A unique and refreshing salad made by tossing crunchy cabbage, salty peanuts, hearty chickpeas, and creamy potatoes with a tangy and spicy dressing made with lemon juice and sambal.
A Healthy Salad Chaat
This cabbage salad is more like a chaat salad – a healthy take on chaat.
This is not your typical salad. For starters, it’s spicy. And there are potatoes (potatoes in a salad?!). But trust me, this is a salad that’ll have you and your family/friends talking. And since salads aren’t typically a topic of conversation, you know that means this is one special salad.
Speaking of talking about salads…
My friend Vanita made this salad for me a little while back and I was so surprised by how good the salad was that several days later, I was still thinking about the salad (and who thinks about salad? lol), so I asked her for the recipe.
Vanita told me she got it from her sister Shivani who got it from their Babbo aunty.
I mean… talk about talking about salads! This is a salad recipe passed down by word of mouth!
And we all know the best recipes are passed down through word of mouth or email or what’s app (and hopefully, you find an occasional gem here on my blog, lol).
I’m somewhat of a salad skeptic. I’ve never really believed people who claim to love salads. I’ve always thought that salads are something you’re supposed to eat, not something you’re supposed to genuinely enjoy. At least, that’s what I thought until I met this salad.
And not to be all hyperbolic about salad but (I will be)… I sort of feel like this salad has changed my world. I’m only now opening my eyes to the world of salad possibilities. For a food blogger, that’s pretty life-changing.
If you’ve browsed any of my previous salad recipes here on the blog (meh, please don’t), you’ll see I once tried to pass an avocado with peanut butter off as a salad (still think it’s good, lol). So… who knows what this means for salad recipes to come on the blog!
Not only is this salad special – it’s also simple to make. An easy salad to throw together. Make it with bagged coleslaw mix (though you can also chop cabbage yourself), roasted peanuts, chopped potatoes, cilantro, lemon juice, sambal and cayenne. And chickpeas! If you’ve been following my chickpeas series, this is a great way to use them.
Try this salad and tell me what you think! Also, share your favorite salad combinations with me. I’m ready to become someone who talks about salad.
Spicy Cabbage Salad with Chickpeas and Potatoes
Spicy Cabbage Salad with Chickpeas and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 (12 ounce) bag coleslaw mix
- 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas or 1 can
- ½ cup roasted and salted peanuts chopped, plus extra for garnish
- 1 handful cilantro chopped
- 2 -3 tablespoons sambal oelek to taste
- Juice of 1-2 lemons to taste (freshly squeezed!)
- ½ teaspoon salt to taste
- ⅛ – ¼ teaspoon cayenne or spicy red mirch to taste
- 1 (6 – 8) ounce Yukon gold potato, cooked and chopped
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients together, except for the potatoes.
- Gently fold in the potatoes.
- Taste and adjust spices or sambal or lemon juice if needed.
Notes
- Here’s a post on how to cook potatoes in an instant pot.
- This recipe is part of my “chickpea series.” Cook a big batch of dried chickpeas (see this blog post), and try one of my recipes that calls for cooked chickpeas! You can also use canned chickpeas but dried beans taste better.
- feel free to adjust any of the ingredients to taste – you can’t go wrong. if you like potatoes, add more! same goes for everything else.
Nirmala says
I’m planning to take this to a pot luck. Can this be made ahead or should it be mixed right before serving?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
You can make it ahead 🙂 I’d make it the same day though.
RaNae says
Love everything on your blog that I’ve made, and I’ve made a lot of them, plus I love your Indian under pressure book too. One thing on this recipe you might want to make more clear…I shared this with a friend and she thought it read…16 8 ounce potatoes. Rather than one 6-8 ounce potato. She didn’t notice the singular use of the word potato…she texted me before putting her 8 pounds (or however much it ended up being) into the cabbage mix asking if I really had used that many potatoes! We had a very good laugh, but, to save anyone else who sees it the same way, maybe rewrite saying…one 6-8 ounce potato. Rather than using the number 1. Her family ate a lot of leftover potatoes that week. 😂
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Ranae! And oh my goodness lol! Glad she called you first! I’ve updated the post to have parenthesis around the ounces and will do so moving forward. Appreciate you letting me know!
Neelu says
I tried this recipe yesterday and really loved the flavor profile. I just doubled the amount of roasted peanuts. Thanks for the recipe.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Neelu, that’s awesome! Happy to hear that you loved it!
Mary Grace says
look forward to trying this… can you tell me a good way to cook dry chickpeas other than instapot?
thank you
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
You can do it on the stovetop but it’ll take much longer – I’m actually not sure how many hours it’ll take, but hopefully another reader can chime in to help answer your question. Let me know what you think of this recipe when you make it 🙂
Penny says
Made it exactly as described and we loved it! This is a keeper! Thank you for great food we can make at home.
My Heart Beets says
Penny, that’s so great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how much you liked it 🙂
Barbara says
Newbie question … are the potatoes warm or cool when you fold in? TIA! 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Hi Barbara, either way is fine 🙂 I’ve had it both ways and I’m really not sure which way I like it better.
Ginny says
Would you recommend store bought sambal oleke vs homemade?
Looks and sounds delicious
Can’t wait to try it out.
My Heart Beets says
Hi Ginny, either way works 🙂 I use storebought because it’s easier – I’ve tried the huy fung foods brand and the sky valley brand (at whole foods) and both are great. Let me know what you think of this salad!
Penny B says
I made this exactly as written and we love it. Yum.
My Heart Beets says
So happy to hear that! Thanks Penny!
Sibi says
Hi Ashley. This sounds so good, just like a chaat. If I don’t use potatoes, do i need to make adjustments to the measurements to the rest of the ingredients? Sorry, Novice cook, so i need instructions with everything;-)
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Sibi! It really does feel like a healthy chaat! If you’re going to skip the potatoes then I’d use more chickpeas 🙂
Heather says
I’m planning on making this tonight to bring to a friend’s house. What is the best way to cook the potato? Boiled, roasted? I can’t quite tell from the pictures. Looking forward to giving this a try!
Cindy says
Looks like healthy way to keep adding salad, but also has some comfort in there -usually salads are ditched this time of year for a while. Then I remember roasted veg and we are off again-lol! Thank you for this -I am trying it tonight!
My Heart Beets says
Cindy, I can’t wait to hear what you think of this, let me know! 🙂
Susan says
Ok – I’m going to try this. I have a feeling I’ll enjoy it because it almost (almost) reads/looks like a chaat. Who wouldn’t want chaat over salad? Lol
My Heart Beets says
Susan, yes lol! it really does remind me of a healthy chaat! Let me know what you think 🙂