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This easy Sesame Asian Slaw recipe is quick and easy to make, tossed with the yummiest sesame vinaigrette, and can easily double as a side salad or main dish!
Up next in our week of side salad recipes here on the blog, a delicious staple that every cook should have in her or his repertoire…
…a fresh, crispy, colorful, delicious Everyday Asian Slaw. ♡
It’s the perfect light side dish to pair with with all of your favorite rice dishes, noodles, curries, dumplings, soups, satays, and stir-fries galore. It’s the ultimate potluck dish as well — easy to make ahead and transport to picnics or parties, naturally gluten-free, and always a crowd fave. It can also easily double as a big entree salad, especially if you add in some extra protein (such as chicken, steak, carnitas, shrimp, tofu). But mostly, I just love this salad because it’s just super light and fresh and flavorful and makes me feel great.
As is the case with all of these side salads this week, this Asian slaw recipe is also 100% customizable with whatever ingredients you happen to have on hand. So gather up a rainbow of whatever healthy slaw ingredients you love best, and let’s make some salad together!
Everyday Asian Salad Ingredients:
To make this easy Asian salad recipe, you will need:
Slaw / Greens: I typically use a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw for this recipe (green or red cabbage, or a mix). Or if you’re living somewhere (like me!) where bagged coleslaw isn’t available, you can just chop up a bunch of cabbage and make your own. ♡
Shredded Carrots: Most bagged coleslaws also contain shredded carrots, but I like to add in more for that extra sweet and crunchy goodness.
Veggies: I just chopped up a yellow bell pepper for this slaw. But avocado would also be awesome, or there are all sorts of other crunchy slaw veggies that you’re welcome to add in too (see ideas below).
Cilantro: A handful of fresh cilantro really brightens this salad up. (Also, if you happen to have some fresh mint on hand, add that in too!)
Onions: I used thinly-sliced green onions for this slaw. But thinly-sliced red onions would work too.
Almonds: Sliced or slivered, and preferably toasted a bit to bring out their flavor.
Sesame seeds: I also love sprinkling on some sesame seeds (white or black) at the end for added crunch and flavor.
Sesame vinaigrette: Made with oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup (or honey), toasted sesame oil, ground ginger, garlic, S&P.
How To Make This Salad:
To make this sesame Asian slaw recipe, simply…
Make your dressing. Whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl until combined. Or — my preferred method — just add them to a mason jar and shake-shake-shake until the dressing is ready to go. Taste and add in extra maple syrup or honey if you would like a sweeter dressing.
Mix the salad. Then combine all of your salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle evenly with the dressing and toss until combined.
Serve! And serve the sesame slaw right away while it’s nice and fresh!
Possible Variations:
This Asian slaw recipe is super flexible. So feel free to tinker around with it and get creative and use what ingredients you love most! For example, feel free to:
Add extra fresh veggies: Such as cucumber, radishes, edamame, or — my top rec — avocado!!
Add fruit: Such as diced fresh mango, pineapple or orange.
Add crispy wonton strips: Always good with a slaw!
Add more nuts: Chopped peanuts or cashews would also be delicious in this salad.
Add a kick: If you would like your slaw to be a bit spicier, add some sriracha or hot chili oil to the vinaigrette. Or just drizzle it directly onto the salad itself.
Favorite Asian Recipes:
Looking for some entree recipes to pair with this salad? It would be delicious served with…
This easy Sesame Asian Slaw recipe is quick and easy to make, tossed with the yummiest sesame vinaigrette, and can easily double as a side salad or main dish. See notes above for possible ingredient variations.
Ingredients
Scale
Slaw Ingredients:
1 (14-ounce) bag of coleslaw*
1 cup shredded carrots
1 yellow or red bell pepper, thinly sliced or diced
1/2 cup finely-chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
toasted sesame seeds
Sesame Vinaigrette Ingredients:
2 tablespoons avocado oil (or olive oil, or any other mild-flavored oil)
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce*
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 small garlic clove, pressed or minced (or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder)
sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
Instructions
To Make The Vinaigrette: Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl (or shake together in a mason jar) until combined. Taste and add additional sweetener if desired. Use immediately or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3 days.
To Make The Slaw: Combine all ingredients in a large salad bowl, drizzle evenly with the vinaigrette, and toss until evenly combined. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Asian slaw is the best slaw – so many flavours and textures! I’ll have to give this a try sooner rather than later. Thanks for the recipe!! Have a fabulous xx
xx Bry Jaimea | bryjaimea.com
Brenna —
This salad turned out PERFECT. Delicious _and_ easy to make _and_healthy AND versatile. So much flavor and color. This will go on the unofficial rotation menu.
This slaw sounds perfect! For my husband I would have to ditch the bell pepper, and I would probably leave out the raw onion because we can’t eat all of this in one sitting. I definitely want to try this.
I made this salad for myself tonight and used some of your suggestions for add ons. I used both mint and cilantro from my garden, scallions, diced red pepper, and coleslaw mix that had plenty of carrot included. I also added a beautiful avocado and half of a chopped Granny Smith apple, some sautéed Mexican shrimp (they taste like lobster) and, finally, some radish for added crunch. In my opinion, the radish didn’t work well with the other ingredients as it added a bitter element that didn’t play well with the others.
The dressing was wonderful and I took your suggestion, adding some Sambal Oelek. Next time I will double the dressing because it made everything shine brighter!
Thank you for a refreshing salad idea!
This slaw tastes just like the one they serve at my favourite sushi place. So happy that I now can make it whenever I want. Thanks for the recipe, I love it!!
I just made this for dinner with few different ingredients (what I had on hand) & the addition of dry roasted peanuts. It was a hit! My son was astounded that his 2-year-old son was eating it as he usually won’t eat cabbage. Thanks for a great recipe!
Delicious! It came together quick and made a perfect, satisfying, lite lunch. Made the dressing as written and it is a wonderful blend of flavors. Will definitely make this again.
Wonderful recipe! I added mint because I had it on hand, and I would 100% recommend adding this to the recipe! It added another complex flavor to this already fantastic recipe. I served with Korean pork chops and steamed white rice.
I liked this slaw recipe! I have a question, though! There’s an asterisk beside the 14 oz bag of coleslaw mix and beside the low sodium soy sauce in the ingredients list. I scrolled up and down 3 times and never was able to see what the asterisks meant! Can you enlighten me? Thanks.
Hey, I’m Ali!
My favorite thing in life is time spent around the table. And all the better with some seriously tasty food to bring us all together. more about me »
Asian slaw is the best slaw – so many flavours and textures! I’ll have to give this a try sooner rather than later. Thanks for the recipe!! Have a fabulous xx
xx Bry Jaimea | bryjaimea.com
This salad turned out PERFECT. Delicious _and_ easy to make _and_healthy AND versatile. So much flavor and color. This will go on the unofficial rotation menu.
This slaw sounds perfect! For my husband I would have to ditch the bell pepper, and I would probably leave out the raw onion because we can’t eat all of this in one sitting. I definitely want to try this.
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try this just as it is!
This is such a great recipe. I love the idea of throwing in some protein and calling it a meal in a bowl.
https://a-woman-of-a-certain-age.com/
I made this salad for myself tonight and used some of your suggestions for add ons. I used both mint and cilantro from my garden, scallions, diced red pepper, and coleslaw mix that had plenty of carrot included. I also added a beautiful avocado and half of a chopped Granny Smith apple, some sautéed Mexican shrimp (they taste like lobster) and, finally, some radish for added crunch. In my opinion, the radish didn’t work well with the other ingredients as it added a bitter element that didn’t play well with the others.
The dressing was wonderful and I took your suggestion, adding some Sambal Oelek. Next time I will double the dressing because it made everything shine brighter!
Thank you for a refreshing salad idea!
This was really good! I love this dressing. So yummy!
This slaw tastes just like the one they serve at my favourite sushi place. So happy that I now can make it whenever I want. Thanks for the recipe, I love it!!
I just made this for dinner with few different ingredients (what I had on hand) & the addition of dry roasted peanuts. It was a hit! My son was astounded that his 2-year-old son was eating it as he usually won’t eat cabbage. Thanks for a great recipe!
Loved it! I added some mandarin orange slices and it was delicious. Thank you!
How many calories in a cup of this?
Delicious! It came together quick and made a perfect, satisfying, lite lunch. Made the dressing as written and it is a wonderful blend of flavors. Will definitely make this again.
Served with Korean marinated tri tip on Hawaiian tortillas. Gochujang sauce on the side. Huge hit with the family.
Wonderful recipe! I added mint because I had it on hand, and I would 100% recommend adding this to the recipe! It added another complex flavor to this already fantastic recipe. I served with Korean pork chops and steamed white rice.
I liked this slaw recipe! I have a question, though! There’s an asterisk beside the 14 oz bag of coleslaw mix and beside the low sodium soy sauce in the ingredients list. I scrolled up and down 3 times and never was able to see what the asterisks meant! Can you enlighten me? Thanks.