Swedish pizza salad

Such a simple and easy cabbage salad. This version is oil-free, so it saves a lot of calories. But equally good. It stores for days and gets better with time. Simply the best salad with pizza.

What is Swedish pizza salad?

Swedish pizza salad, "pizzasallad" is a cabbage salad made of white cabbage, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and oregano. This is traditionally served in all Swedish pizzerias. Often also garlic dressing comes with the pizza.

In Finland, where we live, this is not traditional at all. We really miss those Swedish pizzas, so we often make this cabbage salad at home. I found out that by smashing the cabbage, you get its own juices out, and you don't need to use any oil. Leaving out the oil makes this salad whole foods plant-based, really healthy, and extremely low calorie.

Funny as it sounds, the cabbage salad is really good with pizza! You definitely need to try it out.

Origin of the Swedish cabbage salad

We often wondered why it is only served in Swedish pizzerias, but this was invented in Sweden by a pizza bakery owner who wanted to serve free salad with their pizzas. Cabbage as an ingredient was really cheap, so he used that as the base. Origin to the salad was from his childhood and "Kupus Salata" as an inspiration.

We love some chili flavor in ours, but you can leave the chili out. Maple syrup brings some sweetness and balances the acidity from the vinegar.

Ingredients and replacements

• Cabbage- traditionally made with white cabbage, but you get more nutrient-dense salad if you use purple cabbage.
• Vinegar- use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
• Oil- Add olive oil if you want to. Up to ⅓ cup. I leave it out.
• Salt- Salt makes the juices in the shredded cabbage come out better. If you follow a whole foods plant-based diet, you can leave the salt out; use 1 teaspoon white miso paste or low sodium salt.
• Black pepper- black pepper adds some punch. If you don't have black pepper, then use white or pink pepper.
• Oregano- This can be replaced with basil.
• Sweetness- Some sweetness balances the vinegar taste. Use sugar, maple syrup, or even honey.

Add if you want to

• Garlic- Add 1 garlic clove or 1 teaspoon garlic powder to get a garlicky salad.
• Red Bell pepper-Add fresh or canned bell pepper slices to add taste.
• Shallot- Instead of garlic you can add some shallot or onion slices if you want to.
• Chili paste- We love some punch in the salad. Add sambal oelek paste or chili flakes. Small amount goes far. ½-1 teaspoon is enough.

How to make the salad?

Take the outer leaves of the cabbage away; they are often not fresh. Cut your cabbage in half. Slice the cabbage into really thin slices with a knife, a cheese slicer, or a mandolin. Traditional salad is made into thin slices and then added with spices and left to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Another method is to "beat" up the cabbage bites. This is a good method if you only have a knife and cannot slice into thin enough slices. Or if you want to serve it immediately after making it. Beating it with a wooden club makes it juicy.

How long does it keep?

The salad keeps 5-6 days in the fridge. If you add bell pepper eat it in 3 days. You can not freeze this.

Nutrition content

This is a real health cabbage slaw. It has only 30 calories per serving. Cabbage is high in fiber. This whole amount has 20 grams of fiber. This coleslaw also has a good amount of calcium, potassium, selenium, B vitamins, and vitamin C. Only 2 servings, 2/10 of cabbage, gives you the vitamin C amount you need per day.