Coleslaw
Say goodbye to the stale, mayonnaise-drowned grocery store coleslaw. This easy Coleslaw recipe is crisp and refreshing, with just enough creamy dressing to bring it all together. It’s a great side for dishes like Smoked Pork Butt and Fried Chicken, and it’s picnic and potluck friendly!
Coleslaw is one of those recipes that gets written off as nothing to get excited about, but I think much of the reason is because of how it’s typically encountered.
Many of the pre-made coleslaws you can buy are a couple days old, drowning in mayonnaise, and made of machine-cut confetti pieces of cabbage, instead of crunchy, thin, and long strands of fresh cabbage. These things all make a big difference.
Why This Recipe Is The Best
It went through many rounds of recipe testing – Over the years I’ve experimented with many different versions of homemade coleslaw, and I truly think this is the best. I know what aspects of this dish truly matter, such as how the vegetables are cut.
Minimal ingredients – Fortunately, I’ve figured out that the best coleslaw is actually pretty simple and minimal in ingredients.
Perfect texture – Many people don’t realize that with a dish like this, the texture is incredibly important. The thin, uniform ribbons here are delicious, and I think more enjoyable than confetti-style.
The natural sweetness of the cabbage comes through – Yes, there’s a creamy mayo-based dressing here, but the star of the show is really the freshness and flavors of the crunchy cabbage and carrots. This is how I think it should be. Traditional coleslaws use too much dressing, and though this is still a pretty classic coleslaw recipe, we use less mayo than typical, while still preserving flavor and crunch.
Tips for Best Results
Use a mandolin – While you can chop by hand, the best coleslaw is made using cabbage that’s sliced with a mandolin. This is because texture is a big deal for this dish, and using a mandolin ensures that the pieces are all evenly cut and consistent.
Let it sit for 30 minutes before serving – Ideally, you’ll want to let the coleslaw sit for a half hour before serving, to allow the flavors to meld together and the dressing to soak into the cabbage.
Use a quality mayonnaise and mustard – There’s a huge range of taste quality with mayonnaise, and also with mustard. I go homemade for the mayonnaise, but you may use a storebought option that has good flavor (I like Sir Kensington’s). For the mustard, skip the cheap yellow mustard and go for a good Dijon or whole grain mustard.
Step by Step Overview:
To take the coleslaw start to finish, we’ll need to prep and cut the vegetables, make the dressing, then toss it all together. Let’s get into it!
Cut the Vegetables
One of the most important elements of a fantastic cole slaw is how the vegetables are cut. I believe the best coleslaw is made using cabbage that’s sliced with a mandolin. It slices the cabbage into even pieces that are long and crunchy.
In my post for How to Cut Cabbage, you can see the difference between the hand cut cabbage on the left using a sharp knife, and the mandolin cut cabbage on the right:
It’s the exact same head of cabbage, but the eating experience between those two textures is quite different, all based on how it’s cut. I use an inexpensive mandolin (affiliate). I find this works better than a food processor for ensuring consistent thickness. That post will also walk you through how to core and prep the cabbage.
If you want to use purchased pre-cut coleslaw mix, I suppose that will work here too, but I really do think it’s worthwhile to cut your own cabbage if you have a few minutes to spare. It will taste so much fresher, and the texture will be better too.
Because the typical bag of coleslaw mix is machine cut, you can get a lot of “confetti” pieces.
You’ll also notice that I am using both green and purple cabbage here. This isn’t required, but it makes for a more colorful coleslaw.
Make the Dressing
Combine a good quality mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice, and an optional whole grain mustard in a small bowl:
I enjoy the little bit of pop from the mustard seeds, and mustard has a flavor affinity with cabbage, so I like adding it. If you don’t like mustard, leave it out. If you wish to add any other flavorings, like celery seeds, you can add them here.
Whisk that all together, then add salt and pepper:
It will have a very pourable texture, with a consistency between buttermilk and ranch dressing.
Combine the Dressing with the Veggies
Pour the creamy coleslaw dressing all over the prepped vegetables, in a large bowl that can accommodate easy tossing:
What vegetables should you include?
You’ll see that I only include three in my mix: green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots. And actually, I really only use two types of cabbage because I think it looks pretty.
There are a lot of extras that I see people adding to cole slaw, like bell pepper, red onion, and heck, even parsley. If you want to add these things, I won’t stop you, but I really don’t think that adding them makes coleslaw better. I actually find their strong flavors to be a bit distracting.
Toss the vegetables and dressing together for a good minute or so, until combined:
Then I like to let the coleslaw rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving, so the flavors can meld.
Admittedly, there are plenty of times when I dive right in, and it’s still delicious.
How to Serve It
This coleslaw is the perfect side dish to bring to summer potlucks or a backyard barbecue, and it pairs well with recipes like Slow Cooker Pulled Pork, Spatchcock Chicken, and tacos (especially fish tacos). It adds so much freshness to pork sandwiches.
You can also put it into lunch wraps with deli meat, add it to grilled hot dogs, or other grilled mains like Grilled Ribeye, Grilled Chicken Breast, or Grilled Salmon.
For other fresh salads made with basic ingredients, try this Broccoli Salad, Carrot Raisin Salad, or Zucchini Ribbon Salad. Enjoy!
Recipe FAQ:
I don’t recommend it, as raw cabbage does not freeze well.
About 3 days in the fridge, then it starts to go downhill after day 4. It will still be edible, but the texture starts to break down too much. Make sure to store in an airtight container.
Yes, a few hours before is best, but a day ahead is the most I’d do for optimal texture.
Did you enjoy the recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Or, follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest!
Coleslaw
Ingredients
- 6 cups shredded green cabbage
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp whole grain mustard optional
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place the cabbage and carrots in a very large mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk to combine the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, mustard if using, salt, and pepper.
- Pour the dressing all over the cabbage, and toss well to combine.
- Let the cole slaw rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving, then enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
38 Comments on “Coleslaw”
Is there any way to get rid of the strong smell you sometimes get from cabbage as you are making cole slaw? It spoils the whole thing. 😟
The larger the pieces, the harder it is to taste the dressing.
Love this recipe, googled it when I forgot to buy red onion, (which we typically use, but not my fav, raw). I put too much apple cider vinegar in mine, so melted a little honey to balance flavour. Oh & toasted sunflower & pumpkin seeds to sprinkle on top. Thanks for the great recipe & tips. Cherie.
I had a large cabbage so only used half for the cole slaw. I had to adjust the dressing due to the quantity. Because I followed the recipe, the dressing had too much vinegar but i added a little more mayo and a touch of honey and voila – the cole slaw was perfect. My advise is to taste as you go along and you’ll have a great slaw. Thank you for the basic recipe. I needed something to follow as this was the first time I made cole slaw.
The best cole slaw ever. Love it!
Wow i like this recipe.keep it up.
I’m writing this during Quarantine so life is a little bit different than normal right now. Its just the 3 of us so 8 cups of cabbage would be WAY too much. I peeled ~8 leaves off a head and just used my knife to slice as thin as possible. ~3 cups cabbage. I added 1/4 of an onion, also sliced thin. I had no carrot. I used 2 heaping tablespoon blobs of mayo (so accurate!) and 1.5 tbps white vinegar, 1 tbsp whole grain mustard, salt and pepper.
So you see I followed the SPIRIT of your recipe, but scaled the quantity way back. We served with ribs and cornbread. I thought it was very nice.
Great recipe. It’s not American cuisine, though, it’s Dutch!
I had yet to find a homemade coleslaw dressing that I liked. This was awesome!
Thanks Joanne for the recipe. Store bought coleslaw usually has onions which overpower and spoil the taste, as well as often a whole lot of sugar. This recipe is for a slaw with a fresh and clean taste. Perfect for adding to falafel in pitta bread.
Yours truly is the BEST coleslaw recipe. Aesthetically pleasing to the eye and huge on taste. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been looking for a good cole slaw dressing. Unfortunately this was not it..My family says it tastes too strong 🙁
This is a wonderful and easy recipe for excellent slaw. Pre-made ones are often very sweet, in fact a lot of recipes have you adding sugar or another sweetener. It’s not needed at all, and who wants extra carbs?
I do have a mandolin, which makes the prep simple. I find it needs more like 2 hours in the fridge (tossing a few times) to really have the flavors come together. The mustard is key. The only slight difference from the recipe that I would recommend is to add a little celery seed, which gives another level of flavor.
Loved your advice on cutting the vegetables with the mandolin. Used my own chipotle aioli for the basis of the dressing, but the texture of the cabbage and the carrots were a huge factor in its success.
I make this all the time, and then add more toppings to turn it into a quick lunch! (like cooked chicken, nuts or seeds, a few olives, some green onions…
I am so excited to try this recipe! I just met a lady last night who had some slaw, and i asked her what was in it, she gave me almost this exact recipe! We have a local restaurant that must make it like this, cuz it’s fabulous! I have never ever had cole slaw that i like until i tried it made like this! The slaw i had last night, also had red onions (which i love) and dried cranberries… i was totally afraid to try the cranberries…. not bad at all!
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