Name: Cabbage Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 25 min
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

Jump to Recipe

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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.

a white and blue bowl full of kale chopped salad

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 Tortellini Pasta Salad, Artichoke Salad, Pea Salad, and Instant Pot Potato Salad.

Cabbage Salad Ingredients

kale, cabbage, carrots, and other ingredients for making chopped salad

This recipe has:

Cabbage – both green and red (though we all know it’s purple…)
Kale – or sub in your favorite hearty greens
Carrots
Celery
Seeds – I like pumpkin and sunflower
Bacon but this is entirely optional
Dressing of your choice

If you have leftover cabbage to use up, try making Air Fryer Egg Rolls, Fried Cabbage and Bacon, or Air Fryer Cabbage.

How to Make Cabbage Salad

*I’ll walk you through it here with some photos and tips, and you’ll also find a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post with exact measurements, etc. You can click “jump to recipe” to skip down.

If you’re adding the bacon to this recipe, start by baking it in the oven or cooking a few slices in a skillet on the stovetop or Air Fryer Bacon. This post on how to cook bacon in the oven has more details on the oven method.

If you have a food processor with a shredding disc, it will make very quick work of chopping all these veggies. Just make sure you use the “pulse” or “chop” function to keep the veggies from getting pureed.

Without a food processor, you can still easily make this salad by using a chef’s knife and a cutting board.

Set up a large mixing bowl so that you can add the various veggies to it as you slice, chop, and prep each ingredient.

6 process photos showing vegetables being chopped in a food processor)

Add the seeds and bacon to the veggies and toss everything together. I recommend you don’t add the dressing to the entire batch unless you plan to serve it at a large gathering.

This salad will keep for days in the fridge, and all the veggies will stay crisp if you add the dressing to each portion prior to serving.

2 photos showing kale chopped salad with bacon in a bowl

How to Store

This recipe will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. It is better to store it without the dressing. Instead, dress each individual portion just before serving.

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. 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:

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.