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!
Looking for more make-ahead salad ideas? Check out our Artichoke Salad, Healthy Green Pea Salad, and Instant Pot Potato Salad.
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 or Lemon Dijon 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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This is by far one of our favorite ways to eat veggies. With the heat and humidity on MI this summer, I think this will need to be a staple. I’ll cook up some chicken, hard boiled eggs, and get some deli meat to round it it.
Looks like I’ve loved this salad for about 6 years now!!!
Just recommended this for the millionth time. And now I want to make it.
I love this salad so much!
You’re the sweetest, thank you Tina! I need to take some updated photos of it soon.
Wow, what a great idea!
We LOVE this salad. It’s especially amazing with a hard boiled egg or two for work lunches. So yummy! Thank you!
Adding hardboiled eggs = genius move Brandi!
A kitchen hack for removing the central rib in chard, kale, spinach etc… instead of slicing twice for both sides of the rib, I fold the leaf in half and then just slice once down the side of the rib! I know, it only takes a second or two off the time, but when you are doing a TON of leaves for any sort of dish, it just makes the job a little quicker!
That is a great hack!
Do you eat this salad with a spoon? 🙂 I think I’ll shave the carrots and chop into little ribbons. I kind of dislike chunks of carrots in salads. Maybe toss with goddess dressing!
Nah, I used a fork! 🙂
I love chunks of carrots, but ribbons would be fine too. If you already have your food processor out, maybe shred them in that?
Adding these ingredients to my grocery list. Looks easy enough that I might insist that the hubby and child make it.
Did they do it? Did you pull the “I’m busy with school” car d and make them do this? 🙂
We went camping (for the first time!) this weekend so we haven’t tried the salad yet. These items are on the list for tomorrows grocery shopping.
On a side note, the hubby did run to the store after we got back from camping to pick up hot dogs and tater tots that HE made for supper so I could finish up my school work :0)
Only thing missing from the salad is the Pork BBQ and bun. I am with Troy….everything is better on bread 🙂
I would totally do this as a mason jar salad!! I make one very similar but I add chopped dates or raisins for a little pop of sweetness! Sweet, salty, bacon = Yumm!!
This looks yummy and healthy. I wonder if it would work as a mason jar salad for lunches?
I don’t see why not! But even though I don’t love salads, I can eat a ton of this one. I’d have to probably do a quart mason jar, because a pint wouldn’t be enough for how quickly I can mow this down.