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.
Other cool, crunchy salad recipes you’ll love
- Spicy Jalapeño Cilantro Slaw
- Mayo Free Coleslaw
- Broccoli Salad with Apples, Cranberries, and Walnuts
- Sesame Cucumber Spiralized Salad
Recipe for Thai Sesame Red Cabbage and Carrot Salad below!
Thai Sesame Red Cabbage and Carrot Salad
Equipment
- Large Bowl
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 4 cups shredded red cabbage about one small or 1/2 large head
- 4 carrots grated
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- 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 tablespoon fresh ginger minced or grated, from about a 1" piece
Instructions
- Whisk together dressing ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add all salad ingredients (cabbage, carrots, and herbs) to bowl.
- Stir together. Best served immediately. 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.
- Make ahead: This salad will get soggy as it sits. To prep ahead, I recommend mixing the dressing separately and tossing together just before serving.
- Make it sweeter: This recipe isn't very sweet, so you can double (or triple!) the honey if you like things sweeter, or replace the honey with granulated sugar.
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The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Ginger Clark
My husband and I both loved this salad, just as it is. Even so, when I make it again I will experiment with adding a little more lime to the dressing and some fresh corn kernels (for both color and sweetness) as well as a little green onion. I served it with another dish I had made for the first time – Broiled salmon with mint, orange and chili (red pepper flakes). These two go so well together and the colors, oh my!
Note: I used white miso instead of fish sauce in the salad dressing. I just add to taste. Thank you for this inspiration of a dish!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Heinz
Fantastic Recipe. Left out Ginger (unavailable at the moment). Also substituted Oyster Sauce. . Really good with Tuna Salad. Can’t wait for rerun with specified ingredients . . .
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Dora
I just found this recipe because I was looking for an idea who to eat red cabbage raw. I was lazy, I shredded carrots and cabbage quickly with a thermomix in smaller pieces, maybe a bit too small, and mixed the dressing. I had no herbs, but still good enough. Thank you.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Glad you liked it!
Saloni Sharma
What vegetation sauce can be used instead of fish sauce??
Elizabeth Lindemann
Here’s a homemade vegan fish sauce substitute: https://minimalistbaker.com/5-ingredient-vegetarian-fish-sauce/
And here’s a good resource for store-bought alternatives: https://www.messyvegancook.com/vegan-alternatives-to-fish-sauce-shrimp-paste-and-oyster-sauce-in-thai-cuisine/
Hope that helps!
Lenora Pasacreta
The dressing just pops all the flavours out. A definite keeper
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Michelle
I tried the recipe, exactly as instructed, I wasn’t even remotely impressed honestly. I wouldn’t make it again. It just tasted like sour cabbage and carrots. Flavorless except for a bite of mint here and there. The small amount of honey did nothing for it. Overall- I’m looking for a different option after this.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Oh no! Sorry you had a frustrating experience. The recipe is not very sweet, which I prefer to let the other ingredients shine. So if you (or anyone else reading) likes things sweet, I recommend adding 1-2 tablespoons more of honey. Or replace the honey with granulated white or brown sugar (and up it to 2 tablespoons if you like), stirring the dressing until it’s dissolved. Granulated sugar is a bit sweeter than honey. I’m going to add this suggestion to the recipe notes as well. Hope that helps and better luck next time!
William
Well if I’m honest, this is not going to be my “go to” salad, it was ok however for me, I’ll need to play around with it and make adjustments. Again, I didn’t hate it, but not really looking forward to making it again.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Honest feedback is always welcome! While this recipe gets mostly positive reviews, you’re not the first person to mention that this recipe didn’t hit their standards, so I’m going to add it to my list of recipes to try again to see if there are any tweaks that can be made :-)
Simon
I bought a red cabbage at the market and searched online for inspiration… and happily your recipe came up and piqued my interest. Thank you!
I added some finely sliced celery, some crushed garlic, red chili pepper and a handful of crushed roasted peanuts (I was making peanut butter so had some spare to hand).
Served the salad with some grilled chicken.
Delicious… and healthy!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So happy you liked it! Love the idea of adding peanuts. Sounds like a yummy meal :-)
GardenBar
This Sesame red cabbage & Carrot salads is really looking fabulous. Thank you for such an amazing recipe.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks! So glad you liked it!
Bee
This looks absolutely gorgeous — love those bright, healthy colors!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks so much! The colors are my favorite part- it’s a bonus that it tastes amazing, too :-)
Laura
Amazing! So beautiful and delicious! Thank you for your tips!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thank you! So happy you like it!
Sara G.
Amazing!
We ALL loved it ! Served it @ a baby shower not one drop left. Looks beautiful too.
Elizabeth
Thanks! So happy you liked it!
KitDee
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!
Elizabeth
So happy you liked it! Thanks for the comment and suggestions :-)
Phillippa
Hello
I am looking forward to making this, any suggestions on what I could serve it with?
Elizabeth
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!
Dave Coyle
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.
Elizabeth
Glad you liked it!
Sally
Just made this. Added about twice the cilantro and basil and threw in a finely diced jalapeño. Yum!
Lorraine Scura
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.
Elizabeth
I’m so happy you and your son liked it! Lettuce free salads are such a fun way to eat more veggies :-)
Nate
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!
Elizabeth
I’m so happy you liked it!
trine
This sounds delicious. It’s definitely going to be a part of the Christmas menu.
Elizabeth
Thanks! Hope you like it :-)