This delicious Cabbage Salad is a powerhouse of veggies with a touch of {optional} bacon. A hearty make-ahead salad that is packed with so much flavor, it might just become your new favorite side dish.
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If salads typically make you cringe, this chopped cabbage and kale salad might just change your mind! It’s packed with flavor and has a delicious texture similar to coleslaw. Even better, we’re putting some bacon, AKA the candy bar of meats, in it!
You can also dress it up by adding roasted veggies (related: How to Roast Frozen Vegetables, Crispy Butternut Squash or Air Fryer Roasted Beets), chunks of roasted garlic (related: Air Fryer Roasted Garlic and Instant Pot Roasted Garlic), chopped nuts or seeds, dried fruit, or even cheese.
If you’re vegetarian or vegan, using tempeh bacon will give your salad an amazing flavor! This post can teach you how to make tempeh bacon for an awesome flavor boost.
I recommend chopping the kale and carrots in a food processor to save a ton of time. Just make sure you use the “pulse” or “chop” function to keep the veggies from getting pureed.
Which Kale is Best for Salads?
Lacinato kale is my go-to here (it might also be referred to as “dinosaur kale” or “Tuscan kale”). It has a flat leaf and a pleasant flavor. In my humble opinion, curly or red Russian kale makes me feel like I’m a cow chewing its cud. Moo.
What to Serve with Cabbage Salad
Air Fryer Tofu or Halloumi cheese would be amazing in this kale chop salad. Halloumi can be grilled or fried for an awesome crispy texture. See this post on how to cook halloumi for more details. Also a slice (or two) of Air Fryer Texas Toast would be delicious.
For the dressing, I prefer poppyseed dressing, but Yogurt Ranch Dressing would work too! Other great options: Lemon Tahini Salad Dressing, Avocado Ranch, or Homemade Green Goddess.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes:
- To make the process even faster, use bacon you’ve already cooked and cooled. Related: How to Bake Bacon in the Oven and Air Fryer Bacon.
- Save leftover kale in the freezer! Check out our tutorial on How to Freeze Kale.
- This salad makes A TON, so I recommend you add your favorite dressing to each portion when you serve it. This will keep the salad from wilting and getting soggy in the fridge.
- Don’t love kale? You can add your favorite green instead! I recommend adding them to each individual serving as most greens won’t hold up in a chopped salad stored over a few days.
- Save any leftover cabbage to make Air Fryer Cabbage or Air Fryer Egg Rolls.
More Delicious Vegetable Recipes You’ll Love:
WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS
One serving has 1 WW Freestyle SmartPoints.
Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
- 5 cups kale {cut into thin ribbons}
- 4 cups green cabbage {chopped}
- 4 cups purple cabbage {chopped}
- 2 cups carrots {chopped}{about 3 medium carrots}
- 1 cup celery {chopped}{about 2 stalks celery}
- 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup bacon {cooked, cooled, and minced}
- Dressing of your choice
Instructions
- Wash and dry all produce.
- Lay your kale on a cutting board, and remove the ribs by slicing along the middle of each side. Thinly chop and place in a large mixing bowl.5 cups kale
- Finely chop the cabbage or pulse in a food processor. Add to the mixing bowl.4 cups green cabbage, 4 cups purple cabbage
- Peel and chop the carrots or pulse in a food processor. Add to the mixing bowl.2 cups carrots
- Chop the celery and add it to the bowl.1 cup celery
- Add sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and chopped bacon.1/3 cup sunflower seeds, 1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds, 1 cup bacon
- Mix all ingredients with tongs and top each serving with your dressing of choice.Dressing of your choice
Notes
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We don’t eat pork but I bet some turkey or beef bacon cooked nice and crispy would work great. It makes so much I’ll have to see if my neighbor wants some.Â
Honestly, I leave out the bacon about half the time and still love the salad. And yes, it makes A LOT!
Sarah! This salad is delicious. I expected it to be a nice, healthy salad, but I couldn’t get enough. I left out the bacon and didn’t have any pumpkin seeds, and still, it was wonderful. Thank you for providing me with another great way to use my abundance of kale.
Paula, I’m so glad you liked it! I find it’s almost a cross between a salad and coleslaw and for whatever reason that makes me happier when eating it. 🙂
Great salad!  My husband loved it went back for seconds!  He doesn’t like kale so he says…..
Hurray! I love when we can introduce new/hated foods to others. 🙂
This recipe made a ton of delicious salad! Â I had it without bacon but with tofu and avocado. Â And then the bacon on the side. Â Thanks!
Bacon on the side is the name of my band. 🙂