Red Cabbage Salad Recipe with Honey Lime Dressing

Refreshing and bright, this red cabbage salad recipe with honey lime dressing is the perfect side to a heavy meal of Mexican food. It’s even great on top of tacos!

My daughter loooooves the color purple. Her room is purple. Her clothes are purple. If she has a choice, it’s almost always purple. It’s been that way for a long time – really, as long as I can remember. She’s even had a purple-themed birthday.

And if you want to see how deep the love runs, you can see an old video of her teaching her brother how to say “purple.” Warning: I may be the only person who thinks that video is insanely cute. (PS: While you’re over there on Facebook, feel free to hit “like” to follow along with my recipes right on Facebook!)

The fact that this cabbage is called red cabbage and not purple cabbage baffles her. COMPLETELY and totally confuses her. Me too, actually. A quick Google search leads me to believe that either name is okay, purple or red, but something tells me all my foodie friends would be laughing at me if I called this purple cabbage. Am I right?

Or is it a regional thing? Where does this even come from? I want to meet the guy who first called this red cabbage. Give me his number. Was it Adam in the Garden of Eden? Do you think God grew red (purple) cabbage in the Garden of Eden?

Okay, I took a break from ranting to actually look further into the matter. Wiki tells me, “Its leaves are colored dark red/purple. However, the plant changes its color according to the pH value of the soil, due to a pigment belonging to anthocyanins. In acidic soils, the leaves grow more reddish, in neutral soils they will grow more purple, while an alkaline soil will produce rather greenish-yellow colored cabbages. This explains the fact that the same plant is known by different colors in various regions.”

So there ya have it.

About this red cabbage salad recipe:

First of all, how pretty is this salad? Don’t you want to make it just for that reason? It’s a salad that comes together in minutes and just screams summer. It’s crunchy, tangy, and it goes perfectly with heavy Mexican meals. It’s the pop of freshness and flavor needed alongside enchiladas, tacos, and burritos.

This red cabbage salad would be a perfect side with these vegetarian baked taquitos, Instant Pot southwestern chicken and quinoa, or taco pasta!

Needed for this recipe:

• honey
• large mixing bowl
• sharp knife
• olive oil

If you’re looking for a more traditional coleslaw, make sure to check out my creamy coleslaw or my reduced fat creamy coleslaw.

Verdict: I love the bright, fresh flavors of this red cabbage salad recipe especially piled on top of a taco or a taco salad.
Husband’s take: He doesn’t really like red cabbage…so….yeah. But my mother-in-law raves about this salad!
Changes I would make: None are necessary.
Difficulty: Easy.