Fresh, healthy, delicious recipes you can whip up with a few ingredients in just minutes. Aren’t we all looking for more of those in our lives? That’s why I adore this crunchy, tangy Purple Cabbage Slaw. It’s basically a simple, shredded-veggie salad made with easy-to-find whole food, plant-based ingredients. This one's destined to become a fave, with it's gorgeous purple, orange and green colors and cool refreshing flavors.
To make this whole food, plant-based & vegan purple cabbage slaw, it all starts with the dressing:
How to Make Vegan Coleslaw Dressing
It’s easy to make vegan coleslaw dressing in about 5 minutes, with a few basic pantry ingredients. Just follow these easy steps.
- Choose a good quality, light and slightly sweet vinegar. Rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar are good options.
- Add a natural sweetener, like a bit of maple syrup.
- Season with celery seed, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- For a creamy coleslaw, add some vegan mayo. For a low fat option, you can make your own oil free tofu vegan mayo.
- Whisk everything together in a bowl, and it’s ready to add to your shredded coleslaw veggies!
This vegan coleslaw dressing is also whole food, plant-based and low fat, when we skip the oil and refined sugars.
Purple Cabbage Slaw with Mayo
For a creamy purple cabbage slaw, simply add mayo. There are plenty of options for commercially prepared vegan mayo in the stores, but while they don’t contain eggs, I haven’t found one that’s both vegan and oil free.
That’s why I like to make my own whole food, plant-based vegan mayo. I’ve got 2 oil free vegan mayo recipes on the blog—a low fat version made with silken tofu, and one made with soaked cashews. They’re both yummy and easy enough to whip up in about 5 minutes.
Oil free vegan mayo made with silken tofu
Vegan Coleslaw for BBQ, Vegan Coleslaw for Tacos…And More
Purple cabbage slaw is perfectly delicious on it’s own. But this slaw works wonders as a topping. I love to eat it on top of BBQ sandwiches and tacos, green salads—or pretty much any dish that could use a bit of added flavor, acid and crunch.
Oven-roasted barbecue sandwich topped with purple cabbage slaw
Of course, the most traditional way to enjoy this purple cabbage slaw is as side dish. Perhaps alongside your favorite sandwich and some classic creamy potato salad.
While I enjoy eating coleslaw all year long—just like potato salad, it’s a classic summer side dish. I suspect the bright colors of this refreshing pickled salad would be welcome at any cookout or picnic. It's not only pretty, but colorful veggies like purple cabbage pack more nutritional punch.
How Long Does Coleslaw Last?
You’ve probably heard horror stories of people getting food poisoning after eating mayo-based coleslaw or potato salad. Or maybe you’ve gotten sick yourself.
This typically happens because traditional mayo is made with raw eggs. Most commercially prepared mayo has enough acid to prevent food poisoning, and when our mayo is plant-based, we don’t have to worry about contamination from eggs at all.
Also—whether you opt for the basic purple cabbage slaw recipe or the creamy version—the vinegar (acid) acts as a natural preservative. So this dish will easily last for 5 days in the fridge.
Even if you use choose to use a tofu mayo, you’ll be okay for that long. Silken tofu typically only lasts about 2-3 days in the fridge. But again, because of the acid from the vinegar, it can last a bit longer. It may start to separate and get a little watery after a few days; just give it a stir and enjoy.
If you make this purple cabbage slaw, I’d love to know what you think! Did you make any modifications? Do you like the vinegar-only or the creamy version? Leave me a comment below and tell me!
If you like this whole food plant-based recipe, you might also like:
- Creamy Vegan Potato Salad
- Vegan Oil Free Mayo
- Vegan 'Egg' Salad
- Oven-Roasted BBQ Mushroom Sandwich
- Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich
- Portobello Mushroom Burger with Cheddar Sauce
📖 Recipe
Purple Cabbage Slaw
Ingredients
Purple Cabbage Slaw
- 2 cups purple cabbage thinly sliced and chopped (about ½ small head)
- 1 cup carrots shredded (about 1 large carrot)
- 1-2 jalapeno peppers sliced (if you like heat)
- ½ cup sugar free rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For Creamy Purple Cabbage Slaw
- ¼ cup to ½ cup of Oil Free Vegan Mayo or the mayo of your choice
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, maple syrup and celery seed. Add the cabbage, carrot and jalapeno, and toss well.
- Allow the slaw to marinate for at least 15 minutes or more. Toss every 5 minutes or so to make sure all of the veggies get 'pickled' in the marinade. Add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
To make creamy purple cabbage slaw
- Drain the excess vinegar from the slaw. Then add ¼ cup to ½ cup of mayo and toss well.
Dora Phill
Yummy!!!!!! "PURPLE CABBAGE SLAW"
Elizabeth, Thank you so much, sweet heart, for sharing it, I would love to try it. I just love the part, where you have mentioned even preparation time in a separate recipe card, this is just so thoughtful; of you, for a working mother like me, such things really come handy.
elizabeth
Hi Dora, So glad you like this recipe! Hope you enjoy it, and I do try to share as much helpful info as I can. Happy to hear a busy working mom like you manages to find time to make healthy meals for her family! You go, girl! <3