Easy Creamy Coleslaw Recipe

Name: Creamy Coleslaw Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1/2 white cabbage; 200 g red cabbage (chopped); 2 large carrots; 75 g pecan nuts; 50 g handful of raisins; 1 spring onion (sliced); 3 tbsp mayonnaise; 2 tbsp apple vinegar; 1 tbsp anis seed (optional); pepper; salt

If there is one classic salad that goes with every barbecue party you might have, it must be the humble coleslaw recipe right? And making this classic coleslaw recipe is super easy and super delicious. How to do it? I’ll tell you!

Tip from Simone
Creamy Coleslaw Recipe
Recipe Ingredients
What is the Origin of Coleslaw
How To Make Coleslaw
FAQ Coleslaw

Tip from Simone

If you’re planning on making your next coleslaw for – for instance – a barbecue party make sure to prepare the coleslaw a couple of hours in advance. It really improves the flavor a lot if you let it sit for a bit before eating. It’s delicious with a hot dog but of course can also work really well on a chicken burger.

Creamy Coleslaw Recipe

Now the fun part about coleslaw is that you can make it in advance. You can even make it a day in advance and it will only get better. You hardly need any ingredients at all and it will be done in no time at all. You do preferably have a food processor to make the task of cutting the cabbage easier, but you can also buy it pre-cut. I do that a lot of the times. I did tell you it’s an easy coleslaw recipe right? So make it as easy for yourself as possible. Apparently you can buy a bag of coleslaw mix as well. Not where I come from but might be worth checking out.

Recipe Ingredients

The basic ingredients for a coleslaw can be adjusted to your liking. But you will need the following (always check the recipe card below for full details)

cabbage – traditionally coleslaw is made with white cabbage (sometimes also called green cabbage) but I like to mix it with red (purple) cabbage for looks and flavor. That is optional. Keep in mind that the amount of coleslaw you get from just one single cabbage is massive. I usually go for half a cabbage.
carrots – optional but I love adding a bit of orange to get a nicer looking coleslaw
mayonnaise – the creaminess of the coleslaw comes from mayonnaise. If you want it a bit lighter you can also opt to replace part of the mayo for Greek yogurt, but I wouldn’t replace all of it. You will lose the creaminess if you do.
apple cider vinegar – to balance the mayonnaise you will need a vinegar. I like using apple cider vinegar

Optional extra’s

While the above are the bare essentials for a coleslaw recipe, I love adding a bit extra to make it more interesting and to increase the yumminess.

raisins – I think raisins add a lovely touch of sweetness to the salad. You can replace raisins with dried cranberries or even other dried fruit if you prefer.
walnuts – adding some walnuts is a great way to add a bit of crunch. Can also be replaced with pecans
anis seeds – now this is a bit more special, but I love adding a spoonful of anis seeds to the salad. Totally optional though.

You can also grate the cabbages on a box grater but I don’t like them too fine. I do use the box grater for the carrots.

What is the Origin of Coleslaw

Now for a funny bit of history. I always figured coleslaw was an American invention. Because – let’s face it – it goes so well with hot dogs, pork sandwiches or a really great burger. So naturally I figured it was American. But as it turns out it’s not. It’s actually a Dutch “invention” which kind of makes sense if you think about it.

I mean the word ‘cole’ is a literal translation almost of the Dutch word for cabbage which is kool. Sounds pretty similar right? As long as you don’t say cool that is. But we Dutch pronounce the word kool as cole. I just thought that was a funny bit of information about this cole slaw recipe.

How To Make Coleslaw

Now the making of the salad, as you guessed, is as easy as tossing all the veggies together and mixing. I use my hands for this as that is the easiest way to mingle it all together. Now the star of this slaw is of course the creamy dressing, which is a mayo-based dressing. I like to use mayonnaise and apple cider vinegar but you can switch things up by adding some sour cream and even some olive oil in there. A little bit of honey or maple syrup is also quite delicious. Depending on the taste I also use a bit of fresh lemon juice on occasion. You want that perfect balance between sweet, creamy and tangy.

Once you’ve made the dressing to perfection you pour it all into the cabbage mixture and mix it again. And that’s basically the salad done. Time to fire up that backyard barbecue or the next family bbq.

FAQ Coleslaw

Well the good news about this coleslaw recipe is that it is even better the next day. Just keep it in an airtight container and your perfect side dish will be ready to go. You can keep it 2-3 days at least.

There is no limit to the use of coleslaw. It is delicious on a hot dog, like this fried hot dog. On a delicious and easy burger with mango chutney. On a sandwich. Or on it’s own. I sometimes use it for lunch or as part of dinner. It has the perfect texture to go with so many things. The crunchy cabbage is the perfect companion to softer things. Stuff them inside fish tacos or on a veggie burger (or a non veggie burger)

Apart from the above mentioned you can vary the coleslaw recipe by adding some nuts, green onions and some dijon mustard.