Ready in 20 minutes or less, this napa cabbage and crispy tempeh salad with miso tahini dressing is loaded with delicious flavors and textures. Made with thinly sliced napa cabbage as the base, this satisfying main dish is entirely vegan and anything but boring. Don’t skip out on the homemade dressing — it ties everything together!
Quick and Easy Napa Cabbage and Crispy Tempeh Salad Loaded with Fresh Flavors and Textures
I really love veggies so it follows that I REALLY love salads. But I don’t love wilty, watery lettuce paired with random out of season tomato chunks lacking in flavor. This hearty later winter/early spring salad uses crinkly and soft napa cabbage as the base rather than lettuce. It’s sort of an homage to what is often passed off as “Chinese chicken salad” but my version combines several seasonal veggies, fruits, and herbs to create a mix of textures and flavors along with crispy tempeh to keep it vegetarian. And don’t forget the incredibly creamy and dreamy miso tahini dressing that gets drizzled over top!
While the salad itself came together quickly in testing, the miso tahini dressing took a few tries to get right. Tahini can often have a bitter taste on my palate but I really love its nuttiness! In order to balance everything, I added miso for an umami depth of flavor, rice vinegar for a subtle tang, and maple syrup for a subtle sweetness. By the end of the last test, I knew I had it right when I kept dipping a spoon in for a taste!
What Grows Together Goes Together
My favorite way to craft a salad is perfectly demonstrated here: pair vegetables and fruits together that are in season at the same time (see also: this blood orange salad!). For this napa cabbage salad, it relies on a delicious combo of late winter/early spring produce like kohlrabi, citrus, carrots, and scallions. Since kohlrabi can be more challenging to find outside of the farmers market, I’ve included some swaps in the notes section of the recipe card below. And before you’re like wait, cabbage as a salad base?! Yes!! Napa cabbage has a softer texture than regular storage cabbage and a lovely mild flavor that works so incredibly well in salads without veering into slaw territory. If you’d prefer a slaw vibe, try this apple fennel slaw instead and use napa in place of the bagged shredded cabbage.
Napa Cabbage and Crispy Tempeh Salad in 4 Easy Steps
When you mix all of ingredients for the miso tahini dressing, make sure to taste it! Add more salt to season, maple for sweetness, or rice vinegar for tanginess depending on your tastes. You’ll whisk in just enough cold water for it to reach a drizzle-able consistency. For me, it was only 2 tablespoons.
Avoiding an Undermixed and Wilty Salad
There’s nothing worse than having all of the heavy ingredients sink to the bottom of the salad bowl! I gave up on traditional salad tossing years ago and have never looked back. Here’s what I do: toss all of the lighter ingredients like the thinly sliced napa cabbage, chopped herbs, scallions, and chopped cashews. Then, arrange the heavier ingredients (avocado, oranges, tempeh) on top! Even though Napa will hold up better than lettuce once dressed, I highly recommend only dressing the portion of salad that you will be eating. Store the leftover salad and dressing in separate containers for the best flavor and texture.
Napa Cabbage and Crispy Tempeh Salad with Miso Tahini Dressing
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2–3 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
Description
Ready in 20 minutes or less, this napa cabbage and crispy tempeh salad with miso tahini dressing is loaded with delicious flavors and textures. Made with thinly sliced napa cabbage as the base, this satisfying main dish is entirely vegan and anything but boring. Don’t skip out on the homemade dressing — it ties everything together!
Ingredients
for the miso tahini dressing
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 2 tablespoons mellow white miso
- 2 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- Sea salt, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Cold water, as needed
for the salad
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 8–ounce block tempeh, crumbled into very small pieces
- Sea salt, to taste
- 1 small head napa cabbage, thinly sliced, about 5–6 cups total
- 3/4 cup roasted cashews, chopped
- 2 large carrots, grated or ribboned
- 3–4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 medium kohlrabi, diced
- 2 cara cara oranges, supremed
- 1 large handful cilantro, chopped
- 1 large handful mint, chopped
- 2 medium avocados, sliced or diced
Instructions
Heat a large skillet over medium. Add the avocado oil and once it begins to shimmer, add the crumbled tempeh. Season with a pinch of salt then cook, stirring every 1-2 minutes, until golden and crispy. This will take about 10-15 minutes and will allow plenty of time to mix the dressing and chop your salad ingredients.
While tempeh cooks, Make the dressing. Add the tahini, miso, rice vinegar, maple syrup, a small pinch of salt, and the garlic powder to a bowl and whisk to combine. Add cold water as needed to thin the dressing to a drizzleable consistency. Taste and season with more salt as needed.
Prep your veggies while the tempeh finishes cooking. Thinly slice the cabbage, chop the cashews, grate the carrots or peel them into ribbons, and thinly slice the scallions. Cut the tough outer skin off the kohlrabi and discard it, then dice the kohlrabi. Cut away all of the peeling and pith from the oranges, then remove the segments from between the membranes (aka supreming). Give the cilantro and mint a chop then dice or slice the avocados.
Toss the cabbage, carrots, scallions, herbs, and cashews together in a large bowl then place them in your serving vessel. Layer the orange segments, avocado, kohlrabi, and crispy tempeh over the top. Serve with the dressing on the side or drizzle it over the top!
Notes
- Store leftover salad and dressing separately in the fridge. The dressing will thicken in the fridge so whisk in water to thin it out again as needed. Leftovers are best if enjoyed within 2-3 days.
- If you want to save some chopping time, use 5-6 cups of store-bought shredded cabbage in place of the napa and 2 cups of store-bought shredded carrots/matchstick carrots in place of the 2 large carrots.
- Since kohlrabi can be harder to find, you can use 3-4 radishes in its place.
- I love cara cara oranges here but any orange will work! If you want to avoid the process of supreming the oranges, buy a few easy-peel mandarins. Peel the skin off by hand then separate the segments and add them to the salad.
- This recipe yields 2-3 servings if eaten as the main dish or entree and 4-6 servings if used as a side dish.
- If you’re allergic to tahini, you can use cashew butter, almond butter, or sunflower seed butter in the dressing for similar results.
- For a no-cook version of this recipe, pick up a package of smoked or baked tofu from the store instead of tempeh. Dice it and add it to the top of the salad.
- Not all miso is gluten free so make sure to check the label!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner, Lunch
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