Spicy Cabbage Puerto Rican Salad

Spicy Cabbage Puerto Rican Salad is crunchy, spicy, and loaded with flavor, and this would be a fun salad when you don’t have lettuce on hand! 

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I love the time of year when cabbage goes on sale in grocery stores everywhere, and I’m such a huge cabbage fan. So for the month of March I’m going to spotlight some of my favorite recipes using cabbage that you may have missed in the abundance of recipes on this site. And if you’re a cabbage fan like I am, I hope you might discover some new favorite you’ll want to make over and over!

The minute I saw this Spicy Cabbage Puerto Rican Salad on Champaign Taste (a blog that no longer exists), I knew I was going to make some version of the salad, since I adore cabbage salad, and cabbage is such a healthy ingredient.

And when I made the Puerto Rican salad I loved it from the very first bite. The spicy cabbage salad got two thumbs up from my sister Val and brother-in-law Jon as well, and this salad has definitely become a favorite.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe:

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• green cabbage
• tomatoes
• celery
• celery leaves (optional, but good)
• radishes, cut into half-moon slices
• green onions
• apple cider vinegar
• fresh-squeezed lime juice, I used my fresh-frozen lime juice
• salt
• Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link) or other hot pepper sauce
• olive oil

Is this an authentic Puerto Rican Salad?

After doing internet research about Caribbean cabbage salads, I came up with the recipe you see here, upping the crunch factor with radishes, adding some chopped celery leaves and green onions, and using a touch of lime juice in the dressing. Since you can get good cherry tomatoes all year, I used those in this tasty salad, but if you have fresh garden tomatoes it will be even better!  With my changes I don’t know how authentically Puerto Rican the recipe is, so if you’re a food purist you may just want to call this “cabbage salad.” But no matter what you call it, if you try this recipe I predict you’ll love it just as much as I do.

What kind of hot sauce should you use?

I would probably use Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link) for this recipe. You can use any hot sauce that has a good flavor, but if you have some type of Caribbean hot sauce it would be perfect. You can start with a small amount of hot sauce and add more until it’s as spicy as you prefer.

Can you use another type of vinegar?

If you don’t have apple cider vinegar, you can use white vinegar for the Puerto Rican Salad.

Want more tasty salads with cabbage?

If you’re a huge cabbage fan like I am, be sure to check out my great collection of Low-Carb and Keto Cabbage Salads!

How to Make Spicy Cabbage Puerto Rican Salad:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Chop up 5-6 cups of green cabbage, about half of a large head of cabbage.
2. Chop up 1 cup of tomatoes. (I used the grape tomatoes from Costco that I love in the winter.)
3. Slice about 1/2 cup of celery and chop 1/2 cup of celery leaves. If the celery is large, I might cut it in half before slicing.
4. Cut about 6 radishes into half-moon slices and slice 1/4 cup green onions. (Use more radishes and less tomatoes if you’d like to reduce the carbs!)
5. Mix together the apple cider vinegar, lime juice, salt, and hot pepper sauce; then whisk in the oil, 1 tablespoon at a time.
6. Toss the salad ingredients together, then toss the salad with the dressing.
7. Can be served right away or kept in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

More Tasty Cabbage Salads:

• Spicy Cilantro Peanut Slaw
• Red Cabbage Salad with Bacon and Goat Cheese
• Blue Cheese Coleslaw
• Vietnamese Chicken Salad with Cabbage
• Spicy Mexican Slaw

Continue to Content

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Yield: 6 servings

Spicy Cabbage Puerto Rican Salad

Prep Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

This Spicy Cabbage Puerto Rican Salad is crunchy, spicy, and loaded with good flavors! And if you like cabbage and spicy flavors, I bet you're going to love this salad.

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 6 cups chopped green cabbage
• 1 cup diced tomatoes (see notes)
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/2 cup chopped celery leaves (optional, but good)
• 6 radishes, cut into half-moon slices
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions (dark green part)

Dressing Ingredients:

• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. fresh lime juice (see notes)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce, or more (see notes)
• 3 T olive oil (see notes)

Instructions

1. Chop up 5-6 cups of green cabbage, about half of a large head of cabbage. I chop the cabbage fairly small, but not as thin as you'd slice it for coleslaw.
2. Chop up 1 cup of tomatoes.  (I use grape tomatoes from Costco when tomatoes aren't in season, but fresh garden tomatoes would be great in this salad.)
3. Slice 1/2 cup of celery and chop 1/2 cup of celery leaves.  (If the celery is large, I might cut it in half before slicing.)
4. Trim stem and root end from about 6 large radishes and cut the radishes into half-moon slices.
5. Slice 1/4 cup green onions, mostly dark green part if possible.
6. Mix together the apple cider vinegar, lime juice, salt, and hot pepper sauce; then whisk in the oil, 1 tablespoon at a time. Taste dressing to see if you'd like to add a little more lime juice. (I did!)
7. Toss the salad ingredients together, then toss the salad with the dressing.
8. This salad can be served right away or kept in the fridge for a few hours before serving. It doesn't keep especially well overnight due to the tomatoes, so if this makes more than you'd eat at one time I'd chop up the cabbage, celery, radishes and green onions and make the dressing and keep ingredients separate in the fridge. Then chop tomatoes and toss the dressing on each serving of salad as you eat it.

Notes

I used diced grape tomatoes; you can use less tomatoes and more radishes to reduce carbs if you prefer. Use one teaspoon lime juice and then taste to see if you want more. Use any hot sauce that has a good flavor. If you have some type of Caribbean hot sauce it would be perfect, you can start with a small amount of hot sauce and add more until it's as spicy as you prefer. Any neutral-flavored oil of your choice will work.

This recipe was inspired by a salad recipe I saw on a blog that no longer exists, and I did some internet research on Caribbean Cabbage Salads to come up with the version you see here!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 109Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 288mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 3g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Suggestions:
This Spicy Cabbage Puerto Rican Salad is a great choice for any phase of the original South Beach Diet as well as being low-carb, Keto, gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan. For Keto if you’re strictly limiting carbs you might want to use fewer tomatoes and more radishes, which will still be delicious! 

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more tasty cabbage salads like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This Puerto Rican salad recipe was posted in 2011. It was last updated with more information in 2023.

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