Roasted Red Cabbage Salad (Vegan)
This vegan roasted red cabbage salad with tahini dressing, chickpeas and walnuts is a scrumptious side dish with impressive health benefits. It’s addictingly delicious!
Anyone who knows me well knows that I love summertime. One reason is all the produce that is in season. So, to enjoy winter more, I want to appreciate winter produce. Some produce that is in-season during winter is: citrus, root vegetables, broccoli and cauliflower, pomegranates, and cabbage.
This recipe is excellent for actually enjoying cabbage.
(My Winter Green Salad with Orange Tahini Dressing is another great start!)
Why Make this Roasted Red Cabbage Salad?
Cabbage is SO affordable and SO healthy, and this method makes it SO delicious!
Whenever I buy a head of cabbage because I need a little bit for a recipe, I haven’t quite been sure how to use the rest up. My standard is usually to roast it into “cabbage steaks” which is very easy (and easy to eat a lot of!). This salad takes roasted cabbage to a new level. It may not be the most attractive dish, but the flavor and bite makes up for it!
Even if you think you don’t like cabbage, I encourage you to try this recipe! Roasted cabbage is a totally different experience than fresh.
Although, I will admit that roasted isn’t nearly as beautiful as raw! Here are the ingredients raw:
And here they are roasted:
Those roasted chickpeas with paprika are so snackable on their own, too! You may want to double that part. 🙂
What are the Health Benefits of Red Cabbage?
Just in time for winter when a lot of sickness seems to swarm, red cabbage enters the in-season scene with a lot of properties to fight sickness.
It is high in vitamin C and K, which support the immune system. It also has a lot of antioxdants (much more than green cabbage), which fight inflammation and help you fight sickness and disease.
The vitamin C and antioxidants also support collagen production for good skin health, and even can fight cancer!
Red cabbage is high in fiber, nurients, and water, keeping you full but nourished for weight control.
FAQ
Can I make this Roasted Cabbage Salad Oil-Free?
Yes, instead of roasting with oil, you can toss the cabbage with a little bit of water or broth to prevent sticking to the pan. I find that the little bit of oil helps it brown and roast better, which makes me more likely to eat a lot of it, so I choose to use a little oil. You can make it oil-free if you want, and the dressing is even oil-free.
What if I don’t like Tahini?
I used to think I didn’t like tahini. It is so bitter to me and didn’t see the appeal. Now I go through it like crazy, because, if you prepare it right, the taste isn’t there as much as the creamy texture. It’s an extremely healthy fat with nutrients galore as opposed to oil. I think you may like this recipe even if you don’t normally like tahini. If you really don’t want to try though, you could try replacing it with olive oil and I think that would be good as well.
Can I use Green Cabbage?
Yes, you can! Neither roasted green nor red cabbage makes for a beautiful salad, but it’s so yummy you won’t care.
Other Ideas
For more red cabbage recipes, see my post all about how to use up a head of cabbage in delicious ways!
Roasted Red Cabbage Salad with Tahini Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 large head of red cabbage (2.5-3 lbs)
- 3 TBSP olive oil or avocado oil
- 1.5 tsp salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Tahini Dressing
- 3 TBSP well-stirred tahini
- 1.5 TBSP white wine vinegar
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 3 TBSP water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450. Put your largest baking sheet into the oven to heat up, too.
- Slice the cabbage into 1 inch rounds. Cut the core out of the slices that have core. Chop it all into 1-inch pieces.
- Put the cabbage into a large bowl, and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.
- Carefully remove the hot baking sheet and dump the cabbage onto it. Spread it out, and set timer for 20 minutes.
- Back in the bowl, stir together the drained chickpeas with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon smoked paprika. Pour onto a baking sheet (no need to line it or grease it). Keep used bowl ready for later. Roast the chickpeas for the remaining time that the cabbage has, about 15 minutes.
- When timer beeps, toss the cabbage, return to oven. Add 1/4 cup walnuts to chickpeas and set timer for 5-10 more minutes. Walnuts should smell fragrant, chickpeas should be golden brown, and cabbage should be shrunken in size and browning on some edges. Roast a few more minutues if needed--the chickpeas/walnuts will be done sooner than the cabbage.
- In the meantime, whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth.
- Pour the cabbage, roasted chickpeas and walnuts back into your big bowl. Stir the dressing on top until well-coated. (If your cabbage wasn't very big, you may not want to use all the dressing. It saves well for other green salads.).
- If you make this and enjoy it, please come back to the post and leave a rating and review so others can find my recipes!
Nutrition
Adapted from Hummusapien.com.
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This is a really good salad! I keep trying tahini and this is the first time I’ve enjoyed it in something. What a great way to eat red cabbage. My husband liked it even more than I did.