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Easy Apple Coleslaw

Apple Coleslaw features colorful fruits and veggies mixed with a peppery-sweet creamy coleslaw dressing – it’s healthy, delicious and so easy to make!

top down view of freshly mixed easy apple coleslaw in a glass bowl.

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. It’s 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:

top down view of a large glass mixing with ingredients for apple coleslaw with dressing in a small bowl nearby.

Ingredients You’ll 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 you’ll need, including variations:

  • Cabbage – Use regular green cabbage or Napa.
  • Carrots – Cut your own, but for convenience, use pre-shredded carrots.
  • Apples – Use your favorite apples, sweet or tart – fuji, granny smith, honey crisp, gala, golden delicious, or a combo.
  • Cranberries – In place of cranberries, raisins work well too.
  • Almonds – Vary up the slivered almonds using sunflower seeds, pecans, or walnuts.
  • Onion – Use diced red onion in place of green onions.
  • Apple Coleslaw Dressing – 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.
top down view of a large glass mixing with ingredients for apple coleslaw with dressing being poured overtop.

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 don’t 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.

top down view of freshly mixed easy apple coleslaw in a glass bowl.

How To Store Coleslaw

Coleslaw can be safely stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 – 5 days.

Can You Make Coleslaw Ahead?

You can make coleslaw 3 to 4 days ahead of serving it. For the best presentation, I don’t 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.

side angle view of freshly mixed easy apple coleslaw in a glass bowl.

I hope you LOVE this apple coleslaw as much as we do! It’s:

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. It’s also great for make ahead lunches and is even better the next day!

top down view of best apple coleslaw in a white serving bowl with wooden fork.

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.

Print

EASY 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.

  • Author: Julie | The Simple Veganista
  • Prep Time: 15 min
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 4 – 6 1x
  • Category: Salad, Side
  • Method: mix
  • Cuisine: Vegan, American

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1/2 head green cabbage (about 4 – 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 – 1 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds
  • 2 – 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 – 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 – 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. I’ve 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. I’ve also added an approx. cup amount for the cabbage.

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3 Comments

  1. 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!

  2. My entire family LOVED this coleslaw! So delicious!!

  3. 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 :)

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