Simple Healthy Slaw
This healthy slaw recipe tastes amazing! It's made with a simple lemon dressing and features toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Gluten free and vegan.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
Let’s talk about this healthy slaw recipe. It’s proof that sometimes, the most humble of ingredients can make for the best recipes.
Take cheap cabbage, with all of its potent antioxidants, and toss it with carrots, the humble root vegetable that is packed with beta carotene. Drizzle in a simple, garlicky lemon dressing (no mayonnaise or vinegar here). For extra texture and savory flavor, add some freshly toasted seeds to the mix. Toasting them makes all the difference.
Ta da! You have a colorful coleslaw that’s bursting with fresh flavor and amazing health benefits.
This slaw is one of my favorite simple side dishes, so I’m sharing it today with updated photos in the hopes that it captures your attention. It keeps well in the fridge for up to four days, so it’s a very easy way to add a burst of color and fresh flavor to your meals.
Of course, this slaw goes great with veggie burgers and grilled mains in the summertime. It would also be fantastic with my vegetarian chili, sandwiches of any kind, and rich meals that need something light for balance (even mac and cheese).
Healthy Coleslaw Preparation Tips
It is easier to slice cabbage on a mandoline (affiliate link) than with a sharp knife, but it certainly can be done. Be careful either way. If you’re in a hurry, buy a 12-ounce bag of pre-shredded slaw mix at the store.
For the prettiest shredded carrots, use a julienne peeler or spiralizer. If you don’t have one of those, a plain old box grater or the grating attachment on your food processor should work pretty well. Or, grab a bag of shredded carrots at the store!
Last but not least, I used three-fourths of a cup of mixed seeds here, but you could definitely get by with less. Whichever seeds you use, and however much you use, don’t skip the toasting step! Just keep an eye on those little seeds because they can turn too toasty in a blink.
Watch How to Make Healthy Coleslaw
More Vibrant & Healthy Recipes to Try
- Peanut Slaw with Soba Noodles
- Extra Vegetable Fried Rice
- Versatile Buddha Bowl
- Mega Crunchy Romaine Salad
Please let me know how this slaw recipe turns out for you in the comments! I’m always so eager to hear how you like my recipes.
Simple Healthy Slaw
This healthy coleslaw recipe tastes amazing! It’s made with a simple lemon dressing and features toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds. It’s gluten free and vegan, which means it’s a perfect potluck dish (you might want to double the ingredients if you’re serving a crowd). Recipe yields 4 to 6 side servings.
Ingredients
Coleslaw
- 2 cups finely sliced purple cabbage (one small cabbage will be more than plenty)
- 2 cups finely sliced green cabbage (one small cabbage will be more than plenty)
- 2 cups shredded carrots (I used store-bought shredded organic carrots, but you could also grate them on a box grater, in a food processor, or julienne the carrots with a sharp knife)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- Up to ¾ cup mixed seeds (I used mostly pepitas—AKA green pumpkin seeds—and sunflower seeds, with some sesame seeds and poppy seeds)
Lemon dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste
- 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a medium serving bowl, combine the prepared purple and green cabbage, carrots and parsley. Set aside.
- Measure out your seeds into a small skillet. Toast over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the seeds are fragrant and the pepitas are starting to make little popping noises. Pour the toasted seeds into the mixing bowl and toss to combine.
- To make the dressing, in a small bowl, combine the olive oil with 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Add the garlic, cumin and salt and whisk until thoroughly blended.
- Drizzle the dressing over the slaw and toss until all of the ingredients are lightly coated in dressing. Taste and add an additional tablespoon of lemon juice if the slaw needs a little more zip. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate to marinate for up to several hours.
Notes
Recipe adapted from The Adventurous Vegetarian Cookbook by Jane Hughes.
Storage suggestions: I like this slaw best the day it’s made, but it keeps well for several days, covered, in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I need this in my life. I am seeing this with sweet potato fries and a lovely bun less burger
That sounds perfect!
Hi Kate,
Do u refrigerate the slaw with the dressing or without,coz was wondering,if u add the dressing,would it make the slaw soggy.
Once again thx for a wonderful recipe
Hey Shilpa, the slaw won’t get too soggy if you leave the dressing on it. It will wilt a bit, so if you want to make the slaw more than a few hours in advance, you might have better results waiting to toss it all together.
Shilpa, I like to make the dressing and leave it for a few hours so the flavors can marry. That way when I add it to the slaw the flavors have already developed and I will have a nice looking slaw.
I think I’m going to make this to go with the black bean and spinach enchilada recipe tonight. I always a good crisp salad/slaw with enchiladas.
That sounds like a stellar combo! Hope you love it!
We always make a slaw of thinly sliced cabbage, diced jalapeños, lime juice, cilantro and salt when we make enchiladas or tacos. Everything is to taste… and it’s so delicious!
Do you use an olive oil with the southern slaw? Any citrus?
Hummm nice idea Tracy! It’s funny, I’ve been making red cabbage salad (with blond raisins, pumpkin seeds, a hard boiled egg, apple slices and an old-fashioned mustard, olive oil & balsamic vinegar dressing) for the past few days (a small cabbage is a LOT :). I like very much your interpretation of it, Kate! Would you please create a nice recipe with cooked (green or red) cabbage for a warm meal later? Thanks!!
Hey Marion! I will try! I have plenty of leftover cabbage from this slaw for cooking. :)
Thanks for the Slaw recipe! Salads are my fav food outside of chocolate. To that end when refrig has space I buy a 5 pound bag of slaw and will make salads and stir-fry from it varying spices of course.
My current version of “Slaw” is a hybrid salad with arugula and slaw with finely chopped raw or cooked onions and garlic; diced boiled eggs (2), cucumbers, apples, chicken or turkey sausage; soaked dried cranberries, and garbanzo beans. Tomatoes when in season also find their way into my salads along with red/yellow and green peppers, green onions/shallots, cilantro, and basil. .
I make my own dressings using balsamic vinegar; mustard (powder or prepared); ginger (chopped, shredded or paste), chili powder & paprika for color; lime and lemon juice; Ponzu sauce and soy sauce; sometimes Turmeric, and depending on what day it is either Asian or Italian spices to top off. Yogurt, mayonnaise or olive oil/coconut oil provide the base for the dressing. Incorporated together it can have a spicy, or sweet and spicy flavor if I add honey. I’ve been known to include noodles, rice or spaghetti — one at a time — in these salads along with peanuts and sunflower seeds. Ingredients seem determined by what my tastes are being satisfied with when I do grocery shopping.
I’m never bored with these salads because every bite has varied tastes, and more of the same goodness as the first taste!
Yay to you having a weekend! I love this idea- I’m always on the lookout for more cabbage recipes, since it’s one of the few fresh vegetables in winter but I have no idea what to do with them. This looks beautiful and healthy and delicious.
This slaw seems so good – and yes, I love the alliteration in the title ;) – and those photos have a incredibly amazing light!!
That’s so funny! I was on an Aziz Ansari kick this past weekend, too! (I was watching YouTube videos, and his bit about making plans with flaky people is spot on!) As for your recipe – I’m usually not a huge cabbage fan, but this salad looks delicious!
Ok, now I’m hunting for that YouTube video! :) I really like cabbage, and I love this slaw. Hope you enjoy it!
Haha, it’s this one: https://youtu.be/_RbMv7HUiO4
The part at 1:45 is the one I was referring to!
Ummm, yum! This is the fix I need for stuck inside during a blizzard and eating constantly.
Beware, though—I managed to finish off the whole bowl in about 24 hours! :)
Hi, this looks delicious and refreshing–I can’t wait to try it! Are there shredded apples in it too? It looks like they might be in one of the pictures, but I didn’t see them listed in the ingredients. Thanks!
Hey Shelley! No, no shredded apples here. I bought some pre-shredded rainbow carrots, so the carrots are all different colors. Sneaky. :)
Wow! This looks amazing! I am definitely going to give this a try :)
Thanks for sharing!
Take care,
C
I haven’t been this excited for a cookbook in YEARS! You were one of the first food blogs I ever read and now your work is coming to the REAL WORLD! So thrilled girl! For now though…slaw, and a gorgeous one at that!
Thank you so much, Katrina! xo! I really appreciate your support.
I can see myself having this piled high on a lettuce wrapped veggie burger. Love the colors.
Thanks
Sounds marvelous!
I know cabbage is a popular veg at farmer’s market right now (thank you, winter) and I wanted to buy some last week, but didn’t have a recipe. Now, thanks to you, I do! And I love that you binge watched Master of None. I’m currently in a binge phase with Jane the Virgin and it makes me feel better that I’m not alone. ;)
Oh, you’re definitely not alone. I think Jane the Virgin might be my next show. If you have leftover cabbage, I have plenty of other recipes that should take care of it!
LOVE this to incorporate into lunches!!
What great timing, I bought a beautiful purple cabbage at the farmer’s market this weekend. I had all the other ingredients and we both enjoyed this for dinner tonight, another keeper of a recipe. Thank you!
Thank you, R.A.! Glad you enjoyed it!
This looks so super easy! I must make it this week. Thanks for the recipe :)
This is such a great way to use cabbage. Yum!
this looks amazing! i have some red cabbage in my fridge just waiting to be covered in lemon dressing!
I love a good slaw, and it loves me back! I always feel so healthy after eating it. My husband is also super impressed whenever I pull out a slaw. I can just taste the poppy seeds on this one.
I made this slaw last night to accompany barbecue portobello quesadillas…delicious! Leftover slaw is in a wrap today for lunch!
That sounds like an amazing combo! I’m really intrigued by your quesadillas. They sound so good!
Kate – this is the recipe I use…I actually thought it was from you but it is an Eating Well recipe. Your rift on it would be interesting!
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/barbecue_portobello_quesadillas.html
Your recipes are so reliably delicious. I made this tonight and it is a keeper. Simple and tasty. I had extra red bell peppers so I sliced them thin and added them. So good!
Thank you, Brooke! That means a lot. Great idea to add bell pepper!
Super easy to make and delicious, to boot! I forgot to pick up carrots so mine was cabbage only. Didn’t matter, my taste buds were beyond pleased.
Thanks, Sondra! Glad you enjoyed it. :)
This looks so tasty! I love a fresh, zingy slaw as a side with something warmer for dinner! It’s always such a winner :)
Hi! I have never been a fan of coleslaw. The only one I like is the napa cabbage slaw from Sunset magazine several years ago. It is on their website. It is fantastic, but very time consuming to make. I made yours today and it was equally wonderful, less caloric, and came together in a flash. It’s the clear winner! I will be making this all the time. Thank you for all of your terrific recipes!
The Seedy Slaw was amazing and stayed fresh with the dressing on for a few days. Will defiantly make it again.
Sue
Made this for our super bowl party and it was a big hit, especially for my son who dislikes mayonnaise. I didn’t change a thing on the recipe and it was really good! Thank you!
The addition of the seeds is the cherry on top! I used a one pound bag of shredded cabbage and carrots and found that it yielded the six cups called for in this recipe. I have to say though, if I were to make this again, I would add a touch of some kind of sweetener but that is just my palate when it comes to lemony dressings! I know others will enjoy it just the way it is!
Made this many times now, it’s so easy and so healthy!
I made this last night to go with a rotisserie chicken. It’s delicious and easy (with the food processor to help shred carrots). It came together in less than 10 minutes. It’s great to have a simple, healthy alternative to heavy, mayo-based slaws. I’ll be adding this to my regular recipes. Thank you!
Oops. I just realized I ate most of my lunch serving of this salad before I got outside to pick some parsley. I make a lot of coleslaw and I’m pleased to have this new rendition. Very tasty. I’m toying with a few dried cranberries along with the parsley for the rest of my serving. Thank you for the healthy inspiration.
Another winner, Kate. We appreciate you!!
The addition of seeds to this slaw make it very unique and flavorful. I will be doing a recipe round up next month and will be publishing a list of coleslaw recipes from around the web. I would love to include your recipe (a photo from your blog and a link back to your site for the actual recipe), but would like your permission to do so.
Thank you for your consideration.
Forgot to tell you. I love your alliteration.
Where to I purchase the nuts and I what section of the store? I live in northwest Indiana, so we have meijer, strack van til, jewel, whole foods. Thanks, Susan
Ps I am trying to learn how to eat healthily but it is like going to a foriegn place for me.
Hi Susan! The baking aisle or bulk bin area should have these.
Made this last night. Very tasty. Toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds. I will make it again.
Yes this is delicious! Just made it and I’m very impressed with the flavours. Planning on having it with tempeh fajitas tonight! Thanks!
Excellent.
Unusual. Thank you for sharing.
Made it! I’m gonna eat this whole life
Made this tasty slaw as part of Friday’s dinner-for-two (paired with veggie enchiladas) and loved it so much, I prepped a much larger batch on Sunday for a BBQ! It’s delish! I added one tiny spoonful of mayo for a creamier dressing :)
Simple and delivers excellent taste. I substituted the parsley w cilantro – let’s just say amazing..dash of heat adds interesting flavor too ;-)
Want too try, but wondered if you ever swapped out cilantro for the parsley?
Would the seedy slaw compliment as a side dish with roast turkey legs (maple syrup, marmalade and smokey bacon) ?
The Seedy Slaw was delicious.
I added a handful of raisins & sliced apples too!
Thank you for the foundation.
I made this for a holiday dinner as a vegan option. Vegan and non-vegans loved it! I added a touch of sugar tot he dressing as it tasted quite bitter, I may have used too much lemon juice as I did not measure it, just squeezed the lemon! I also added 1/2 cup chopped pineapple. Wonderful recipe!
Oh my gosh–this was good!! Those toasted seeds really make it. When I tasted the dressing at first, it didn’t seem quite right or maybe not what I expected. I added a tad of vinegar, cuz I love vinegar. When I put it on the cabbage–it was perfect. Just perfect. Yum!
Awesome! Glad you were able to adjust the dressing to your tastes :)
This appears to be a great coleslaw dressing for my sweet and tangy chicken sandwiches. I will try it today. I’ll rate after dinner! :-)
Yes, this should go well with those flavors. Let me know how it went!
Looking forward to making this for dinner tomorrow! I was wondering…to make this a complete meal, Kate, could you (or anyone else here) recommend a starch to throw in it? Or maybe some good bread on the side would be best? Thanks much!
Hi! I’m sorry I missed your question earlier. A big portion of this slaw plus some toast might be nice. You could also stuff it into a warm whole-grain tortilla and make a burrito out of it. I would add rinsed and drained black beans to the slaw for more protein (you might need to add a little more lime and seasonings at that point).
Thanks Kate; burrito sounds great and I could wrap it in foil and eat it out of hand while I’m on the go!
How many calories does this coleslaw have, please?
Thank you.
Unfortunately, I don’t have nutritional info available for my recipes just yet. I’m looking for a solution, and will update about it once I find one. Thanks!
I am not a huge coleslaw fan, but I LOVED this recipe. The toasted seeds hit the spot. I used all the seeds you suggested, plus some almonds. I also used 1 whole cup of seeds/nuts instead of just 3/4 C. I paired this with your sweet potato & black bean tacos (also delicious!). Even my 2-year-old son gobbled this coleslaw up, asking for seconds! I will definitely be making this again and again, maybe even as a new holiday recipe!
As someone else suggested, I would also love a warm cabbage dish idea. Cabbage is not one of my main go-to veggies, so I’m a bit perplexed about what I will do with it all! (:
I also forgot to mention that I didn’t have any fresh parsley, so I used cilantro instead. I thought the switch made it delicious! I will probably continue to make it that way in the future, as my family prefers cilantro to parsley in most applications. It also went well with the cumin & pepitas.
Thanks, Callie! I’ll add the warm cabbage dish suggestion to my request list. I think I’m up for the challenge :)
I just made a super easy version of this; it’s not nearly as pretty as your recipe :), but it’s yummy. Bag of shredded carrots, bag of shredded cabbage (like for coleslaw), pre-roasted and salted sunflower seeds, plus the dressing. I don’t love parsley so I didn’t use that, but I added some dried dill weed. And I just couldn’t get the flavor combinations right with the oil and lemon juice, so I added a little drizzle of honey and that helped a ton; it mellowed it out and brought the flavors together. I’m serving it with a roasted vegetable & black bean enchilada casserole – I think they’ll go really well together.
Sounds delicious, Rachel. :)
This was awesome…I have been on a fairly strict diet but I needed to switch it up, I increased the lemon and added some dill in addition to the parsley, I was out of sunflower seeds somehow so that was a bummer….but otherwise super tasty
Variety is super important! Glad this recipe could help.