This crisp, slightly sweet, and totally nutritious kale slaw makes an incredible side dish and burger topping. It’s super easy to make, and stores well in the fridge. We prefer kaleslaw to traditional coleslaw, as it has a stronger flavor and stays crisp longer! Here’s how to make, eat, and enjoy it.
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What is Kaleslaw Made Of?
Kale slaw can be made dozens of ways, but after quite a few tests, I found this combination of ingredients to be our family’s favorite:
- The veggies: Kale, red cabbage, carrots, and red onion. I like to shred the red onion and carrots with a box grater to better incorporate their flavors into the sauce. Slice your cabbage and kale thinly using a sharp knife.
- The dressing: Comes together with salt, pepper, orange juice (juice from 1/2 an orange), olive oil, mayonnaise, and honey. This is easy to taste and tweak to your liking–more salt, more honey, etc.
- The crunch: Roasted pepitas make for the perfect crunch, I like adding more on top just before serving to keep things crisp.
Tweaks + Substitutes
You can tweak this kale slaw recipe any way you like, here are a few ways to switch things up:
- Try a different dressing: Kale can be a bit bitter, which is why we massage the citrus juice into the leaves, to help breakdown and reduce their natural bitterness. It can also be offset by something sweet, so pick a dressing with some sort of sugar in it like traditional coleslaw. Or get funky with something like ranch dressing.
- Mix in more veggies: Thinly sliced veggies can be added such as shaved brussels sprouts, shredded cabbage, etc.
- Try some fruit for even more sweetness. Thinly diced oranges, blueberries, or sliced apples would be a great addition here (I always add these to my brussels sprout salad).
- Add some heat with a jalapeno. Take a note from my jalapeno coleslaw, it’s delicious!
How to Make Kale Slaw?
The hardest part of making any coleslaw or kale slaw recipe is chopping your veggies. Once that’s done, all you have to do is mix, dig in, and enjoy! Here’s how, with step-by-step photos:
- Mix veggies with orange juice, salt, and pepper, and massage the orange juice into the kale leaves.
- Add everything else and toss to combine.
What to Do with Kale Slaw?
What can’t you do with kale slaw?! Treat this as a side salad, or use it as a topping for burgers and sandwiches. Here are a few ways we love to put this kaleslaw to use:
- Burger, pulled chicken, or pulled pork topping.
- Burrito filling, with your favorite proteins like chicken tinga or ground beef.
- Side, or topping for a bowl. This goes great with my harissa honey chicken, miso glazed salmon, and grilled shrimp.
More Kale Recipes
Kale Slaw
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 head kale stems removed + thinly sliced
- 2 cups red cabbage thinly shredded
- 1 large carrot grated with a box grater
- 1/2 orange juice about 1/2 an orange
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 red onion grated with a box grater
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/3 cup pepitas roasted
Instructions
- Mix your kale, cabbage, and carrots with orange juice, salt, and pepper. You'll want to massage the kale a bit to soften its leaves and reduce its bitterness.
- Add the red onions, mayo, oil, and honey, and toss to combine.
- Mix in the pepitas, or use them as a topping (so they stay crunchy, I recommend using them as a topping if you're not eating it right away), and enjoy!
