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Napa Cabbage Asian Slaw is one of my go-to salads to make for parties, and this will be a hit with everyone! If you’re not a cilantro fan, use a little more thinly sliced green onion in this tasty Asian slaw recipe.
PIN this amazing Asian Napa Cabbage Slaw to make it later!
Years ago I spotted this Napa Cabbage Asian Slaw recipe in The Sunset Cookbook and made an adapted version of it right away. The salad turned out to be a big hit on the blog and I’ve made it regularly for friends as well. It’s also a hit with my huge extended family, although when I make this for the family I have to make two bowls, with or without cilantro!
But no matter who I serve it to, this Asian slaw is always a hit. And even though Napa Cabbage is not always on sale during March in the way that regular green cabbage is, this is one of Cabbage Recipes I’ve been loving this month! I hope everyone who likes these flavors will try this favorite salad!
What Ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
What gives the Asian flavors in Napa Cabbage Slaw?
I’m definitely not claiming that this Asian slaw is an authentically Asian recipe. But it does have soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and Sriracha adding lots of Asian flavor notes.
More about the dressing for Napa Cabbage Asian Slaw:
Personally I’d say it’s the slightly sweet and sour soy-mayo dressing that makes this salad such a wow! And you might want to make extra dressing if you like the sound of that.
Can you make this Asian Slaw without cilantro?
If you don’t like cilantro, or you have family members who don’t like it, just add a little more thinly-sliced green onion to the salad.
How low in carbs is the Napa Cabbage Asian Slaw?
This tasty colorful slaw with Asian flavors only has 4 net carbs per serving, with 4 grams of protein!
How to Make Napa Cabbage Asian Slaw:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- The original recipe made 14 cups, so I cut it down quite a bit to get this version which makes about 6 servings. The slightly-spicy soy-mayo based dressing is one of the things that make this salad, and I prefer the salad with lots of dressing so I recommend doubling the dressing amount.
- Start with one small head of Napa cabbage, about 3-4 cups of thinly shredded cabbage.
- I trimmed both ends of the sugar snap peas and then sliced them thinly on the diagonal.
- My radishes were fairly large so I trimmed the ends, sliced them in half lengthwise, and then sliced them in half-moon shaped slices.
- I also sliced up a bunch of green onions, and chopped the cilantro.
- Toss together the Napa cabbage, sugar snap peas, radishes, green onions (and cilantro if using), then toss with enough dressing to coat the ingredients.
- Toast the sliced almonds in a dry pan over high heat for 1-2 minutes (just until the nuts start to become fragrant.) Watch them closely so they don’t get too brown.
- Add the nuts to the salad and gently toss again.
- Napa Cabbage Asian Slaw is best served right away, and you probably won’t have any leftovers!
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
This tasty Asian slaw made with Napa cabbage would be a delicious side dish for Salmon Salad with Dill, Korean Salmon with Dipping Sauce, Chicken Cutlets with Mustard Sauce, Shrimp and Broccoli Sheet Pan Meal, or Chicken with Peanut Sauce.
Want More Tasty Salads with Cabbage:
It’s obvious that I’m a huge fan of cabbage salads, and you can see all my favorites in a collection of Low-Carb and Keto Cabbage Salads.
Ingredients
- 1 small head Napa cabbage, thinly sliced then coarsely chopped (see notes)
- 1 C thinly and diagonally-sliced sugar snap peas
- 1 C radishes, sliced into half-moon shapes
- 1/2 cup sliced green onion
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (see notes)
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
- 1 T white wine vinegar or white balsamic vinegar
- 1 T Golden Monkfruit Sweetener, or sweetener of your choice (see notes)
- 1 tsp. soy sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (see notes)
- 1/2 tsp. crushed garlic puree or minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp. Asian sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp. ground ginger puree or minced ginger
- 1/4 tsp. Sriracha sauce or other hot sauce (more or less to taste)
- 1/3 cup mayo
Instructions
- Thinly slice Napa cabbage, then coarsely chop to make about 4 cups shredded cabbage.
- Trim both ends of sugar snap peas, then thinly slice on the diagonal to make 1 cup sliced peas.
- Trim both ends of radishes and wash if needed, then cut in half lengthwise and cut into half-moon slices.
- Slice green onions to make 1/2 cup.
- If using cilantro, wash, spin dry or dry with paper towels, and then chop enough to make 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, or a bit more won’t hurt.
- Put Napa cabbage, sugar snap peas, radishes, green onions (and cilantro if using) into salad bowl.
- In a bowl or glass measuring cup stir together the white wine vinegar, sweetener, soy sauce, garlic puree, sesame oil, ginger puree, and Sriracha sauce (affiliate link). I recommend doubling the dressing; it is good on so many things!
- Whisk in the mayo until ingredients are well combined.
- Toss salad ingredients, add enough dressing to coat ingredients, and toss again.
- Toast the sliced almonds in a dry pan over high heat for 1-2 minutes (just until the nuts are fragrant).
- Add almonds to the salad and toss gently.
- Serve Napa Cabbage Asian Slaw immediately. At my house this never lasts long enough to know whether it will keep in the refrigerator!
Notes
You need about 4 cups shredded Napa cabbage.
Cilantro is optional, but if you’re a cilantro fan I would use it.
I would prefer Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) for this recipe.
Use Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link) if you need the salad to be gluten-free.
This recipe adapted slightly from a salad recipe found in The Sunset Cookbook.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6
Serving Size
1
Amount Per Serving
Calories 159Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 2gUnsaturated Fat 12gCholesterol 5mgSodium 165mgCarbohydrates 6gFiber 2gSugar 2gProtein 4g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Napa Cabbage Asian Slaw made with an approved sweetener would be approved for low-carb and Keto eating plans, and for any phase of the original South Beach Diet. Light mayonnaise would be recommended for South Beach. But I personally wouldn’t worry about using full-fat mayonnaise for better flavor, since there isn’t a huge amount of mayo compared to the crunchy salad ingredients. Other low-carb diets would prefer full-fat mayo.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for This Recipe:
This Asian slaw recipe was first posted in March 2011. It was updated with better photos in March 2019. It was last updated with more information in 2026.
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