Peach Ginger Slaw
You guys, I’m going to state the obvious: It is HOT. Hotttttt. I am so over it and the summer has just begun. Day after day of triple digit heat does a number on my appetite.
I don’t want warm foods. I crave cold, crispy things. Like this slaw.
Within a couple of days of spotting this dish in Southern Living, I was purchasing peaches.
Fresh peaches, ginger, pepper jelly, sesame oil, nuts – some of my favorite ingredients all combined into one very simple dish!
While I found the texture the most pleasing right after making it, it is definitely fine as leftovers too. You’ll lose a bit of the crunch factor, but even 2 days later, I’m still enjoying it!
To note: unless you have a nut allergy, I do not suggest skipping the nuts, as I think they give this slaw the finishing touch it needs. I sampled it before adding them and then again after and what a difference! The toasted pecans really bring out the nutty flavor of the sesame oil.
Peach Ginger Slaw
8 servings. Slightly adapted from Southern Living
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped pecans
3 Tbsp pepper jelly
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/3 cup canola oil
1 16 oz pkg shredded coleslaw mix*
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 large fresh peaches, unpeeled and coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 minutes or until toasted, stirring halfway through. Cool completely (8-10 minutes).
Meanwhile, microwave jelly in a large microwave-safe bowl at high for 30 seconds. Whisk in vinegar and next 2 ingredients until blended. Gradually add canola oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly until well blended.
Add coleslaw mix, and toss to coat. Gently stir in peaches. Stir in pecans; add salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
*you can, of course, shred your own cabbage and carrots instead of using a bagged mix!
This sounds so refreshing! Can’t wait to try it.
Oh yum yum yum! I recently made a kale salad with cabbage & apples, and was surprised at how great the fruit was in it. I wouldn’t think to put peaches in slaw, but this sounds fab!
WOW! I’m not a big fan of the typical coleslaws, but this one sounds amazing!
Me either! I basically detest mayo, and since most coleslaws have mayo, I avoid at all costs ;-)
Oh, Beth, this looks incredible! We’re getting a little tired of cold cereal and smoothies in this heat! This slaw sounds refreshing, and I’m not a coleslaw fan. Hope you and your little one are well!
I’m not a coleslaw fan either, but I could tell immediately from the list of ingredients that I would like this one!
I’m making this this weekend — have plenty of cabbage from Delvin and am picking up more peaches from the Peach Truck tomorrow morning. This may be my lunch every day next week! Thanks Beth!
This sounds awesome! I haven’t bought any peaches yet (what is my problem!) but I’m so going to just to make this recipe. I love slaw and these unique ingredients make it fancy. Plus I’m sucker for anything with pecans and I’m curious how they work in slaw. Thanks for the recipe!
Same thing with me. I hadn’t bought any peaches but AS SOON as I saw this, I knew that was gonna change immediately!
Oh, wow, this is really unique. Good to have a firsthand testimonial, too because it sounds a bit out there. I might have to try it this weekend!
Already have my peaches from The Peach Truck, now to just make the slaw! Sounds delicious!
I’m making my shopping list for my return from vacation and ingredients for this are on it! Pepper jelly sounds good, too.
Keep writing…
Do you recommend red pepper jelly or green?
I just happened to have red pepper jelly on hand, so that’s what I used, but I think either kind would be fine!
This salad is wonderful. So much so, in fact, that I’ve included it in my food blog and, of course, linked it to you.
http://stepbystepinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2012/07/jackpot-corn-on-cob-ginger-peach-slaw.html
I wanted to stop by and say thanks for the recipe. I’ve been making this for years, and everyone loves it. Someone said they wanted to make the dressing part alone and keep it on hand as a great salad dressing for a regular salad. My California-Korean friends also gave it a thumbs up. At times I have not had pepper jelly on hand and have subbed in another type of jelly that I did have (plum? raspberry?) and added chili paste to taste (Sambal Oelek or similar) to bring some heat. I didn’t find it much different, still delicious. Was delighted to use our homegrown peaches for the first time ever this year! We’ve been trying for years to grow them. A lot of horticultural oil sprays this spring finally got our peaches to harvest without falling off the tree due to some pestilence!
I make this with or without nuts depending on where I am serving it and the chance of allergic people being around. Have also tried it with both walnuts or almonds, and almonds are my second pick after pecans.
Thanks for sharing and congratulations on the homegrown peaches! I’ve never grown them here, but my sister in Indiana has an abundance of them, which means I benefit from the delicious peach butter she cans for me every year :-)
This is basically peak summer survival food.
When it’s so hot you start questioning your life choices just standing near the kitchen, a cold crunchy salad with peaches, ginger, and that sweet-spicy dressing is exactly the kind of “I refuse to turn on the stove” energy I respect.
The combo is actually interesting too — peaches bringing the soft sweetness, ginger adding bite, sesame oil giving it that slightly nutty depth. And then you’ve got pecans stepping in like the crunchy overachievers of the whole situation. Honestly, they’re doing most of the heavy lifting flavor-wise.
What I like is how flexible it is — it feels like one of those recipes you can tweak depending on what’s in the fridge, as long as you keep the sweet + heat + crunch balance.
Anyway, this is the kind of thing I’d eat while pretending I’m being “healthy and organized” while actually just trying not to melt.
Also, totally unrelated, but I ended up wandering off into random links like https://BalmoralGreen.com/ while reading this — which feels like the internet equivalent of getting distracted halfway through making salad and forgetting why you opened the fridge in the first place.
Honestly, this is the exact kind of recipe that shows up when summer stops being “cute sunshine vibes” and turns into “why is the air soup.”
Peaches + ginger + sesame oil is such a surprisingly smart combo. It’s like sweet, spicy, and nutty all decided to share a group chat and somehow it works. The peppers and pecans add that crunch and heat balance that keeps it from becoming just another fruit salad pretending to be a meal.
I also like how unapologetically practical it is — no overcomplicated steps, just “it’s hot, eat something cold, move on with your life.” Respect.
This feels like the kind of dish you’d make once, not expect much, and then suddenly it becomes your go-to “I can’t deal with cooking” summer fix.
Anyway, while reading this I somehow drifted into random corners of the web like https://counselingtoempower.com/ which feels fitting — because both are basically about making life a little more manageable, just in very different ways.