Name: Lebanese Cabbage Salad- Malfouf Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Lebanese
Ingredients: 1 small cabbage head- or 1/2 of each if using red and green; ¼ cup olive oil; ⅓ cup lemon juice; 1 garlic clove; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoon dried mint

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A delicious, crunchy Lebanese Cabbage Salad, also known as Malfouf Salad in Arabic. Think of it as the Lebanese Coleslaw– minus the mayo dressing.

Malfouf Cabbage Salad

This refreshingly easy malfouf salad has only 6 ingredients and could not be simpler to make! The tangy dressing makes this salad a total crowd pleaser.

Malfouf translates to cabbage in Arabic. I usually make this salad whenever I have leftover cabbage from making Lebanese Stuffed Cabbage Rolls.

How to Make Lebanese Cabbage Salad

I love this malfouf salad for its layers of colors and textures. It doesn’t skimp on flavor, and there is plenty of good crunch.

Middle Eastern Coleslaw Ingredients:

Cabbage. I used a blend of both green and red cabbage for color (you’ll need about ½ of a small head of each), but if you prefer not to have extra, you can use just 1 small head of red or green, instead of both.

**While you can swap a bag of premade coleslaw in a pinch, the texture of the cabbage you find in a bag does not compare to thinly slicing it yourself from a whole head.

Dried Mint. or fresh.

Lemon Garlic Dressing. It takes just minutes to stir together; it combines, lemon juice, garlic, salt and olive oil.

Got those? Great. Then we’re ready to make Malfouf salad.

How to Make Malfouf Salad:

Start by washing and finely slicing your cabbage and place in a large bowl. For tips on how to slice your cabbage heads, see the section below. Some people find it easier to use a wide vegetable peeler to shred cabbage.
Prepare the dressing, then pour it gradually over the shredded cabbage. Toss, and continue to add more dressing until you’ve reached your desired amount. Sprinkle with dried mint over the top, toss, and DIG IN!

How to Thinly Slice Cabbage for Salad

Start by cutting the cabbage heads in half from top to bottom, slicing down through the stem. Remove any brown outer leaves.

Then, place the cabbage with its flat, cut-side facing against the cutting board. Cut the halves into quarters (slicing down from the top through the stem again). Carefully cut out the core and discard.
Turn the pieces so a flat side is on the cutting board, and slice them as thinly as possible, working your way across each quarter.

How to Customize this Lebanese Cabbage Salad

The basic ingredients of the salad are cabbage, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and dried mint. But you can also add some thinly sliced cucumbers, green onions or tomatoes as well. Also, if you prefer, you can add fresh mint instead of dried.

Make Ahead and Storage Tips

To Make Ahead. Chop your cabbage up to 1 day in advance, and store it in the refrigerator. You can also prepare your dressing up to 1 day in advance, and store it in a separate container in the refrigerator.
To Store. Place this Middle Eastern cabbage salad in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator. Once dressed, it will stay for 3 or 4 days.

What to Serve with Lebanese Red Cabbage Salad

Make It a main dish. Top it with Air Fryer Chicken Breast, Air Fryer Salmon, or Air F ryer Tilapia.
Serve it with another Lebanese dish. Chicken Tawook, Kafta Kabob, or Lebanese Shepherd’s Pie- Batata bil Sanieh.

I hope you love this delicious and simple Mediterranean Cabbage Salad – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow The Salt and Sweet Kitchen on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.