Asian Broccoli Slaw Salad

Asian broccoli slaw 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!

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 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 helps to balance out the flavors, making the perfect dressing.
• 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 is the base of the dressing, adds 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 recommend 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.

How to make Asian broccoli slaw salad

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.

Shred the cabbage. You can use your knife or a food processor to thinly shred about ¼ of a medium head of cabbage.

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.

Open the bag of broccoli slaw, add it to a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well.

Serve immediately or allow to sit in the fridge 1-2 hours for flavors to come together even more.

Top tips

• 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 to add to broccoli slaw salad

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

Other additions

• 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 broccoli 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.

How to store broccoli salad slaw

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.