Asian Pear Slaw

This Asian Pear Slaw is a refreshing and light make-ahead salad that stays crunchy and sweet in the fridge until you are ready to serve it. 

This Asian pear salad is wonderful as a side dish to meats, fried chicken, and barbecue fare. It's so refreshing. 

You can serve this slaw as a side dish for lunch or dinner. You can also make it several hours in advance. In fact, the flavors meld together as the salad spends some time in the refrigerator after it is assembled. 

If you need a dish to bring to a potluck or to prep in advance of a holiday gathering at your home, this one is definitely easy to make and delicious. 

Ingredients in This Slaw:

Asian Pears: These are sometimes known as Korean pears or apple pears. They are crunchy like apples and are thin skinned, juicy, and sweet. They are delicious eaten out of hand like an apple. They are also tasty cooked for desserts such as a baked pears or ginger pear cake. You can even bake them into savory dishes such as bread or pizza. I've also used them in salsa and roasted them for a salad. 

I love these pears from Melissa's Produce. This recipe is adapted from their site. It was my favorite recipe at an event I attended celebrating the Asian New Year, along with these Kung Pao Noodles. 

One of the many things I love about these pears, besides their sweet flavor and crunch, is that they are super slow to discolor after being cut, especially if they are tossed with an acidic dressing like this one. The other thing I love is that they come in these cute little jackets to prevent bruising! 

Sweet Onions: You could also substitute red onions for a more pungent flavor. 

Napa Cabbage: Napa cabbage is from the same family as green or red cabbage. It is slightly more delicate with cabbage-like crunchy ribs down the center but with slightly more lacy leaves. 

Scallions: Both the green and white parts, thinly sliced. 

For the Dressing: Sugar, salt, pepper, milk, mayonnaise, buttermilk, seasoned rice vinegar, and fresh lemon juice. 

To Make this Asian Pear Slaw:

First, cut the pears into thin slices or match sticks. There is no need to peel them. 

Next, thinly slice the Napa cabbage, cut the onion into small dice, and thinkly slice the scallions. 

After that, whisk the dressing ingredients together and toss it with the pears, cabbage, and onions in a bowl.  

Finally, cover the bowl and refrigerate the salad for at least two hours and up to overnight. 

Recipe Variations:

You can add cilantro, diced red peppers, thinly sliced radishes, or even mangos to this salad. A little bit of jicama will aso add a sweet crunch to this salad. 

If you don't have buttermilk, you can easily substitute plain yogurt or sour cream in this dressing. Mexican sour cream (crema) would also work really well. 

Storage:

Keep any leftovers in the refrigerator covered. This salad actually stayed fresh and crispy for about four days in my fridge. Now that there are only two of us in the house, that was a big plus for this slaw. 

This week the Sunday Funday group is sharing Make-Ahead Easter recipes that we made this year! Save this recipe for your next family get together. 

Sunday Funday Make-Ahead Easter Recipes: 

• A Messy Kitchen: Apple Crisp Sweet Strata 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Asian Pear Slaw 
• Food Lust People Love: Blistered Padron Pepper Salmon Cream Cheese 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Cauliflower Mac and Cheese 
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels 
• Making Miracles: Lime Pound Cake 
• Sneha's Recipe: Pork Tikka Masala 

Asian Pear Slaw

Yield: 6 servings

Author: Karen Kerr

Prep time: 1 HourInactive time: 2 HourTotal time: 3 Hour

This Asian Pear Slaw is a refreshing and light make-ahead salad that stays crunchy and sweet in the fridge until you are ready to serve it. 

Ingredients

• 4 Korean or Asian pears, cut into thin slices or matchsticks
• 4 cups thinkly sliced Napa cabbage
• 1/2 sweet onion, small dice
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 1/2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the pears, cabbage, onions, and scallions.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, pepper, milk, mayonnaise, buttermilk, rice vinegar, and lemon juice. Add it to the large bowl and toss everything together.
3. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

271

Fat (grams)

15 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

3 g

Carbs (grams)

35 g

Fiber (grams)

5 g

Net carbs

30 g

Sugar (grams)

26 g

Protein (grams)

2 g

Cholesterol (grams)

10 mg

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