Thin tender ribbons of kohlrabi make an elegant salad that's popular with many chefs I know, but is also very easy to make at home. With a mandoline slicer and a vegetable peeler you can transform these vegetables into a simple dish worthy of any restaurant menu in just a few minutes. Read on and I'll walk you through it.

A shaved kohlrabi salad with herb infused oil and lemon on a white china plate. — Shaved kohlrabi salad, as it's served in restaurants.

Kohlrabi is a very underappreciated vegetable more people should know about. They're sturdy, last for weeks in the fridge, and are usually very cheap. I wrote more about them in my longer post on cooking with kohlrabi. The history and origin make for fun culinary trivia for food nerds.

A purple kohlrabi bulb with attached greens on a walnut cutting board. — Kohlrabi bulbs come in purple or green.

I need to give credit where it's due. I've made similar dishes for years, but this specific one is adapted from my colleague Sami Tallberg's new book Chef's Wild Nordic from Finland, which involves cooking with micro seasons. He uses almond oil infused with black currant leaves for his, I went for an infusion of sweet herbs like tarragon, chives and parsley.

A picture of a kohlrabi salad from Chef Sami Tallberg's book Chef's Wild Nordic. — My friend Sami's shaved kohlrabi salad with blackcurrant oil and wild chives.

Fist, you want to make sure that you have a nice, tender bulb. Bulbs larger than a softball are commonly sold, but the larger they get, the higher the chance of them forming inedible, tough fibers that can make them unpleasant to eat. In the image below, you will want to avoid the bulb on the bottom, which was a cheap one from an Asian market.

Two kohlrabi bulbs shown side by side to illustrate the differences. The one on the bottom is old and tough and should be avoided, The one on the top is smooth, firm and perfect for eating. — Choose firm, smooth bulbs the size of a baseball without indents or creases.

Choose firm, smooth, perfectly round bulbs for cooking. If the greens are attached, you can use them for cooking like collard greens.

How to Make it

First the kohlrabi needs to be trimmed and peeled. You'll want a chef knife, a mandoline slicer, and a good y-shaped vegetable peeler. First, cut the top and bottom from the bulb.

Cutting the top and bottom from a kohlrabi bulb. — Remove the top and root end from the bulb.

Next, trim the remnants of the leaf stem (petioles) and discard.

Cutting off the leaf stem remnants from a kohlrabi bulb before cooking. — Cutting off the leaf stem remnants.

Finally, use a y-shaped peeler to peel the bulb. This can take a little practice and is a bit more involved than peeling a potato.

Peeling a kohlrabi bulb with a Kuhn rikon y-shaped peeler. — Finally, peel the skin with a y-shaped peeler.

Young kohlrabi may need only one pass with the peeler. Older kohlrabi may be need to have a thicker layer of skin removed with a knife to ensure they're tender.

A finished peeled kohlrabi bulb showing perfect white flesh. — Remove all the skin until only tender white flesh remains.

Once the bulbs are peeled they're ready to be sliced. You must have a mandoline slicer for this as the thinner the slices are, the better the finished dish will be.

Shaving a peeled kohlrabi bulb on a mandoline slicer. — Shave the peeled bulb paper thin on a mandoline slicer.

Once the kohlrabi bulb is sliced it just needs to be seasoned. Mix the slices in a bowl with salt, lemon juice and a dash of maple syrup to taste. After a few minutes the slices will soften and wilt. They should be thin enough to be translucent. It's important to mix the slices by hand, since they have a tendency to stick together.

Mixing shaved kohlrabi with oil, lemon juice and salt in a bowl using gloves. — Mix the kohlrabi with salt, lemon and maple syrup and allow to wilt.

A knife holding up a slice of kohlrabi showing it's paper thin and translucent — After wilting the kohlrabi should be nearly see-through.

Once the kohlrabi's wilted add the herbs, and adjust the seasoning for salt and lemon. I will plate the dish one of two ways: mounded in a bowl as a family-style salad, or spread out on a plate for a more refined look as it's served in restaurants.

A finished shaved kohlrabi salad in a bowl tossed and garnished with herbs like burnet, opal basil, chives, tarragon, and herb infused oil. — Finish the salad with fresh herbs, double check the seasoning and serve.

At the end of the day it's a very minimalist dish meant to highlight the best attributes of a very underappreciated vegetable. The thin, crisp sheets become almost like free-form vegetable lasagna, soaking up the flavors and aromas with their juices forming a natural dressing. So simple, so good.

Adapting the recipe

Sometimes I may only have one kohlrabi and a few other vegetables, or I may need a bigger salad to feed a crowd. In instances like that, you can combine kohlrabi with other mild vegetables shaved on a mandoline to make all kinds of different variations. A slaw of peeled, shaved apples, fennel and kohlrabi with olive oil and herbs is another favorite: just multiply the proportions of the recipe by three as a place to start.

Shaved kohlrabi, apple and fennel salad with burnet, tarragon, chives and opal basil in a wooden bowl with a kohlrabi bulb in the background and a set of serving tongs. — Fennel, apple and kohlrabi slaw.

Kohlrabi salad with green herb oil, fresh herbs and lemon on a white china plate.

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Shaved Kohlrabi Salad with Herbs and Lemon

Crisp, refreshing salad of shaved kohlrabi with fresh herbs and lemon.

Prep Time5

Total Time5

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: kohlrabi recipe

Servings: Servings

Calories: 66kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 1

Equipment

1 mandoline slicer
1 Y shaped vegetable peeler
1 paring knife or chef's knife
1 Medium mixing bowl

Ingredients

5 oz (1 medium) kohlrabi purple kohlrabi or green are both fine
¼ teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon mixed fresh herbs, picked chives, mint, tarragon, dill, basil, lemongrass, bronze fennel, etc
2 teaspoons walnut oil, extra virgin olive oil, or hazelnut oil plus more to taste

Instructions

For the most elegant look, ideally you'll have a small kohlrabi that can be sliced into perfect rounds but it's ok to cut it in half too.
Peel the kohlrabi, saving any attached greens for a separate purpose.
Make sure to peel down through the skin until only smooth white core remains, inspecting the root end closely for any inedible, tough white fibers.
Shave the kohlrabi paper thin on a mandoline slicer, then combine in a bowl with the remaining ingredients and allow to rest for a minute or two so the slices soften.
Arrange the shaved kohlrabi loosely on a wide plate, or mound the salad in a bowl and serve family style.
If serving alone as a restaurant course, divide the kohlrabi between two chilled salad plates, laying the slices out to cover most of the plate. Spoon some of the juices from the bowl over it, garnish with a few sprigs of herbs, and finish with a drizzle of additional oil.

Video

Notes

Green Herb Oil

In the recipe I've used walnut oil pureed with chives and parsley to flavor it, but extra virgin olive oil is fine too. If you want to make a strong herb-infused oil, follow my recipe for ramp leaf oil. You can substitute a mix of basil, parsley, chives, tarragon, or chervil for the ramp leaves.

Additions

As pictured this dish is very simple, but there's lots of ways to tweak it. First, kohlrabi loves mild cheeses, so you could consider adding a sprinkle of crumbled goat cheese, or mild farmers' cheese. It also likes toasted nuts, so a sprinkle of crushed walnuts or hazelnuts is nice too.

Nutrition