COOK: Lemon-Garlic Cabbage Slaw

• Lemon Garlic Slaw Ingredients
• Kitchen Equipment Needed
• How to Make Lemon Garlic Cabbage Salad
• Storage & Serving Ideas
• Lemon-Garlic Cabbage Slaw

This brightly flavored lemon-garlic cabbage slaw is a perfect simple side dish for your next summer cook-out. But don’t just relegate it to the BBQ sides table! I make this delicious salad year-round, for simple weeknight meals, lunches, or a light and crunchy snack. This easy lemon garlic slaw is dressed with a quick homemade vinaigrette, so it’s a vegan recipe (and has no mayonnaise).

Cabbage is a budget-friendly vegetable, even in winter when most other fresh vegetables are out of season, and keeps so well in the crisper that you can make this salad any time, in no time at all. It’s quick to throw together (using a food processor, mandolin, or a sharp knife). This frugal side dish tastes like a million bucks!

This lemon garlic cabbage salad is just as good (or even better) the next day, so make a big batch and save yourself some time with meal prep. It’s handy when you’re hosting, so you can check a few things off your to-do list before guests arrive. Portion it out and pair with a protein for easy lunches or dinners! You can even saute any leftovers if you want a hot side dish. This lemony slaw is especially tasty with grilled sausages, fish, chicken, tempeh, or pork chops.

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Lemon Garlic Slaw Ingredients

Cabbage:

You can use red or green cabbage here, or a blend of the two. Red cabbage makes a bright pink colorful salad that is richer in antioxidants, but green cabbage also makes a delicious salad.

Both red & green cabbage are good sources of fiber and vitamins… one cup of shredded cabbage has almost twice your daily requirement for vitamin C (and it’s a LOT cheaper than orange juice, especially these days).

Olive oil:

Use an extra virgin olive oil here for the best flavor.

Lemon juice:

You can use good quality bottled lemon juice in a pinch (or if you’re in a hurry) but if you have fresh lemons, even better. Wash your lemon in warm water, grate the zest into the dressing, roll it under your palm, cut it, and then juice it. This will get the best juice extraction, and make the most of the lemon’s flavor for a bright pop of citrus in the salad.

Garlic:

Fresh garlic is best here. We like a lot of garlic in this salad… somewhere between 3-5 cloves, depending on size and intensity. Peel your garlic, smash it with the side of your chef’s knife or cleaver, and chop it with most of the kosher salt. This makes the garlic easier to finely mince by keeping it from sticking to your knife, and the abrasiveness of the salt breaks the garlic down quicker.

Seasonings:

I keep this salad dressing pretty simple. Salt (kosher or sea salt preferred), freshly ground black pepper, some fresh parsley, and a bit of mustard. Sometimes I’ll throw in a teaspoon of ground coriander seed, or some other fresh herbs if they’re on hand (dill, thyme, tarragon, or a bit of chervil or chives are nice but not necessary).

Kitchen Equipment Needed

food processor or sharp knife & cutting board:

Use your preferred method to shred the cabbage, after removing the core. I usually just use my chef’s knife and a large wooden cutting board, but you can also use your food processor, or shred the cabbage with a mandolin or other implement. Watch your fingers!

mixing bowl & tongs:

Use a large bowl to first mix up the cabbage salad dressing, then to toss in the cabbage. You can use a pretty stainless or ceramic bowl and then serve from the same container, or meal prep into portion containers when you’re done.

How to Make Lemon Garlic Cabbage Salad

one: prep dressing ingredients

• Wash the lemon with warm water, and grate the zest with a microplane or fine grater into a large bowl.
• Cut the lemon in half, and squeeze the juice with a lemon juicer, or using a wooden spoon as a reamer to get all of the juice.
• Strain out any lemon seeds, but add the pulp and juice to the bowl.
• Add the mustard, black pepper, and chopped fresh herbs, and any other seasonings to the bowl.
• Peel the garlic, crush with the side of your knife, and chop with the most of the salt until it is very finely minced or crushed into a garlic paste.
• Whisk all together with the olive oil to make a dressing. Taste, and adjust seasoning if desired.

two: prep cabbage

• Remove any wilted or discolored outer leaves, rinse the cabbage head, and cut into quarters.
• Cut the tough core from each quarter, then shave or chop into fine sliced cabbage.
• If you are cutting the cabbage by hand, you may want to cut the large wedges into 1/8ths to make smaller pieces when you chop parallel to the direction of the leaves.
• For a food processor, cut the cored wedges to size so that they will fit into the chute of the food processor.

three: season & toss cabbage salad

• Add the cabbage to the bowl, and sprinkle with the remaining salt.
• Toss thoroughly with the dressing in the bottom of the bowl until the cabbage is well coated and the dressing is evenly distributed.
• The slaw may look a bit dry, but the cabbage will release a lot of moisture once it is in contact with the salt and the rest of the dressing.

four: chill & serve slaw

• You can serve the cabbage salad immediately, but the flavor and texture is better if you make it at least 15-20 minutes ahead of time.
• Chill the lemon garlic slaw if possible before serving. This makes the salad even more refreshing, and gives the slaw time for the flavors come together.

Storage & Serving Ideas

You can serve your lemon garlic cabbage salad immediately, or chill and serve it within 3-4 days. I do not recommend freezing the salad, which will be watery and lose its crunch after thawing, but it does keep well in the refrigerator.

You can also lightly saute or braise the dressed cabbage for a hot side dish which is especially nice in colder weather.