Easy Apple Coleslaw
Apple Coleslaw features colorful fruits and veggies mixed with a peppery-sweet creamy coleslaw dressing ā itās healthy, delicious and so easy to make!
I love making coleslaw, and this light and refreshing fruit-filled slaw is a welcome addition to the other great slaw recipes on the blog. Itās creamy, crunchy, healthy, and the best apple slaw ever!
Bring this coleslaw along as a side dish to potlucks, parties, or just about any type of gathering or get-together. It also makes for a great light lunch or a delicious option for the brown bag lunch.
What to serve with apple coleslaw? I love my baked beans, veggie & vegan sausage skewers or 5 ingredient vegan sausage with peppers & potatoes.
More coleslaw recipes to try:
- Classic Vegan Coleslaw
- Asian Slaw, zesty with a miso-ginger dressing, and my all-time favoriteĀ
- Spicy Coleslaw, my all-time favorite, with pepperoncinis and creamy tahini dressing.
Ingredients Youāll Need
Made from scratch, this apple coleslaw recipe includes cabbage, apples, dried cranberries, carrots, green onions, and slivered almonds tossed in a deliciously creamy vegan tahini maple dressing.
Here is everything youāll need, including variations:
- Cabbage ā Use regular green cabbage or Napa.
- Carrots ā Cut your own, but for convenience, use pre-shredded carrots.
- Apples ā Use your favorite apples, sweet or tart ā fuji, granny smith, honey crisp, gala, golden delicious, or a combo.
- Cranberries ā In place of cranberries, raisins work well too.
- Almonds ā Vary up the slivered almonds using sunflower seeds, pecans, or walnuts.
- Onion ā Use diced red onion in place of green onions.
- Apple Coleslaw Dressing ā This is a creamy, no mayo recipe, but feel free to use vegan mayo or plain non-dairy yogurt instead of the tahini, as noted in the recipe.
How To Make Easy Apple Coleslaw
Making coleslaw with apples is super easy and only requires a few simple steps:
- Start with the coleslaw dressing by mixing together the tahini, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and pepper in a small bowl and set aside to let the flavors combine.
- Prepare the cabbage by removing the first cabbage leaf, core and finely slice the cabbage, then give it a good rough chop.
- Wash the apples well, core and julienne into matchsticks.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the cabbage, apples, carrots, cranberries, green onions and almonds. If you donāt have a large mixing bowl, a 6 qt. soup or stock pot will do perfectly.
- Pour the dressing over the slaw salad and mix well to combine (shown below). It may take a minute or two to really get it coated well.
Serve as is, or let chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving.
What To Serve With Apple Coleslaw
We think this apple slaw goes great with baked beans, potatoes, vegan pulled pork, corn, and/or grilled vegan sausages with veggies.
How To Store Coleslaw
Coleslaw can be safely stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 ā 5 days.
Can You Make Coleslaw Ahead?
You can make coleslaw 3 to 4 days ahead of serving it. For the best presentation, I donāt recommend making it more than 24 hours in advance as it tends to become watery and limp. You can always prep the ingredients, keeping the slaw and dressing separate until a few hours before serving. To keep the apples from browning, place them in a bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon juice.
Will the apples turn brown in coleslaw?
Nope! The apples will not turn brown with the use of apple cider vinegar in the coleslaw dressing, so you can safely make your apple coleslaw a day or two ahead of time. Just keep it stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
I hope you LOVE this apple coleslaw as much as we do! Itās:
- Quick and easy to make
- Full of fruits and veggies
- Less than 10 ingredients
- Gluten free
- Healthy
- & So delicious!
This sweet & peppery coleslaw is crowd-pleasing and a nice change from the usual coleslaw recipes.
I often make a batch, eating it as a main dish, and graze on it throughout the day. Itās also great for make ahead lunches and is even better the next day!
If you try this apple coleslaw recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintEASY APPLE COLESLAW
Crisp, fresh and delicious, this Apple Coleslaw features fruits and veggies tossed in a delicious creamy dressing! Recipe is versatile and can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 ā 6 1x
- Category: Salad, Side
- Method: mix
- Cuisine: Vegan, American
Ingredients
- 1/2 head green cabbage (about 4 ā 5 cups), shredded
- 2 carrots (about 1 1/2 cups), julienned or shredded
- 2 apples (green or red), cored and cut into matchsticks
- 3/4 ā 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 2 ā 3 green onions (about 1/2 cup), sliced
Tahini Maple Dressing
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Dressing: In a small bowl, combine the tahini, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar add pepper. Add 1 -2 tablespoons of water as needed to thin. Set aside to rest.
Assemble coleslaw: In a large bowl (a large soup or stock pot will work too), add the cabbage, apples, carrots, cranberries, green onions and almonds. Drizzle the tahini maple dressing over top and mix well to coat. Finish with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve as is, or store in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill. Coleslaw can be made a day ahead and stored, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Makes about 8 cups
Serves 4 ā 8
Notes
To replace the tahini with non-dairy mayo, use 1/2 cup non-dairy plain yogurt or vegan mayo.
The ingredients can easily be changed up for variation:
- Replace green cabbage for napa or red cabbage, or use a combo.
- Use your favorite apples ā fuji, granny smith, honey crisp, gala, golden delicious, etc.
- In place of cranberries, raisins would work well.
- Vary up the almonds, using sunflower seeds, pecans or walnuts.
- Use diced red onion in place of green onions.
RECIPE EDIT: This recipe has been updated. Changes made to the recipe include reducing the amount of tahini called for from 1/2 cup to 1/4. Iāve also added an approx. cup amount for the cabbage.
Keywords: apple coleslaw recipe
EDIT: This post was published in Oct. 2018 and updated in Aug. 2019. Changes made to the recipe include reducing the amount of tahini called for from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup. Iāve also added an approx. cup amount for the cabbage.
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This is an excellent coleslaw recipe. Sweetness from the fruit, tangy from the dressing and I added a fresh jalapeno for some spice! Very light and refreshing. No mayo is a bonus! So delicious!
★★★★★
My entire family LOVED this coleslaw! So delicious!!
★★★★★
I can’t believe this doesn’t have any reviews! Made this a couple of days ago and it was DELICIOUS! I was a little worried about the amount of apple cider vinegar as I thought it would be wayyyyy too sour but the dressing is so so good and the tahini and agave syrup (I didn’t have maple so I used agave) really offset the sourness. Made this 4 hours in advance and it was great at that point but the leftovers on day 2 were even more delicious. Thanks for this recipe – bookmarking it for future use, will be perfect to bring to BBQs and potlucks :)
★★★★★