Go Back
–+ servings
Colorful cabbage salad with shredded carrots, red cabbage, green cabbage, bell peppers, orange segments, and seeds, tossed together in a white bowl with a spoon.
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Asian Cabbage Salad with Mandarin Oranges

This easy Asian Cabbage Salad recipe features crisp vegetables, mandarin oranges, and a sweet sesame dressing. Perfect for potlucks, meal prep, and healthy eating, this crunchy salad is ready in just 30 minutes!
Prep Time30 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Salad, Side Dish, Vegetable
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan
Servings: 12 people
Author: Melissa Griffiths

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients:

  • 8 cups thinly sliced cabbage about 1 medium head; use green, or a mix of green and red
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1 cup diced bell peppers any color or a mix
  • 3/4 cup chopped or slivered almonds toasted, if desired
  • 5 green onions chopped
  • 1 cup chopped cucumber
  • 2 cans mandarin oranges, drained 15 ounces cans

Dressing Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup light oil such as avocado or canola
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, almonds, green onions, cucumber, and mandarin oranges.
  • In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the honey, rice vinegar, soy sauce, light oil, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic powder until well combined.
  • Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until everything is evenly coated.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste and add a tablespoon of sesame seeds if you'd like. Toss to combine.
  • Serve right away.

Notes

Recipe Tips:
  • If chopping is not your zen/happy place you can buy bagged chopped cabbage and pre-shredded carrots for this recipe, no problem there. 
  • If you want to make this recipe ahead of time, just get the salad part ready and the dressing ready but keep them separate. Add the dressing just before serving.
  • This recipe is great to take to a party or picnic because it bright and colorful and crunchy. Everyone loves it!
  • This recipe lends really well to making for meal prep and eating on it all week long. If I am planning on that I will not add the cucumber to the recipe because it get too soft before the other veggies and I keep the dressing separate and just add it as I eat it.  
 
Variations & Substitutions:
  • Two 15-ounce cans is a lot of mandarin oranges, but I love them so much in this recipe. If you don't love them as much as I do you can drop that down to 1 can if you prefer. 
  • You can sprinkle the salad with sesame seeds before serving if you like. 
  • This recipes is really flexible so adjust it to your liking. Add more peppers if they are your favorite and swap the almonds for roasted salted peanut or shelled sunflower seeds if that's what you have on hand.

Nutrition

Serving: 1heaping cup | Calories: 172kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Sodium: 273mg | Potassium: 330mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 3204IU | Vitamin C: 59mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 1mg

QR code

Scan this QR code with your phone's camera to view this recipe on your mobile device.

qr code