Jicama Salad with Cabbage, Black Beans & Grapefruit
on Mar 16, 2023, Updated Feb 16, 2025
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With red cabbage, grapefruit, carrots, avocados and black beans, this colorful jicama salad is fresh and crisp. It’s filling enough to be an entrée salad, but it also makes a fantastic side dish especially with Mexican and Southeast Asian flavors.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Salad
It has the best mix of textures. This is a salad with fresh juicy crunch that contrasts with creamy soft ingredients like black beans and diced avocados. Each bite has lots of variety and flavor.
Not every salad needs lettuce. No offense to leafy greens, but they are not required for a salad. Shredded cabbage and jicama are the base of this one and together they are so satisfyingly crisp.
This is a year-round salad. It is cool and refreshing, so you can whip it up on a hot summer day. But then grapefruit makes it feel right for peak winter citrus season.
What is Jicama?
With its thin brown skin and white flesh, jicama is a root vegetable. But it’s different from other root veggies. That’s because you can eat jicama raw. It is crunchy and a little bit juicy, so it has a wonderfully refreshing bite.
Jicama has a slightly sweet, nutty flavor with some of the starchiness that you get with a potato. It is a vegetable native to Mexico. Jicama is low-carb, low in calories and a good source of fiber. You can roast it and pan-fry it too.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Jicama should feel heavy for its size and should not have any soft spots. Make sure to rinse the dirt off the skin before you peel it. You can use a vegetable peeler or a sharp knife to remove the skin.
- Cabbage: Half a cabbage is plenty for this salad since this vegetable is so layered and dense. It should be sliced very thinly. If you want to save time, you can buy it already cut. This is pretty easy to find since cabbage is the main ingredient for slaw. You can substitute with green cabbage or a mix.
- Grapefruit has a pleasantly sour flavor. It’s a fruit that can fit in sweet or savory dishes. I love how juicy it is with the jicama and the rest of the ingredients.
- Avocado is nice and creamy. It balances out the acidity of the citrus.
- Carrots: To save time, I buy shredded carrots. Also, the shreds are a way more uniform than if I were to do it with my box grater or food processor.
- Black beans add protein and make this salad more filling.
- Scallions: These green onions give the salad subtle flavor. They are important even though they are in the background. You can use half a small red onion, thinly sliced, instead.
- Cilantro: With this combination of ingredients, cilantro is the best choice for fresh herbs in the salad.
- Pepitas: For some extra nutty crunch, I include roasted pepitas.
- Grapefruit vinaigrette: I whisk a minced garlic clove plus whole grain mustard, white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper into some of the grapefruit juice I collect in a bowl as I cut the fruit.
Variations
Oranges: For citrus, you can use 2 oranges if you want something sweeter than tart grapefruit.
Mango & Lime: You can substitute sliced mangoes for grapefruit. Then use fresh lime juice in the vinaigrette. You will need 1 lime.
How To Make This Jicama Salad
1. Cut the grapefruit. Slice off the top and bottom. Then cut off the peel and pith following the curve of the fruit. Cut out the grapefruit slices between the membranes. When you do this, hold the grapefruit over a bowl to catch the juice.
2. Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, mustard, 2 tablespoons grapefruit juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Combine the salad ingredients, including the grapefruit, jicama, cabbage, carrots, avocados, black beans, scallions, cilantro and pepitas, in a big bowl.
4. Drizzle the dressing into the salad. Toss to combine.
Serving
Because of the black beans, this vegan salad is substantial enough to be considered a main dish. You can add baked tofu if you want. And if you aren’t a vegetarian, you can add shredded rotisserie chicken or grilled shrimp.
This jicama salad would be great as a side dish with Chipotle Roasted Cauliflower Tacos, Sheet Pan Teriyaki Tofu, Cashew Veggie Stir-Fry, Honey Garlic Tofu or Soba Noodles with Mushrooms and Bok Choy.
Leftovers
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 2 days. Keep the dressing in a separate jar. If you know you are planning to save some of the salad, do not toss it in the vinaigrette.
FAQs
Overall jicama has a mild flavor. It’s a little sweet and nutty. You can pair it with avocado, grapefruit, oranges, limes, chile peppers, ginger, mango or cucumbers. These are ingredients found in Southeast Asian cuisine and Mexican food.
First wash it off with water to get rid of any dirt. Then peel it with either a vegetable peeler or a knife. The white flesh is easy to cut into slices, cubes, batons or matchsticks.
No, jicama will not turn brown once you slice it. It will also retain its crunch.
More Salad Recipes
Fennel Orange Salad
Arugula Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Citrus Salad with Oranges & Grapefruit
Mandarin Orange Kale Salad
Roasted Beet Salad with Oranges & Pears
Asian Cabbage Salad
Apple Cabbage Salad
Moroccan Carrot Salad
Napa Cabbage Salad
If you’re a salad person, don’t miss my easy seasonal salad guide for inspiration all year long.
Did you make this jicama grapefruit salad? Please leave a rating and comment below. Thanks!
Jicama Salad with Cabbage & Grapefruit
Ingredients
- For salad
- 1 grapefruit
- 1 jicama about 1 pound, peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 1/2 red cabbage about 1 pound, shredded
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 avocado diced
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 3 scallions thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/4 cup roasted pepitas
- For vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
- 2 tablespoons fresh grapefruit juice
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- To cut the grapefruit, slice off the top and bottom. Cut off the peel and pith following the curve of the fruit. Slice between the membranes to cut out the individual segments. Hold the grapefruit over a small bowl to catch the juices as you do this.
- Combine the grapefruit, jicama, cabbage, carrots, avocados, black beans, scallions, cilantro and pepitas in a large bowl.
- For the vinaigrette, whisk the garlic, mustard, 2 tablespoons grapefruit juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad, tossing to combine.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
