This cabbage crunch salad recipe is full of healthy and crunchy ingredients. Prep ingredients ahead of time for easy meal planning.

There are many variations on crunchy cabbage salad. This particular recipe is great because it’s full of flavor, can be made ahead of time for easy meal prep, and there are plenty of customization options.

This is the kind of salad I can fill a bowl with and eat for a meal and leave completely satisfied – no protein needed. But it’s easy to make it into a heartier meal by adding some grilled chicken or other protein on the side.

I am super excited to share this easy recipe with you because it makes delicious use of one of my favorite money-saving ingredients: cabbage.

Save Money By Cooking With Cabbage

If you are looking to save money on food, you should get well acquainted with cabbage.

The humble cabbage is one of the most bang-for-your-buck items in the grocery store.

I usually find cabbage for about 99 cents per lb. I bought a 3.5 lb. cabbage which yielded about 20 cups of cabbage when chopped up.

That’s about 17 cents per cup of cabbage.

Need more reasons to incorporate more cabbage into your diet?

Cabbage is very healthy. It’s high in vitamin C, vitamin K, and folate. It’s low carb and can be prepared in many ways that are keto and paleo-friendly.

Still not convinced? Just make this fresh cabbage salad and see for yourself.

Ingredients For Cabbage Crunch Salad

Every single ingredient in this salad is crunchy – making this cabbage crunch salad appropriately and deliciously named.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Green cabbage: Affordable regular green cabbage is the star of this recipe. Purchase a whole green cabbage and chop it yourself. Alternatively you could use a bag of shredded cabbage/coleslaw mix. Crisp Napa cabbage is another option.
• Red cabbage: While you can opt to use all green cabbage, I like using red cabbage for extra color and flavor.
• Carrots: Carrots are another affordable vegetable. Julienne them into little matchsticks for this salad.
• Green onions: I like to go heavy on the green onion, which adds mild onion flavor – with a bit of a bite. I used 3 chopped spring onions in this salad.
• Bell peppers: You can use red bell peppers, orange bell peppers or yellow bell peppers in this salad. Buy what’s on sale – any of these will work!
• Almonds: Slivered or chopped almonds add great crunch to this recipe. Toast them for extra flavor.  I like to pile on the crunchy toppings – feel free to use more than the recipe suggests.
  • Feel free to substitute sunflower seeds or even pumpkin seeds if you’re not into almonds.
• Sesame seeds: I like to toast sesame seeds to enhance their flavor. To make, simply place sesame seeds in a skillet or cast iron pan, turn on heat to medium-low, and toast for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently to ensure even heating. Watch closely to avoid burning.

The Dressing

I made a simple homemade salad dressing with neutral flavored olive oil (sub canola oil), sesame oil, apple cider vinegar (sub rice wine vinegar), maple syrup, plenty of grated fresh ginger, and grated fresh garlic. This can be made a day or two in advance.

Short on time? If you don’t feel like making your own dressing, you can purchase ready-made salad dressing from the grocery store. Look for sesame, ginger-sesame, Asian sesame, honey-sesame or Asian garlic vinaigrette.

Or you can use a homemade creamy peanut dressing for a Thai-inspired crunch salad.

Make-Ahead Options

If you’re looking to save time by making this salad ahead of time, here are a few recommendations:

• The green cabbage and purple cabbage can be chopped ahead of time. The less time it sits in your fridge, the better, obviously. But you could chop up to 2 days ahead. Once cut, store in an airtight container.
• The carrots can be julienned a day or two in advance. Store in an airtight container.
• The bell pepper can be chopped up to a day in advance.
• The almonds and sesame seeds can be toasted several days in advance.
• The dressing can be made up to 2 or 3 days in advance. In fact, this will allow the flavors to better meld: fresh ginger, chopped garlic, etc.
• You can add the dressing up to an hour before serving.

This cold salad is the perfect dish to bring to a potluck! Assemble ingredients up to an hour or two before the event and keep covered until ready to serve.

Make In Into A Meal

Here are a few ideas to make this cabbage crunch salad into a meal:

• Top with grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken
• For vegan or vegetarian diets, top with fried or baked tofu
• This salad makes a great side dish to BBQ meats: Pulled pork, brisket, grilled sausage, etc.

Or just eat it as a light lunch. 

In any case, try it out. Maybe this will become a new favorite recipe. And you’ll be on your way to incorporating more budget-friendly cabbage into your diet.