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


There’s one thing magical the primary sweet-tart chew of a superbly balanced slaw. The primary time I made this recipe, Alex took one chew and instantly fell in love, and my children really requested seconds!
This apple slaw recipe transforms extraordinary cabbage into particular extraordinary by pairing it with sweet-tart apples and a creamy poppy seed dressing that ties all the pieces collectively. It’s a slaw spin that’s distinctive in taste however easy sufficient that you just’ll wish to maintain making all of it season lengthy. It’s the right fall facet dish, but in addition works for summer season picnics!
Why this apple slaw works
Conventional coleslaw can generally 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 an excellent 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 combos. To me, the key is utilizing the fitting sort of apple—you want one thing crisp and tart to pair with the creamy dressing.
5 star reader evaluation
“That is significantly better than conventional coleslaw! It’s a terrific thought to make use of apples with much more taste.” -Sabrina
Selecting the most effective apples for slaw
The apple selection you select could make or break this dish. I all the time attain for agency, crisp apples with an excellent stability of candy and tart flavors. Listed below are my high suggestions:
- Pink Woman (my private favourite): These apples have the right sweet-tart stability and keep crisp even after sitting within the dressing for hours. If you understand me personally, you’ll know my love for Pink Girls!
- Honeycrisp: Recognized for his or her crunch issue, these apples add fantastic texture distinction. They’re a bit sweeter than Pink Woman.
- Granny Smith: In the event you choose a extra tart taste profile, these traditional inexperienced apples by no means disappoint.
- Jonagold or Jonathan: These varieties are additionally candy tart and preserve their texture properly in salads (we frequently get them when choosing apples).
- Fuji: Sweeter than the others, Fujis work in case you choose a milder apple taste.
For the tip: No matter selection you select, be certain that the apples are agency to the contact and free from mushy 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 pink cabbage. I like so as to add pink cabbage for colour, but it surely’s not needed for taste.
- Skip the pink cabbage in case you choose. It appears to be like good color-wise, however swap in inexperienced cabbage in case you choose. It may be exhausting 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 perfect facet dish for any protein or primary. As a result of it options apples it feels acceptable within the fall, but it surely additionally works any time of yr! It’s nice in summer season at potlucks and pitch-ins. Listed below are a couple 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 right straightforward facet dish. It’s prepared in simply 20 minutes and ideally suited 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
- Technique: No Cook dinner
- Delicacies: Aspect dish
- Food regimen: Vegetarian
- 4 cups shredded inexperienced cabbage
- 1 cup shredded pink 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.
A couple of extra apple recipes you’ll love
This apple slaw is a enjoyable savory apple recipe that makes a giant assertion on the dinner desk! Listed below are a couple of extra apple recipes we love:


