Fresh and bright, this fun crisp radish slaw is so colorful and packed with tasty veggies! Super simple to make as a BBQ side dish or as summer picnic food, it comes together fast in less than 15 minutes.
Do check out my mango coleslaw recipe for another fun summer side dish!
Much like my pak choi salad and my mango cucumber salad, this radish slaw is a simple but delicious combination of fresh veggies, herbs and flavorful dressing. We use radishes for their peppery flavor and minced root ginger for a fun zing!
It's very easy to make this recipe with shredded cabbage, carrot and diced radishes and it's perfect as a BBQ side dish or summer dinner side in the hotter weather. So grab your veggies and some pantry staples, and I'll show you how to make this crisp and crunchy radish cabbage slaw!
Have a peek at my mango corn salsa, no tomato salsa, kale and apple slaw and fennel cucumber salad for more summer side dish ideas!
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Light and flavorful. We combine fresh peppery radishes with a zingy honey ginger dressing for so much flavor!
Perfect as a summer side dish. Serve this slaw with radishes with your summer meals, as a BBQ side dish, as picnic food, take to a potluck or add to a sandwich, tacos or burgers!
Quick and easy. No cook time required, and it only takes about ten minutes to prep.
🥗 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Radishes - I like to use a mix of different types of radishes as they are so fun and colorful, including French breakfast radishes and white radishes, or daikon radishes if I have them to hand. But you can easily use one type, and your favorite!
- Cabbage - choose from a mix of red cabbage and white cabbage, or do all white cabbage if you prefer.
- Cilantro - for that summery flavor. I know some aren't a fan, and you can use parsley instead if you prefer.
- Ginger - this gives the mayo free dressing so much zing! Use fresh minced (or grated) ginger root rather than ground ginger.
- Apple cider vinegar - this is used for the dressing and as a swap for mayo.
📖 Swaps and variations
Swap honey for maple syrup. To keep the slaw a vegan recipe, you can use maple syrup or agave syrup in the dressing.
Swap green onion for white onion. It isn't clear whether green onion is low histamine or not, as the SIGHI list doesn't rate it. You can use a small amount of white onion as a swap (or leave out).
Swap apple cider vinegar for apple juice. If vinegar doesn't work for you, apple juice or pomegranate juice can be used as a swap. It won't have the same acidic taste, but will still be flavorful!
🔪 Step by step instructions
Making this cabbage and radish slaw recipe is super simple, uses easy to find ingredients and there's no need for any fancy kitchen equipment.
All the instructions are in the recipe card below, but these step by step photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Shred the veggies
Use a sharp knife, mandolin or box grater to shred the red and white cabbage and carrot, and finely dice the radishes into either matchsticks or rounds and dice the green onion (image 1).
Step 2: Combine the slaw ingredients
Combine the shredded cabbage and carrot, diced radishes, green onion and fresh cilantro in a large bowl (image 2).
Step 3: Make the ginger dressing
Whisk together extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, minced (or grated) root ginger, salt and optional black pepper (image 3). Taste test, and adjust to preference.
Step 4: Toss the slaw ingredients
Drizzle the dressing over the slaw, then toss through the slaw so the cabbage, carrot and radishes are all coated (image 4).
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Use a mandolin or sharp knife to shred the cabbage, and I tend to use a box grater to grate the carrots.
- Either dice the radishes into thin matchsticks or into thin rounds to preference - or a mix of both!
- If you like a lot of dressing, simply double the recipe below!
- The ginger gives a lot of zing, so adjust the amount to preference.
📋 Frequently asked questions
There are so many types of radish to try for making slaw including French breakfast radishes (longer and red with white ends), Daikon radishes (the long white one), malaga violet radishes (round and purple), watermelon radishes (round with green skin and pink insides) and cherry belle radishes (small, red and round).
There are a few ways to shred cabbage including with a sharp knife, mandolin, using a box grater or using a food processor if you have the appropriate settings. First dice the cabbage into quarters and remove the core, then shred cabbage using the method that works best for you.
Both red and white radishes score 0 on the SIGHI list, so as typically well tolerated, but be mindful that we all have personal sensitivities.
🍽 More salad recipes
Find so many fresh and tasty salad recipes here including my butternut and beetroot salad, broccoli and pomegranate salad and no mayo chicken salad, as well as these recent recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Radish Slaw
Ingredients
- 2 cups white cabbage shredded
- 2 cups red cabbage shredded
- 1 cup radishes topped and tailed, finely diced
- ¾ cup carrot shredded
- ¼ cup green onion finely diced
- ¼ cup cilantro diced
Honey dressing
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger root
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper optional
Instructions
- Use a sharp knife, mandolin or box grater to shred the cabbage, and a box grater to grate the carrot. Finely dice the green onion and cilantro. Dice the radishes finely into either matchstick size pieces or rounds if you prefer. Add to a large bowl.
- Combine the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, grated fresh ginger, salt and black pepper (if using) to a bowl or jar. Whisk together to make the dressing.
- Pour the dressing over the slaw ingredients and toss through to coat the vegetables.
Notes
- I like to use a mix of radishes, but you can use one type, such as French breakfast radishes, which are quite mild with a little peppery flavor.
- Shred the cabbage quite finely so it feels quite light.
- If green onion doesn't work for you, a small amount of white onion can be used as a swap.
- Apple juice or pomegranate juice can be used as a swap for the vinegar. It won't have quite the same acidic taste, but will still be flavorful.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- red cabbage scores 0, but has a ? as a liberator.
- red and white radishes score 0, but there are no scores for other varieties.
- apple cider vinegar and ginger, which score 1.
- cilantro (coriander), which scores 0, but has a ? as a liberator and a note, 'Only small amounts are well tolerated'.
- green onion isn't rated.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
Tina says
This is a great recipe. I bought bagged shredded cabbage and bagged shredded carrots which really simplified things. Since it is just the two of us, I halved the cole slaw ingredients (but not the dressing ingredients since we like a lot of dressing). The final product was very flavorful.
Claire says
So glad you both enjoyed the slaw Tina, and thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!
Deborah says
Do you think it would be okay to freeze this? Thanks
Claire says
I wouldn't really recommend to freeze as it would lose the crunch I think, and may go a bit soggy.
Liz says
I really missed coleslaw since going low histamine and this is the closest non-dairy recipe to the real thing! The flavours are subtle but the radish adds a nice twist. It's cheap and relatively easy to make and you end up with lots, so it makes a great side salad to have with lunch through the week. What's not to love?
Claire says
Lovely to hear that you enjoy it as a slaw swap Liz! There are a couple of other coleslaw recipes here you may like to try too!