Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Kohlrabi Slaw with Caraway and Apple
Created by Chef Ally
Crisp kohlrabi cut into matchsticks and tossed with tart apple, toasted caraway, and a simple mustard dressing. A German tradition that makes the case for this underappreciated vegetable.
Kohlrabi is one of the most neglected vegetables at the market. People walk past it, unsure what to do with those strange pale green or purple orbs. But peel away the tough skin and you find flesh that is crisp as an apple, mild as a cucumber, with a faint sweetness that needs almost nothing done to it.
In Germany, kohlrabi gets the respect it deserves. Sliced raw into salads, braised with butter, or shredded into slaws like this one. Caraway is its natural partner there, that warm, faintly anise flavor that shows up in rye bread and sauerkraut. Toast the seeds briefly and they lose any harshness, becoming fragrant and almost sweet.
This slaw improves for the first hour as the dressing softens the kohlrabi slightly, but it holds its crunch far longer than cabbage ever could. Make it before your guests arrive and it will wait patiently. That is the nature of kohlrabi: sturdy, uncomplaining, and rewarding to those who pay attention.
Ingredients
kohlrabi bulbs
Quantity
2 medium (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
tart apple
Quantity
1 large
such as Granny Smith or Honeycrisp
caraway seeds
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| kohlrabi bulbs | 2 medium (about 1 1/2 pounds total) |
| tart applesuch as Granny Smith or Honeycrisp | 1 large |
| caraway seeds | 1 1/2 teaspoons |
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary Explorer