• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Hangry Economist logo
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • 30 Minutes or Less
    • Healthy-ish
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Sides
  • Lifestyle
    • DC/MD/VA Local Finds
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • About Us
  • Lifestyle
  • Contact Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • About Us
    • Lifestyle
    • Contact Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Sides

    Escabeche Vegetable Salad

    Published: Mar 6, 2022 · Modified: May 31, 2023 by Michael · 3 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    This Escabeche Vegetable Salad is a Cheesecake Factory copycat, made at home in a few minutes with no cooking time. It's loaded with cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, and peppers, and tastes great as a fresh, healthy side to any meal.

    This is a picture of escabeche vegetable salad in a bowl. The Hangry Economist.

    Mollie and I aren't big chain restaurant fans, but our guilty pleasure is The Cheesecake Factory. Mollie loves the Skinnylicious Soft Tacos, which are served with Escabeche Vegetable Salad. The Escabeche Vegetable Salad is our favorite part of the entree, despite the fact that it's nothing more than some lightly pickled vegetables tossed in a bowl. The crunchy, tangy veggies pair perfectly with the spicy Mexican flavors in the tacos.

    Jump to:
    • What is escabeche?
    • Key Ingredients and Substitutions
    • Step-by-Step Instructions
    • Serving Ideas
    • Escabeche Vegetable Salad: FAQs
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    What is escabeche?

    Escabeche is popular in Spanish, Portuguese, Filipino, and Latin American cuisines, and (at a baseline) involves marinating vegetables, meat, or fish in oil, vinegar, and spices. In this recipe, we marinate vegetables (rather than meat or fish) in oil, vinegar, and some other ingredients to achieve a quick pickled effect. Some recipes call for cooking the vegetables prior to adding them to the marinade, but we like the crunch of raw veggies, so we've chosen not to cook ours ahead of time. The marinade breaks the veggies down a bit, so they're not quite as crunchy as they are pre-marinade. The added benefit? You don't have to cook anything.

    Key Ingredients and Substitutions

    • Mini cucumbers. We like mini cucumbers because the slices come out perfectly bite-sized, but you can use regular cucumbers if you prefer--just cut the slices into halves or fourths.
    • Carrot. Regular sized carrots work best, but you can use whatever you prefer.
    • Cauliflower florets
    • Shredded cabbage. We use white cabbage, but red works too.
    • Serrano or jalapeño pepper (optional). Serrano peppers are hotter than jalapeños, so choose which pepper you use based on your heat tolerance (and availability). This is optional, but it does add a lot of flavor to the marinade. If you don't like hot stuff you can also leave the peppers out, but my recommendation would be to put them in during the marination process and remove them prior to serving.
    • Marinade/dressing ingredients: white vinegar, olive oil, honey, dijon mustard, black pepper, and salt
    This is a picture of chopped cucumbers, carrots, peppers, and cauliflower. The Hangry Economist.

    Step-by-Step Instructions

    This escabeche vegetable salad is essentially quick pickled cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, and peppers in a tangy dressing. It comes together quickly and without any cooking time.

    Step 1:Make the marinade/dressing. Combine white vinegar, honey, olive oil, dijon mustard, black pepper, and salt in a mason jar or bowl with a lid and shake or whisk to combine.

    Step 2: Add the vegetables. Add the cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower florets, cabbage, and peppers to the jar or bowl with the dressing and shake (or mix) to combine everything. The vegetables should be mostly submerged in the dressing.

    This is a picture of vegetables marinating in a vinegar-based marinade in a jar. The Hangry Economist.

    Step 3: Refrigerate and serve. Refrigerate the vegetable and dressing mixture for at least 2 hours, and up to 48 hours. The longer it marinates, the more pickled the vegetables taste. Serve in a bowl alongside tacos, chicken, shrimp, or anything else that sounds tasty to you!

    Serving Ideas

    • Blackened Mahi-Mahi Tacos with Peach Pico de Gallo and Cilantro Lime Sauce
    • Mexican Black Beans
    • Skinny Orange Grapefruit Margarita (with Mocktail Option)

    Escabeche Vegetable Salad: FAQs

    Do I have to cook the vegetables first?

    We don't! We prefer slightly crunchy vegetables, so we leave ours raw. If you'd prefer to cook yours first, boil them until they reach your desired level of done-ness, and then follow the directions as written.

    Can I use different vegetables?

    Absolutely! This would also be great with bell peppers, radishes, okra, onions, or whatever other vegetables you generally like pickled.

    Does escabeche taste better the longer it sits?

    Yes! The longer it sits, the more pickled the vegetables taste, and the more flavor the dressing gets. I don't like to let it sit longer than 48 hours, though, because the vegetables start to lose their crunch. 24 hours is the sweet spot, in my opinion.

    Print

    📖 Recipe

    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
    Escabeche vegetable salad in a bowl.

    Escabeche Vegetable Salad


    ★★★★★

    5 from 1 review

    • Author: Mollie
    • Total Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes
    • Yield: 4 servings 1x
    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    Description

    This escabeche vegetable salad is a Cheesecake Factory copycat, made at home in a few minutes with no cooking time. It's loaded with lightly pickled cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, and peppers, and tastes great as a fresh, healthy side to any meal. 


    Ingredients

    Scale

    For the vegetables:

    5 mini cucumbers, sliced a quarter of an inch thick

    ½ large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced

    2 cups cauliflower florets

    1 cup white or red cabbage, shredded

    1 jalapeño or serrano pepper, sliced with seeds removed

    For the dressing/marinade:

    1 cup white vinegar

    ¾ cup olive oil

    1 tablespoon honey

    1 teaspoon dijon mustard

    ½ teaspoon black pepper

    ½ teaspoon salt


    Instructions

    1. Combine white vinegar, honey, olive oil, dijon mustard, black pepper, and salt in a mason jar or bowl with a lid and shake or whisk to combine. 
    2. Add the cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower florets, cabbage, and peppers to the jar or bowl with the dressing and shake (or mix) to combine everything. The vegetables should be mostly submerged in the dressing. 
    3. Refrigerate the vegetable and dressing mixture for at least 2 hours, and up to 48 hours. The longer it marinates, the more pickled the vegetables will taste. Serve in a bowl alongside tacos, chicken, shrimp, or anything else that sounds tasty to you!

    Notes

    Serrano peppers are hotter than jalapeños, so choose which pepper you use based on your heat tolerance (and availability).

    Nutritional information is only an estimate and includes the marinating liquid. 

    • Prep Time: 10 minutes
    • Marinating Time: 2 hours
    • Cook Time: 0 minutes
    • Category: Sides
    • Cuisine: Salad

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size:
    • Calories: 443
    • Sugar: 10.3 g
    • Sodium: 72.1 mg
    • Fat: 42.4 g
    • Carbohydrates: 16.9 g
    • Protein: 2.6 g
    • Cholesterol: 0 mg

    Did you make this recipe?

    Share a photo and tag us @hangryeconomist — we can't wait to see what you've made!

    More Sides

    • A plate of Mexican street corn topped with cilantro and garnished with lime slices on the side.
      Traeger Mexican Street Corn (Elote)
    • A plate full of baked potatoes. One is topped with sour cream, bacon, cheese, and green onions.
      Traeger Smoked Baked Potatoes
    • Grilled asparagus on a baking sheet.
      The Best Traeger Asparagus
    • A top view of blue cheese potato salad in a serving bowl topped with bacon, fresh herbs, and blue cheese.
      Blue Cheese Potato Salad with Bacon

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sharie says

      April 04, 2022 at 9:39 pm

      This was a really fun find! Fun way to do veggies and really good either on their own or as a topper on a salad, etc. I love pickled vegetables and this recipe has a wonderful flavor!

      Reply
    2. Liz says

      June 27, 2022 at 9:08 pm

      Really enjoyed this! It reminded me of the cheesecake factories escabeche salad.

      Reply
    3. Mollie says

      May 31, 2023 at 10:09 pm

      Love this!

      ★★★★★

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★ 5 Stars ☆ ★ 4 Stars ☆ ★ 3 Stars ☆ ★ 2 Stars ☆ ★ 1 Star ☆

    Primary Sidebar

    hi, we're Michael and Mollie

    Welcome! We are Michael & Mollie, a hangry economics enthusiast and her husband. Our goal is to provide you with delicious, accessible, and healthy-ish recipes that are both time- and money-efficient.

    More about us →

    summer Recipes

    • Mango peach salsa with tomatoes in a serving bowl with a spoon.
      Mango Peach Salsa (with Tomatoes)
    • A virgin frozen strawberry mango margarita in a cocktail glass, garnished with a lime slice.
      Virgin Strawberry Margarita with Mango
    • Grilled salmon bites on a piece of parchment paper topped with a green garnish.
      Grilled Salmon Bites
    • Strawberries, basil, and halloumi on skewers on a serving plate.
      Strawberry and Halloumi Skewers

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Info

    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility Statement

    Contact

    • Email us

    Copyright © 2022 The Hangry Economist

    We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website. Learn more here.

    The Hangry Economist
    Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

    Strictly Necessary Cookies

    Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

    If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.