Vegan Indian Cabbage Salad (Chana Masala slaw)

There is nothing like the fresh, crisp bite of a cabbage salad to brighten up a meal. But add fresh herbs and some Indian spices to the mix, and now you’ve got a beautiful Vegan Indian Cabbage salad that is light, refreshing and exploding with flavor!

Vegan Indian Cabbage Salad aka Chana Masala slaw, consists of fresh shredded Napa cabbage, shredded carrots, green peas, mint, and cilantro…tossed in a flavorful dressing that combines vegan mayo, Chana Masala spice mix, garam masala, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt.

This Vegan Indian cabbage salad recipe is a quick and easy, one bowl situation and it takes less than 5 minutes to prepare! In a flash and with little effort, you can have the PERFECT light, refreshing, flavor loaded Vegan Indian Cabbage salad prepped and ready! This Indian cabbage slaw makes an excellent side dish for any Indian inspired meal! You can also serve it as a meal when you are looking for a healthy, light option! Want it even lighter? Swap out the vegan mayo for vegan yogurt!

Jump to Recipe

How to make Vegan Indian Cabbage Salad

Good news! It takes very little time and effort to make this vegan Indian cabbage salad! You can have this bowl of goodness prepped and ready to eat in about 5 minutes! That’s right…5 minutes!

Simply cut Napa cabbage into thin slices, add shredded carrots and thawed, frozen green peas, chopped fresh mint and cilantro into a bowl. Add all of the ingredients for the dressing…lemon juice, vegan mayo (can substitute vegan plain yogurt for lower calorie option), Chana Masala spice mix, garam masala, garlic powder, onion powder and salt.

Mix it all together. AND THAT’S IT!! A beautiful, healthy, delicious Vegan Indian Cabbage Salad!

Spices used for Vegan Indian Cabbage Salad

Indian cuisine is often loaded with complex flavor. How? Because there are often a TON of spices used to create it. This leads to delicious results of course…but you have to have a lot of spices in your spice cabinet. Luckily there are ways to get a complex Indian inspired flavor in a much easier way. The secret? Combining Chana Masala Spice Mix with garam masala.

Garam Masala and Chana Masala Spice Mix for Vegan Indian Cabbage Salad

Instead of using a long list of spices to achieve a complex Indian inspired flavor, you can make things simple and reach for just two! If you combine Garam Masala and Chana Masala spice mix you can create an incredibly delicious, complex flavor!

You can find both of these spices in the International isle or spice isle of your grocery store. You can also easily find them at your local Indian market or online.

Chana Masala spice mix is a blend of coriander, dehydrated mango, salt, chili, cumin, musk melon, pomegranate seeds, ginger, black salt, pepper, fenugreek leaves, cassia, mint leaves, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, caraway, mace, and cardamom….like I said…very complex!

Garam masala is a combination of cinnamon, peppercorns, mustard seeds, cardamom, cloves, mace, nutmeg, and coriander.

So when you put the two of them together you create a delicious blend of spices without measuring out a truck load of spices!

Make an even healthier version of vegan Indian cabbage salad

This recipe is already super light and low calorie, but it is made with vegan mayo, so that brings a bit of fat and calories to the table. If you want this vegan Indian cabbage salad to be even lower in calories and fat, you can swap out the vegan mayo for vegan plain yogurt. Just go with a plain, unsweetened option.

What to serve with Vegan Indian Cabbage Salad

Vegan Indian Cabbage Salad, aka Chana Masala Slaw, makes the perfect side dish or starter salad for any Indian inspired meal! Serve this Indian cabbage slaw with rice and curry or Curry Chickpeas stuffed Indian mushrooms.

You can also enjoy this vegan Indian cabbage salad as a light meal! Just add some chickpeas or vegan chicken to it, and you can have a low calorie, nutrient dense meal in a flash!

Vegan Indian Cabbage Salad for Meal Prep

This vegan Indian Cabbage salad recipe is the perfect candidate for meal prep or a make-ahead side dish! Simply prepare the veggies and herbs and store in an air tight container. Prepare the dressing and store separately (this will prevent salad from getting soggy). When you are ready to serve and eat the salad, just combine and mix! You can store in the fridge for 5-7 days.