Healthy Vegan Coleslaw Recipe with Cruciferous Vegetables

QUICK SUMMARY

This healthy vegan coleslaw is a creamy, dairy-free side dish made with cruciferous vegetables, apples, raisins or currants, walnut or pecan meal, soy-free vegan mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, and a touch of coriander essential oil. It is crunchy, slightly sweet, tangy, and easy to make ahead for family dinners, cookouts, and gatherings.

Cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, and kale provide fiber, vitamins, minerals, and glucosinolates, plant compounds that form biologically active substances such as sulforaphane. These compounds have shown interesting anticancer activity in laboratory and animal research, while human cancer-prevention findings are more mixed. (1)

The practical takeaway is simple: get the recipe mixed first, then read on if you want the ingredient details. For the coriander essential oil, use only a product labeled for culinary or dietary use and follow the recipe amount exactly.

Coleslaw is one of those simple side dishes that can be either a nutritional win or a bowl of hidden sugar, depending on how you make it.

This is my favorite vegan coleslaw recipe, tweaked to perfection with multiple cruciferous vegetables, sweet raisins, crisp apples, crunchy walnuts or pecans, and a creamy dairy-free dressing. It's a hit with my family, and I never have leftovers.

Make Mama Z's Vegan Coleslaw

This recipe is easy to make and, if you purchase pre-shredded veggies, doesn't require any chopping. I love serving this side dish at family gatherings because you can make a big batch without spending a lot of money. Plus, you can prepare it ahead of time, which leaves more time for mingling.

Mama Z’s Vegan Coleslaw with Cruciferous Vegetables

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Author Mama Z

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Quantity

2x4x6x

Ingredients

Salad

• 1 (12-ounce) bag organic broccoli slaw OR kale slaw, OR 1 small head of cabbage (red/purple OR green) OR 1-2 finely shredded large carrots AND the finely shredded stalks from a head of broccoli (about 2 cups)
• ¼ cup organic unsweetened raisins, unsweetened dried cherries, or currants
• ¼ cup raw organic walnut or pecan meal
• 1 cup cored and chopped organic Granny Smith apple (1 large apple)

Dressing

• ⅔ cup soy-free Vegenaise OR your preferred avocado oil OR grapeseed oil vegan mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar
• 1 dropperful plain liquid stevia
• 2 tablespoons organic unsweetened almond OR coconut milk beverage
• ½ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt OR sea salt, ground
• ¼ teaspoon organic white pepper, ground
• 1 drop coriander essential oil (optional)

Supplies

• Mixing bowl
• Blender OR Magic Bullet

Instructions

 

• For the salad: In a medium mixing bowl, combine the shredded vegetables, raisins, walnuts, and apple.
• For the dressing: In a blender or Magic Bullet, combine the vegan mayonnaise, cider vinegar, liquid stevia, coriander essential oil, almond milk, sea salt, and white pepper, and blend.
• Pour the dressing over the slaw and toss to mix thoroughly. Serve immediately or refrigerate, covered, for up to 6 hours.

Notes

Whenever possible, we recommend using organic, non-GMO ingredients.

Step One: Mix the Slaw Ingredients

In a medium bowl, combine the shredded veggies, raisins, walnuts, and apples. Mix well so you get a variety of textures in each bite! Set aside.

Step Two: Make the Dressing

In a blender or Magic Bullet, combine the vegan mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, liquid stevia, essential oil, almond milk, salt, and white pepper. Blend until smooth.

Step Three: Combine the Dressing and Slaw

Pour the dressing over the slaw and toss to mix thoroughly. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl, where the nuts and raisins like to hide. You can serve your dish immediately or refrigerate it for up to 6 hours. Enjoy!

To make meal prep a breeze, mix your coleslaw in a glass bowl with a lid. Place your coleslaw ingredients in the bowl, add the dressing, replace the top, and then shake to mix. Voila!

If you want to include fermented veggies in your diet, I recommend trying my homemade kimchi. Kimchi goes excellent with eggs, but you can have a little of it with every meal to help aid digestion. It's incredible for gut health and easy to make. Bonus: It contains lots of cabbage!

What Is a Cruciferous Vegetable?

Most people have never heard of “cruciferous vegetables,” but you're probably already eating some of them.

These vegetables belong to the Brassicaceae family, often called the cabbage or mustard family. The name “cruciferous” comes from the cross-like shape formed by four petals on the flowers.

The most commonly found cruciferous vegetables are:

• Arugula
• Bok Choy
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Collard greens
• Horseradish
• Kale
• Mustard greens
• Radish
• Rutabaga
• Turnips
• Wasabi
• Watercress

Cruciferous vegetables are rich in fiber and nutrients, but the compounds that make them especially interesting are glucosinolates. When these vegetables are chopped, chewed, and digested, glucosinolates can form biologically active compounds such as indoles and isothiocyanates. Sulforaphane is one of the best known. (1)

These compounds have shown anticancer effects in laboratory and animal research. Human studies looking at cruciferous vegetable intake and cancer risk have been more mixed, so I would not say every serving of cabbage or broccoli “fights cancer.” I would say these God-made vegetables contain fascinating protective compounds and belong in a healthy, vegetable-rich diet. (1)

This vegan coleslaw is one easy way to get several cruciferous vegetables on the table at once.

If your little ones are still learning to enjoy these vegetables, they may want to dip their broccoli into my homemade French onion dip.

Healthy Vegan Coleslaw Ingredients

This coleslaw uses simple ingredients you can find at most grocery stores. The coriander essential oil is the little secret that makes people stop and ask, “What did you put in this?”

Organic Cruciferous Vegetables: This is the base of the coleslaw salad. You can use broccoli or kale slaw, which are found at most grocery stores. If you can't find these mixes for some reason, you can use 1 small head of cabbage, a couple of shredded carrots, and the finely shredded stalks from a head of broccoli.

My favorite combination is 1/2 red or purple cabbage and 1/2 green cabbage. I always add extra carrots!

The goal here is variety. Different cruciferous vegetables give the slaw different textures, colors, flavors, and phytochemicals.

Organic Unsweetened Raisins or Currants: Raisins add little pops of sweetness to this salad. Raisins are nature's candy, and I like a little more raisins in my slaw, so you can round the amount out if you'd like.

Raisins contain fiber and plant polyphenols. Laboratory research has identified raisin compounds with activity against some oral bacteria, but that is not the same thing as saying raisins treat dental disease. Their job in this recipe is much simpler: natural sweetness and chewy texture. (2)

Organic Raw Walnut or Pecan Meal: The lovely people of the South know how to make a good salad, and those salads often include nuts! In my recipe, walnut or pecan meal gives this dish a much-needed bit of crunch.

Walnuts and pecans also contribute healthy fats, plant protein, minerals, and polyphenols. If someone at your table has a tree-nut allergy, this is not an allergy-friendly recipe as written, so use the recipe only as appropriate for your family's needs.

Organic Apples: I love adding apples to my coleslaw. You wouldn't think apples blend well with mayonnaise and cabbage, but somehow the flavors work!

You can use any apple you want, but green apples are my favorite because the tartness balances the sweet raisins and creamy dressing.

Apples provide fiber, including pectin, plus polyphenols. Some of these compounds reach the large intestine, where they can interact with the gut microbiota. Human research is still developing, so I think of apples first as a simple whole-food ingredient rather than a gut-health treatment. (3)

I love using an apple corer to make prepping this fruit a breeze!

Vegan Mayonnaise: To keep this recipe dairy-free and vegan, we use soy-free vegan mayo. We promise you'll never notice the difference!

Not every vegan mayonnaise is automatically a health food, so read the whole ingredient list. I prefer simple formulas made with oils that fit the way our family eats, especially avocado oil.

Organic Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar gives our coleslaw the tartness it needs to balance the creamy mayonnaise and sweet fruit.

There is interesting research on vinegar and metabolic health, but the splash used in a coleslaw dressing is not a “detox” or a weight-loss treatment. In this recipe, its most important job is flavor.

For our family, I prefer organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar with the “mother.”

Liquid Stevia: Many coleslaws are surprisingly sweet, and traditional recipes can contain quite a bit of added sugar.

Liquid stevia gives this salad the sweetness it needs without adding spoonfuls of cane sugar. Choose a simple liquid product and remember that different brands vary in concentration and aftertaste.

Coriander Essential Oil: This essential oil has a fresh, warm, slightly citrusy flavor that works beautifully in the creamy dressing.

Coriander and cilantro come from the same plant, Coriandrum sativum, but the culinary flavors are different because coriander usually refers to the seed and cilantro to the fresh leaves.

Federal food regulations list coriander among essential oils and natural extractives generally recognized as safe for their intended food use. That does not mean every essential oil bottle belongs in food or that more is better. (4)

Use only coriander essential oil specifically labeled by the manufacturer as appropriate for culinary or dietary use, and follow the recipe exactly. This is a concentrated flavoring ingredient distributed throughout the entire batch.

Can I ingest essential oils?

Do not casually ingest essential oils in water or neat (undiluted). Internal use of essential oils requires proper dilution, product quality, dosing knowledge, and safety guidance. Learn more about how to ingest essential oils here.

Pink Himalayan Salt or Sea Salt: Too much sodium can work against healthy blood pressure, but sodium is also an essential electrolyte that your body needs.

Table salt and sea salt are both primarily sodium chloride. I do not use sea salt because I think ordinary salt has been stripped of magical nutrients. I use it because I prefer the sourcing, taste, and less-refined character of a quality product.

We recommend Colima sea salt. It's hand-harvested and adds a gourmet flair to any recipe. You can also use pink Himalayan salt.

This is the kind of recipe I love most: colorful vegetables, just enough sweetness, plenty of crunch, and a creamy dressing that makes everyone forget they're eating a bowl full of cabbage.

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