapes!!)
- Perfect Egg Salad
- Simple Macaroni Salad
- Grandma’s Potato Salad
- Italian Pasta Salad
I hope you all try this recipe and love it!! It has quickly turned into a favorite around these parts. I even dared my (vegetable hating) father-in-law to try it and he had two helpings!! You *must* print/bookmark/pin/save this recipe. It’s a good one.
Have a great day, friends!
Chinese Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 14 oz shredded cabbage red and green
- 1 cup grated carrot
- 1 cup yellow bell pepper chopped
- 3 whole green onion
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 11 oz can mandarin oranges well drained
- 1 cup chow mein noodles
- 1/4 cup chopped almonds toasted
- 1/3 cup chopped red onion
For the Sesame Dressing:
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger finely minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place all salad ingredients into a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together all ingredients for the dressing. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
- When you are ready to serve, toss dressing together with the salad and serve immediately.
We’re still making this salad regularly – love it!
That’s great to hear Natalie!! 🙂
Love this salad! I use the rice chow mein crunchy noodles as they stay crunchy way longer. I dress mine bowl by bowl.
Wonderful!!! Just the right blend of everything!!!
[…] Chinese Cabbage Salad […]
For sub for almon I would use pumpkin seed, also known in North America as a pepita (
I made a version of this years ago & it was always a favorite. I love the updates you’ve made. A couple of questions: we have a couple food allergies that have developed & can’t do almonds (or any other tree nuts) or sesame oil. Do you have any recommendations for substitutes?