This tangy apple slaw recipe combines crisp apples, cabbage, and carrots with a creamy poppy seed dressing for the proper simple aspect dish. It’s prepared in simply 20 minutes and perfect for picnics, barbecues, and household dinners year-round!

There’s one thing magical the primary sweet-tart chunk of a wonderfully balanced slaw. The primary time I made this recipe, Alex took one chunk and instantly fell in love, and my youngsters really requested seconds!
This apple slaw recipe transforms unusual cabbage into particular extraordinary by pairing it with sweet-tart apples and a creamy poppy seed dressing that ties every part collectively. It’s a slaw spin that’s distinctive in taste however easy sufficient that you just’ll need to preserve making all of it season lengthy. It’s the proper fall aspect dish, but in addition works for summer time picnics!
Why this apple slaw works
Conventional coleslaw can typically really feel flat or one-dimensional, however including apples brings pure sweetness and layers of taste! The crisp texture additionally provides a satisfying crunch. I personally additionally love a very good poppy seed dressing, which provides much more texture from the seeds.
I’ve examined this recipe numerous instances with totally different apple varieties and dressing mixtures. To me, the key is utilizing the suitable kind of apple—you want one thing crisp and tart to pair with the creamy dressing.
5 star reader overview
“That is significantly better than conventional coleslaw! It’s an important thought to make use of apples with much more taste.” -Sabrina
Selecting one of the best apples for slaw
The apple selection you select could make or break this dish. I all the time attain for agency, crisp apples with a very good steadiness of candy and tart flavors. Listed below are my prime suggestions:
- Pink Girl (my private favourite): These apples have the proper sweet-tart steadiness and keep crisp even after sitting within the dressing for hours. If you realize me personally, you’ll know my love for Pink Women!
- Honeycrisp: Recognized for his or her crunch issue, these apples add fantastic texture distinction. They’re a bit sweeter than Pink Girl.
- Granny Smith: If you happen to want a extra tart taste profile, these basic inexperienced apples by no means disappoint.
- Jonagold or Jonathan: These varieties are additionally candy tart and preserve their texture effectively in salads (we frequently get them when selecting apples).
- Fuji: Sweeter than the others, Fujis work if you happen to want a milder apple taste.
Professional Tip: No matter selection you select, be certain that the apples are agency to the contact and free from smooth spots. I slice my apples simply earlier than mixing to stop browning and preserve crispness.


Ideas for utilizing cabbage vs coleslaw combine
This recipe requires each inexperienced cabbage and purple cabbage. I like so as to add purple cabbage for shade, however it’s not obligatory for taste.
- Skip the purple cabbage if you happen to want. It appears to be like good color-wise, however swap in inexperienced cabbage if you happen to want. It may be laborious to make use of up leftovers of two cabbages (although listed here are leftover cabbage recipes).
- To hurry up the recipe, use bagged coleslaw. Purchase a 14 or 16 ounce bag and measure out 6 cups of the combination (to account for the cabbage and carrot portions).


Serving concepts for apple slaw
This apple slaw is the best aspect dish for any protein or foremost. As a result of it options apples it feels applicable within the fall, however it additionally works any time of 12 months! It’s nice in summer time at potlucks and pitch-ins. Listed below are a number of concepts for serving apple slaw:
Dietary notes
This apple slaw is vegetarian, dairy-free. and gluten-free.
To make it vegan, use vegan mayonnaise or cashew cream instead of the mayo.


Dietary notes
This apple slaw recipe is vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free. For vegan, use vegan mayo or cashew cream.
Apple Slaw
This tangy apple slaw recipe combines crisp apples, cabbage, and carrots with a creamy poppy seed dressing for the proper simple aspect dish. It’s prepared in simply 20 minutes and perfect for picnics, barbecues, and household dinners year-round!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook dinner Time: 0 minutes
- Complete Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Class: Aspect
- Methodology: No Cook dinner
- Delicacies: Aspect dish
- Weight-reduction plan: Vegetarian
- 4 cups shredded inexperienced cabbage
- 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
- 2 tart apples, thinly sliced
- 1 cup carrots, shredded (2 medium carrots)
- 2 inexperienced onions, thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (or honey)
- ½ cup mayonnaise*
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- Shred the cabbage, thinly slice the apples, shred the carrots, and thinly slice the inexperienced onions. Place them in a big bowl, sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and stir.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, granulated sugar, mayonnaise, poppy seeds, and ¼ teaspoon salt till clean. Pour the dressing onto the greens and stir to mix. Shops as much as 4 days refrigerated.
Just a few extra apple recipes you’ll love
This apple slaw is a enjoyable savory apple recipe that makes an enormous assertion on the dinner desk! Listed below are a number of extra apple recipes we love:

