Asian broccoli salad with sesame ginger dressing is the perfect side dish!
This simple recipe is incredibly flavorful and so easy to make and goes perfectly with tacos, burgers, salmon, chicken, shrimp or tofu! This healthy recipe is a great way to get in lots of veggies and is great for summer cookouts or even meal prep!
Why you will love this recipe:
- Easy to find ingredients: This simple Asian broccoli salad has just a few ingredients that I bet you already have on hand or can easily find at the grocery store! This slaw takes just 5 minutes to whip up (the hardest part is chopping the cabbage and you can even buy that pre-shredded).
- Perfect for weeknight meals, summer bbq’s, potlucks or meal prep! This broccoli red cabbage salad holds up well to being prepared ahead and served the next day. And it’s super versatile so you can add whatever veggies you have on hand to make it even more fun and filling! Because this is gluten free, dairy free, Whole30, vegan and low carb, it is sure to please just about anyone that comes to visit!
- Great for meal prep lunch: This sesame ginger broccoli slaw is perfect for low carb lunches (it’s super filling) and you can make a double batch early in the week. Just pair it with your favorite protein (Asian Skillet Chicken would be great) and you have lunch for the week prepped in just 5 minutes!
- Budget Friendly: This Asian broccoli slaw is an inexpensive side dish that will pair with so many meals (burgers, tacos, salmon, shrimp, chicken, tofu, beans). Keep the overall cost of the dish down by also serving it up with jasmine rice.
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Ingredients
- Broccoli slaw: This is a slaw mix that you can buy at most grocery stores – typically you can find this close to where they sell other bagged salads and shredded cabbage for coleslaw.
- Red cabbage: I love the contrast of red cabbage to the broccoli slaw. You could also use green cabbage but it will not be as colorful!
- Cilantro: I love the fresh pop of flavor from cilantro. If you love cilantro too, you are going to want to include it in this salad. If you aren’t the biggest fan of cilantro, you could also use green onions or mint!
- Coconut aminos: These are a gluten free and soy free alternative to soy sauce. You can usually find them in the same area as the soy sauce in the grocery store. They are slightly sweeter than soy sauce.
- Rice wine vinegar: Any time I make an Asian inspired dish, I like to use rice wine vinegar. It’s has a very mild flavor compared to other vinegars (like apple cider vinegar) and pairs well with the sesame oil and coconut aminos.
- Lime juice: This adds more acid to the dish and limes are slightly sweet as well. I really enjoy the combo of lime juice and rice wine vinegar.
- Tahini: This is a paste made from sesame seeds. It helps to add richness to the sauce and helps to balance out some of the acid.
- Toasted sesame oil: Sesame oil has a very strong taste and can quickly overpower a dish, so I tend to use it sparingly.
- Spices: Garlic powder, ground ginger, salt: I don’t love biting down on fresh garlic in my salads and slaws, so I opt for garlic powder in these recipes. Fresh ginger would be great in this recipe, but I don’t always have it on hand, so I used dried ground ginger to ensure you always have the ingredients on hand. Salt helps to balance out the flavors and elevate them, however you could try the recipe without salt if you are trying to reduce your salt intake.
Step by step instructions
Step 1: Start by making the dressing. Combine coconut aminos, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, tahini, toasted sesame oil, garlic powder, ground ginger and salt in a small bowl. Stir with a fork or whisk to combine.
Step 2: Shred the cabbage. You can use your knife or a food processor to thinly shred about ¼ of a medium head of cabbage.
Step 3: Chop the cilantro. I actually use the stems and leaves. The stems are packed full of flavor and because this is a slaw, they just blend right in with the broccoli stems.
Step 4: Open the bag of broccoli slaw, add it to a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well.
Step 5: Serve immediately or allow to sit in the fridge 1-2 hours for flavors to come together even more.
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Top tips
- Did you know you can use your food processor to quickly shred cabbage? Add the shredding attachment to the food processor (instead of the S-blade) and feed the cabbage through the top of the food processor. This works so well and it’s incredibly fast. I always use the food processor when I have an entire head of cabbage to shred at once.
- To make this salad even more fun and interesting, add your favorite nuts or seeds. I like to keep things simple but if you are serving this at a group function and you want it to look extra fancy, sprinkle it with peanuts, chopped cashews, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds or sliced almonds for some added crunch. Be sure to toast or roast your nuts/seeds for extra flavor and crunch!
- Use whatever ingredients you have on hand. This slaw is also great with green cabbage in place of the broccoli slaw. You can also add more veggies to make it more like a salad! Whatever you have on hand can be added!
What other veggies would be good in this slaw
I wanted to keep the ingredient list pretty minimal with this recipe, but you could easily add more veggies! Some great additions would be:
- Raw or cooked bell peppers (sliced thin), sugar snap peas
- Sauteed asparagus, snow peas, brussels sprouts
- Finely chopped kale, spinach, collard greens
- Shredded green cabbage or napa cabbage
Customize this slaw based on the flavors you love:
- If you love spice: Add 1/2-1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes or drizzle with sriracha.
- If you love herbs: Add chopped scallions, more cilantro, chopped mint.
- If you love sweet slaw: Add 1-2 tbsp. honey or maple syrup to the dressing.
- Add more crunch: Sprinkle with peanuts, cashews, sesame seeds for more crunch.
FAQs
What is broccoli slaw?
Broccoli slaw is a pre-made salad mix that is made from shredding the stems of broccoli into similar size pieces as shredded carrots. The broccoli is mixed with shredded carrots and sometimes red cabbage as well. I have seen broccoli slaw in most grocery stores, but I typically pick mine up at Trader Joe’s.
You can find broccoli slaw by the bagged salads, typically close to the shredded cabbage/coleslaw mix.
How to prepare Asian slaw in advance
Because there is no lettuce in this slaw, it holds up well in the fridge for a few days. However for the best presentation, it’s best to make it 24 hours or less before serving. There are 2 options for this:
- Make the slaw ahead of time and store covered in the fridge. Right before serving sprinkle some freshly chopped cilantro and any nuts or seeds you plan to add (optional)
- Alternatively if you need to prepare the slaw further ahead, you can mix the dressing up ahead of time (up to 5 days ahead) and shred the cabbage ahead. In a large bowl add the broccoli slaw and shredded cabbage and cover. The day of serving, chop the cilantro, add the dressing and stir well to fully coat the slaw.
Storage
This recipe can be stored in the fridge 4-5 days after mixing, however the red color from the cabbage can start to take over broccoli stems and turn the entire slaw red over time.
Substitutions
- Broccoli slaw: You can also use finely chopped broccoli florets or shredded cabbage in place of the broccoli slaw if you cannot find it or don’t have it on hand.
- Red cabbage: I love the contrast from the red cabbage (purple cabbage) but you could easily use green cabbage in place of the red cabbage.
- Cilantro: The cilantro pairs well with the other Asian flavors, but if you don’t love it, you could replace it with chopped green onion or fresh mint.
- Coconut aminos: These are a soy free and gluten free alternative to soy sauce. Coconut aminos are slightly sweeter than soy sauce and a little less salty. You could also use tamari (gluten free soy sauce) in place of the coconut aminos if soy doesn’t bother you.
- Rice wine vinegar: This is a slightly sweeter vinegar. You could also use the juice from a lemon or a lime or apple cider vinegar in place of rice wine vinegar.
- Lime juice: Lime juice is acidic and slightly sweet. You could also use lemon juice or 1-2 tbsp. more of rice wine vinegar.
- Toasted sesame oil: Sesame oil adds deep flavor and really cannot be substituted. Typically you can find sesame oil in with the other oils in your grocery stores or it may be in the Asian food section of your store as well. You could omit this and the dish would still be very flavorful.
- Tahini: A paste made from sesame seeds, with a similar consistency of other nut or seed butters. You could use peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, almond butter or cashew butter in place of the tahini.
- Garlic powder: You can use 1-2 fresh garlic cloves or 1 tbsp. garlic infused olive oil to replace the garlic powder.
- Ground ginger: If you have fresh ginger and would rather use that, you will want about 1 tbsp. finely minced fresh ginger.
- Salt: The salt helps to balance out the acid and elevate all the flavors. You can omit the salt if you are using regular tamari since that seems to be saltier than coconut aminos.
If you love this recipe, you should try:
- Creamy Cilantro Lime Slaw
- Avocado Ranch Broccoli Slaw Salad
- Crunchy Broccoli Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing
- Creamy Asian Spaghetti Squash
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Sesame Ginger Broccoli Slaw
$4.86 Recipe/$1.22 ServingAsian broccoli slaw is the perfect side dish and is ready in just 5 minutes. Pairs well with tacos, burgers, chicken, salmon, tofu, or shrimp for a quick and easy weeknight meal. Great for meal prep too!
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Servings: 4
Guided Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. coconut aminos - $0.36
- 2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar - $0.16
- 1 lime juiced - $0.33
- 1 tsp ground ginger - $0.10
- 1 tsp garlic powder - $0.10
- 1/2 tsp salt - $0.03
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil - $0.10
- 1 tbsp. tahini - $0.20
- 1 bag broccoli slaw - $1.99
- 2-3 cups chopped red cabbage - $0.99
- 2-3 tbsp. chopped cilantro - $0.50
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the coconut aminos, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, ground ginger, garlic powder, salt, sesame oil and tahini. Combine well.
- Slice 1/4 of a medium size red cabbage into thin strands for the slaw.
- Chop the cilantro (leaves and stems).
- In a large bowl combine the broccoli slaw, cabbage, cilantro and sesame ginger dressing. Stir well to incorporate (large tongs are great for this).
Notes
Customize this slaw based on the flavors you love:
- If you love spice: Add 1/2-1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes or drizzle with sriracha.
- If you love herbs: Add chopped scallions, more cilantro, chopped mint.
- If you love sweet slaw: Add 1-2 tbsp. honey or maple syrup to the dressing.
- Add more crunch: Sprinkle with peanuts, cashews, sesame seeds for more crunch.
- Make the slaw ahead of time and store covered in the fridge. Right before serving sprinkle some freshly chopped cilantro and any nuts or seeds you plan to add (optional)
- Alternatively if you need to prepare the slaw further ahead, you can mix the dressing up ahead of time (up to 5 days ahead) and shred the cabbage ahead. In a large bowl add the broccoli slaw and shredded cabbage and cover. The day of serving, chop the cilantro, add the dressing and stir well to fully coat the slaw.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition Facts
Amount per Serving
Calories
85
Fat
3
g
Carbohydrates
13
g
Fiber
4
g
Sugar
2
g
Protein
4
g
Where does nutrition info come from? Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy, sourced from the USDA Food Database.
DID YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE?Let others know by rating and leaving a comment below!
Anna Powell
This looks great. I’ve been looking for more cold salad recipes.
Jess @hellotofit
I love the crunch that broccoli slaw offers. Looks tasty, Sam!