Learn how to make this meal prep-friendly chopped kale cabbage salad in just a few simple steps. Itโs an excellent hearty vegan salad to serve for dinner or to prepare for lunches throughout the week. Kale, cabbage, and carrots are simply chopped in a food processor before being tossed with a sweet mustard dressing and a few special toppings. This crunchy, sweet, and tangy salad takes 30 minutes to put together and requires no cooking.
I have been prepping this salad for weekday lunches in my kitchen for a little while. I figured it was time to share! The salad dressing is inspired by the bottled honey mustard dressing that I used to absolutely LOVE as a teenager. Mine is sweetened with maple syrup to keep it vegan. It also has 3 types of mustard, and a touch of vegan mayonnaise to give it that lush texture.
The veggie base of kale, cabbage and carrots is all finely chopped in the food processor. Itโs kinda fun to do, super quick, and the veg keep in a sealed container for up to 4-5 days. The vegetables stay nice and crisp, and pair perfectly with the tangy dressing.
I like topping this with creamy chunks of avocado, earthy chickpeas, and pickled red onions. I do similar toppings in my kale sweet potato salad. If you want to plus it up with vegan feta, chopped toasted nuts/seeds, croutons etc, it would be even better.
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Chopped Kale Cabbage Salad with Sweet Mustard Dressing, Chickpeas & Avocado
Ingredients
Pickled Red Onions (makes extra)
- 1 large red onion, cut into thin half moons
- 1 cup water
- โ cup white vinegar
- ยผ cup cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons salt
Sweet Mustard Dressing
- โ cup avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
- 1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
- ยฝ teaspoon garlic powder
- ยฝ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced with a microplane
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Salad & Assembly
- ยฝ medium head cabbage, core removed
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed (about 4 cups kale leaves, lightly packed)
- 2 medium carrots, peeled
- 1 19oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (2 cups chickpeas)
- 2 medium ripe avocados, peeled and diced
Notes
- You donโt have to use a food processor to chop! I often do it by hand and while the pieces are a bit bigger, the texture is still crunchy and satisfying.
- Vegan Worcestershire contains wheat. To keep this salad gluten-free, substitute Tamari.
Instructions
- The day before: make the pickled red onions. Pack the red onion slices into a jar thatโs big enough to hold them all plus all of the liquid. In a small saucepan, combine the water, white vinegar, cane sugar, and salt. Bring to a simmer and stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. Then pour the liquid over the onions in the jar. Let the onions and liquid cool to room temperature before putting a lid on top and placing in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- Make the dressing. In a sealable jar, combine the olive oil, vegan mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, maple syrup, Dijon, yellow mustard, grainy mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, garlic, salt, and pepper. Seal the lid on top and give it a good shake. Set aside.
- Cut the cabbage into 3-4 inch chunks and place in the food processor in batches. Pulse until you have finely chopped cabbage. Transfer chopped cabbage to a large bowl. Place the kale in the food processor in batches and pulse until it is finely chopped as well. Add the chopped kale to the large bowl. Finally, add the carrots to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Then, transfer chopped carrots to the large bowl.
- Season the chopped cabbage, kale, and carrots with salt and pepper and pour all of the dressing over top. Add the chickpeas and toss to coat in the dressing. Top the salad with as many pickled red onions as you desire and the diced avocado. Enjoy!
I love the texture of this salad. The food processor made it so easy. I didnโt have enough kale so pulsed some parsley to add to the kale and cabbage and it was great. Even my 13 yo son loved it (asked to take left overs to school!?! lol). The garbanzos are a must. I didnโt have vegan mayo or Worcestershire, so I just omitted it altogether, used a little less mustard and maple syrup and it still was delicious. This would be a great side dish for a potluck. Thanks!
I made it exactly as written and itโs fantastic. I thought the mustard might be too strong but it wasnโt (for me anyway). This one is a keeper โ thanks for a great recipe! You have a new fan :-)
Hi Miko!
Iโm so glad that you enjoyed this salad. Thanks for leaving this kind review :)
-L
WOW this is so good. Iโm rarely compelled to write a review but have made this multiple times in the short period since I first tried it. I love all First Mess recipes but this is definitely top 3 (shoutout to cabbage roll skillet โ I guess I love cabbage). My husband and I split this entire recipe and Iโm not even sorry about it. This will be on regular rotation for a long time!
Love this dressing ! I would put it everywhere.
Everything about this is delicious! Yourโe recipes are always spot on with flavour and texture.
I love this salad and have it almost every day! Easy to add to and the dressing is to die for! Will you please share the nutritional info for the dressing? Need to figure WW points. Thanks in advance.
This is my new favorite salad. Honestly the best and easiest salad ever. I added some vegan feta but with such a flavorful dressing it didnโt even need it.
This is so tasty! I donโt love uncooked chickpeas, so I popped them in the air fryer and they added a nice croutony crunch. The dressing is incredible! Such a good hack to use the food processor. Chopped salads are the best, but I donโt have the patience for finely chopping so that was a huge win! I followed your meal prep instructions and have been so pumped to eat this for lunch all week.
Sounds delicious!
THANK YOU LAURA! This is suburb as is, but Iโve been playing with it all week for deeply satisfying lunches. I had made the previous snap pea salad (YUM!) and used the lemon miso dressing with delicious results. I skipped chickpeas and added sweet potato, broccoli, and sunflower seeds as a wonderful side dish. Cannot fathom a more satisfying salad at this time of year when Iโm craving crunchy green goodness.
This is delicious! It makes a huge amount, so would also be great as a side for a gathering, or for sharing with a neighbor (which I did!). I did sub plain Greek yoghurt for the vegan mayo b/c I didnโt have any mayo on hand, and it worked just fine. The dressing would be great on other salads as well. Itโs really tasty!
Yummy! This is a winner because I usually hate chopping things up for salads.
You are the queen of salads!