Crispy Cabbage Salad with Maple Tahini Dressing

This crispy cabbage salad is quickly becoming one of my seasonal fall staples. It’s quick, easy, sweet and savory all at once. Plus you are getting a huge hit of vegetables, without even realizing it. The maple tahini dressing adds sweetness, satiating fats and an extra layer of flavor, making this salad perfect for serving as a dinner side, or for batch prepping for meal prep.

What is savoy cabbage?

Savoy cabbage is a winter vegetable and probably my favorite member of the cabbage family. It has wrinkly leaves and sometimes a darker color than standard cabbage, and I’ve found it holds up much longer in cabbage recipes like this.

The savoy cabbage does tend to have a milder flavor than traditional cabbage, but the difference is negligible. You can use both interchangeably in this recipe!

Let’s talk about making cabbage crispy

Most people assume cabbage cannot be crispy since it is often boiled, braised or slow roasted. But that’s definitely not true. Brussel sprouts are from the cabbage family, and we make them crispy all the time!

Cabbage wants to be crispy. It has a lower moisture level that lends itself perfectly to browning, roasting, and crisping up. All you need is a bit of oil to aid the process, and the crisping will take 30 minutes or less.

You can either pan fry or roast crispy cabbage, and in this recipe I opted for roasting. We roast the cabbage at an incredibly high heat for a short period of time to achieve a crisp, cooked through texture that is perfect to pair with the maple tahini dressing.

The ingredients you will need for this crispy cabbage salad recipe

This recipe is broken down into the cabbage, the maple tahini dressing, and the optional fall breadcrumbs which I pulled over from my Pumpkin Miso Pasta recipe!

Here’s everything you need if you want to make the full crispy cabbage salad recipe:

• 2 lbs savoy cabbage, about 1 medium cabbage
• 2 tbsp avocado oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 6 tbsp tahini
• ¼ cup hot water
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1/3 cup pomegranate seeds

Optional breadcrumb topping:

• 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 2 fresh sage leaves
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• salt to taste

How to make this crispy cabbage salad and maple tahini dressing

The instructions for this are broken down into two categories: roast and whisk. Here are all the details broken down step-by-step!

• Preheat the oven to 450F.
• Shred the cabbage into pieces. Toss the shredded cabbage with avocado oil, salt and pepper.
• On a parchment lined baking sheet, spread the cabbage out in a thin even layer. It’s important that you don’t crowd the pan, so you might want to use 2-3 baking sheets for all of your cabbage.
• Roast the cabbage at 450F for 17-20 minutes, or until the cabbage is crispy and slightly browned.
• While the cabbage is roasting, make the tahini dressing by whisking together the maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, tahini, hot water, red pepper flakes and salt.
• When the cabbage is out of the oven, toss with the dressing, top with pomegranate seeds and serve! You can serve this warm or cold.

FAQ

Looking for other easy salad recipes?

You’ve come to the right place 😉 I went through a salad PHASE over the summer, and here are some of my favorites.

Watch the recipe video here:

https://youtu.be/vewCBw2EZw4