My favorite classic coleslaw recipe stays crunchy, never soupy, as it sits in the mayo-based dressing. This sweet and creamy coleslaw takes just 15 minutes to assemble and tastes like Mom’s old recipe!
Potato salad. Baked beans. My favorite baked mac and cheese. Those recipes have always made up my barbecue buffet table daydreams.
But coleslaw? It was always on the bottom rung of my side dish desires … until now.
This creamy coleslaw recipe is a game-changer and has officially made me a coleslaw lover, and it’s just begging to sidle up to your summer burgers or bbq chicken.
It’s a traditional coleslaw recipe made with mayonnaise and cider vinegar that’s then seasoned with a little celery salt for the puckery punch I love. Don’t worry, the dressing is perfectly creamy and tastes light and tangy, never heavy or gloopy.
Pack this coleslaw on your next cookout or summer potluck, because it is the best one I’ve tried.
Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success
- Do you hate limp, watery coleslaw as much as I do? I finally figured out how to fix this problem when making mayo-based coleslaw, thanks to the folks at The Kitchn. To keep your coleslaw creamy and never watery, draw out the water from the cabbage with a sugar and salt brine for a mere 5 minutes, then rinse well with cold water and put it through the spin dry of a salad spinner.
- For an even tangier coleslaw dressing, substitute 2 tablespoons of the mayo with sour cream.
- If you’re sensitive to salt, whisk the coleslaw dressing ingredients together, except for the two kinds of salt. Taste, then add more salt a little bit at a time. All palates are different, and the key to any good recipe is to taste and season as you go!
What’s in This Recipe?
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Coleslaw mix — Rather than buying a whole head of cabbage and carrots in need of peeling, I took the shortcut and bought a bag of pre-packaged coleslaw mix. You might find it in your veggie aisle bagged with a combination of red and green cabbage, or green only. Either or all will work.
- Granulated sugar — For just a little sweetness.
- Kosher salt — For a cabbage salt bath to help preserve that crunchy texture. Don’t use table salt, which will make the cabbage taste too salty.
- Celery salt — Not to be confused with celery seeds!
- Mayonnaise — To add some creaminess (I love Hellman’s brand).
- Apple cider vinegar — For a little bit of acidity. You could also use white vinegar.
- Green onions — Provide a milder, more enjoyable onion flavor compared to red or yellow onions.
- Parsley — I mostly use this for color here, but I also love the freshness parsley brings to the dish.
How to Make Coleslaw
- Salt the cabbage. Add the pre-packaged coleslaw mix into a strainer and sprinkle with a mixture of sugar and salt. Let that sit for 5 minutes to draw out the excess moisture, then rinse well with cold water. Give the coleslaw mix a spin in a salad spinner to dry (or pat dry with paper towels).
- Make the dressing. Do this in a separate bowl to make sure the dressing is fully combined before tossing with the coleslaw.
- Give it a rest. Let the coleslaw chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving it. This gives the flavors time to come together (don’t worry, the cabbage won’t wilt before you’re able to serve it).
FAQs
A quick brine using salt and sugar! Don’t worry, this extra step won’t change your coleslaw into a bread and butter pickle. The result is a firmer cabbage crunch where the flavor, and color, are deepened.
I swear by Miracle Whip in my potato salad recipe, but for a classic coleslaw you want to use a quality mayonnaise. The creamy coleslaw is made sweet and tangy by adding vinegar and sugar to the dressing; if you use Miracle Whip, you’d then have to adjust the other ingredients to accommodate its sweeter flavor.
Although coleslaw will keep up to 4 days in the fridge, it’s best within 24 hours of making it. If serving this to guests, toss the coleslaw with the dressing the night before and no earlier.
Storage Tips
This coleslaw will keep stored in a Tupperware container in the refrigerator for about 4-5 days. I do not recommend freezing coleslaw.
What to Serve with Coleslaw
- Mains: BBQ Chicken, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Grilled Ribeye Steak, One-Pot Sloppy Joes, Grilled Pork Chops
- Potluck Faves: Egg Salad, Creamy Cucumber Salad, Three Bean Salad, Greek Potato Salad, Broccoli Salad, Asian Ramen Noodle Salad
- Drinks: Lemonade
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
THE BEST Creamy Coleslaw Recipe
Ingredients
To prepare the coleslaw
- 1 pound package coleslaw mix
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup kosher salt
For the dressing
- ⅔ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2-3 green onions chopped
- ¼ cup fresh parsley leaves chopped
Instructions
- Pour the coleslaw mix into a strainer and place in the sink. Sprinkle with ½ cup of the sugar and ¼ cup of the kosher salt and lightly toss. Let sit for 5 minutes to draw out the moisture from the cabbage and then rinse well with cold water. Spin the coleslaw mix in a salad spinner and place in a large bowl.*
- For the dressing, in a medium bowl mix the mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons sugar, cinder vinegar, celery salt, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, chopped onions and chopped parsley. Whisk well and pour ⅔ of the dressing over the cabbage mixture, and toss to combine. Add more of the dressing as desired and season with more salt, pepper or parsley to taste.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes up to overnight and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
More Coleslaw Recipes You’ll Adore
- Vinegar-Based Coleslaw
- Mexican Coleslaw
- Kale and Cabbage Coleslaw
- Celery Slaw With Apple and Blue Cheese
- Asian Slaw
- Spicy Korean Slaw
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lizzy
good one http://www.coupons.com
MJ
Yup, this is the best. I make my own “cole slaw mix” because it is just too easy not to and I have more confidence as to the freshness ;) but really I like to include rainbow carrots in the mix, because they are so pretty. I never thought of adding parsley and I LOVE parsley, and this dressing is simply perfect . Thank you!
MJ
ps… I forgot to mention I swap in celery seed for celery salt, just because I did not have the later (and never do ) .
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Awesome! It’s really awesome piece of writing, I have got much clear idea concerning from this article.
Glen
Great recipe. Thanks for sharing
Shirley
I didn’t really get a satisfactory answer about why my coleslaw turned gray overnight. I made a very simple coleslaw by grating the cabbage added salt and pepper and then added a store bought coleslaw dressing and the next day the coleslaw was gray. Could it be the dressing that I used or is there some other reason?
monika
i will make this dish for my husband on this christmas eve with a beautiful candel light http://images-wishes.com/christmas-wishes-greetings.html
Maybeloan
Thank you I Have learn a lot. It’s my favorite dish. This looks great!
Drew
I never liked mayo as a kid, but now as an adult I eat coleslaw every chance I get, but only if it has celery seed. I also tried several recipes, some using lemon juice and hot sauce until I found that simple is better. I cut the mayo down to 1/2 cup from 2/3. the sugar down to 2 tsp. use celery seed instead of cs, only a pinch of salt and add 1 tsp of dijon mustard to make mine. I think the key is the cider vinegar and sugar combo. When I want to get fancy, I add extra carrot, but cutting the right size little stick pieces is a lot of work.
A recipe for you: Easy salsa-like taco topping. Goes good with pork or chicken braised in OJ/vinegar/tequila/lemon/annatto/garlic.
1/2 cup chopped pineapple
1/4 cup chopped white/red onion
2 Tbsp diced cilantro
1 Tbsp lime juice
Holly
Truly some damn fine coleslaw here! Crunchy and yummy and oh my happy mouth! The brine works wonders. I do cut down the salt in the dressing, no regular salt, half the amount of celery salt, and celery seed. My weird coleslaw hating family has not been converted… bunch of freaks… but that just means it’s MINE! All mine!
Emma Jean Wike
This coleslaw is to die for. Really love it. Now I just need to get your BBQ recipe. Thanks so much for these recipes. Emma
Valerie
Best I ever had and the first I’ve ever made myself. I’m addicted! Can’t wait to play around with some variations like adding cilantro etc.
Thank you!
nissan x trail
Very interesting and informative post. Thanks.
Do my assignment
Thanks for sharing this article. You can learn many things from this. Imagination is really good.
lee
Followed exactly. Way, way too salty. Brine or not.
Kat
Made this slaw today as a dry-run for an upcoming picnic. I skipped the 1st step: chopped cabbage with carrots from big box store, 2 lbs, chopped coarse looked very dry already. I exchanged the celery salt for celery seed and the parsley for cilantro; added 1 tbs. lite sour cream; coarse fresh-ground sea salt and pepper to taste. Delicious! However, I believe there is enough dressing for all but, perhaps, 1/4″ of the entire bag of cabbage. Immediately after, a friend tasted this, gave it a 9 (1-10 best). I asked her what she thought I could do to make it a 10, after much crunching, she suggested that I offer the cilantro and onions on the side because some don’t like it. I thanked her (but I am not going to do that, but may switch to parsley next week for the party picnic). AND SHE ASKED FOR THE RECIPE TWICE–a 9 from my friend is good enough…
Gba4iosroms
great recipe.. it looks so delicious
Places
Well, at least it looks useful
Jeanie
I did not have celery salt so I just put a pinch of celery seed in it and it came out delicious
Gaura
Great recipe. Thanks very much. I replaced the mayonnaise with sour cream. Mayaonniase has chicken menstruation or eggs in it , and I find that quite disgusting. The parsley idea is a great addition. You lost me on the “pulled pork” I have not eaten an animal corpse in 43 years. It’s very cruel and not necessary. You can make incredible veggie burgers with beans with much less violence. Thank you again
Chris
Thanks for the unnecessary comments and history of your meat eating Gaura. Based on your line of thinking, you are nothing more than a byproduct of human menstruation. While it’s wonderful that you are some kind of vegan, don’t press your agenda on others. Typical of what has been coming from the liberal left, which is complete intolerance of any other way of thinking except their own.
kell
That’s funny, I tagged Gaura as a QAnon trump type. I mean if you believe all that stuff he/she said then… you might believe trump won. :D
cheryl
Evangelical hypocrite my way or the highway.
Anne-Marie
Omg, i have searches for a coleslaw dressing for ever before finding this one which is as of now officially the best I have ever tried! Thanks so much for sharing this perfect recipe!
Lori
I was “assigned” coleslaw for a pot luck and found this recipe by chance. It was a hit at the party and every lady there asked for the recipe! I’ll be sure to pass it along!
Sarah Bennett
Delicious! I made for a potluck and my friends have been begging for more. I didn’t brine cabbage after 1st time making, it was just a little limp for my taste. I added some thin sliced cucumber which was tasty.
Karen
This will be my coleslaw recipe from now on, absolutely wonderful.
I omitted the brining, and shredded the carrots and cabbage fresh from my garden, did add 1 tabs of sour cream that was mixed with a bit of prepared horse radish and grain mustard
Anna
I used this recipe for my barbecue last weeken and everyone liked it. It was delicious. Thanks for sharing.
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