I’ve been a little bit obsessed with cold salads lately that DON’T involve lettuce. This is my latest favorite. Thai Sesame Red Cabbage and Carrot Salad is cool, crunchy, and refreshing. It’s packed with flavor from fresh mint, cilantro, and basil, with a toasted sesame dressing that’s bursting with umami.
And it’s SO PRETTY! Look at those beautiful colors. Red cabbage is a food blogger’s best friend- it always photographs beautifully. Paired with the bright orange from the carrots, it’s even more beautiful. I had almost a whole head of red cabbage leftover from making chipotle salmon tacos, so I whipped up this colorful salad with the rest.
Honestly, I don’t know why it’s called red cabbage. It’s far more purple than red. Same with red onion. What gives?
I love how simple this salad is, but how much flavor it has. The cabbage and carrots are crunchy and cool. The fresh basil, mint, and cilantro adds that awesome fresh herb flavor found in lots of Thai (and other South Asian) dishes.
And the sesame dressing– oh boy. Toasted sesame oil gives it tons of flavor, the fish sauce gives it a burst of salty umami, the ginger and lime juice brighten it up, and just a little bit of honey sweetens it up a bit. I’m about to put this dressing on EVERYTHING moving forward.
If you have a food processor with attachments, it can make shredding the cabbage and grating the carrots very easy. You can also cut the cabbage by hand with a sharp chef’s knife and grate the carrots with a box grater.
What’s your favorite way to use up extra red cabbage? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Recipe for Thai Sesame Red Cabbage and Carrot Salad below!
Thai Sesame Red Cabbage and Carrot Salad
This Thai Sesame Red Cabbage and Carrot Salad recipe is cool, crunchy, healthy, and refreshing. Packed with flavor from fresh mint, basil, and cilantro and a toasted sesame dressing!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 4 cups shredded red cabbage (about one small or 1/2 large head)
- 4 carrots, grated
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh mint
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh cilantro
- sesame seeds and extra herbs, for garnish (optional)
For the Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (from about 2 limes)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce (see notes for vegan/vegetarian option)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced or grated
Instructions
- Whisk together dressing ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add all salad ingredients (cabbage, carrots, herbs) to bowl.
- Stir together. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to two days. Garnish with sesame seeds and extra herbs just before serving.
Notes
For a vegetarian/vegan recipe, make sure to use a vegetarian/vegan fish sauce substitute.
Hi, I'm Elizabeth! I create easy, real food recipes for busy people. I'm a former HS art teacher, now full time food blogger. I live near Austin, TX with my hubby and two baby girls. 
Amazing!
We ALL loved it ! Served it @ a baby shower not one drop left. Looks beautiful too.
★★★★★
Thanks! So happy you liked it!
This is absolutely a bowl of delicious!! I don’t like fish sauce, so I left it out. It was still excellent! I made it again and added a few cloves of minced garlic. This is now on my weekly meal plan. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
So happy you liked it! Thanks for the comment and suggestions :-)
Hello
I am looking forward to making this, any suggestions on what I could serve it with?
This salad is cool and refreshing- I think something warm/spicy would be great with it. Grilled steak or chicken or fish with some Thai or Asian spicy flavors, maybe? Something like this maybe. Hope you like it!
Absolutely beautiful on a very hot night- washed down with a very nice white wine on ice it doesn’t get much better than this.
Glad you liked it!
Just made this. Added about twice the cilantro and basil and threw in a finely diced jalapeño. Yum!
This is the first red cabbage salad I’ve ever made and it’s a hit!
Even my son liked it! Thanks for helping us add more veggies.
★★★★★
I’m so happy you and your son liked it! Lettuce free salads are such a fun way to eat more veggies :-)
This was fantastic – I love Sesame Oil so I ended up putting about 3 Tablespoons Sesame oil in which worked for me. It is a gorgeous salad!
★★★★★
I’m so happy you liked it!
This sounds delicious. It’s definitely going to be a part of the Christmas menu.
Thanks! Hope you like it :-)