Homemade Coleslaw is the perfect side dish for all your summer activities.
Heck, this coleslaw is so delicious (and easy), it’s good for all your year-round activities.
Fresh. Vibrant. Delicious.
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE COLESLAW
You will be surprised at how easy it is to make super-fresh coleslaw at home.
Most of the components can be made 1 day ahead of time.
Watch us show you how to make this amazing Homemade Coleslaw!
What you need to make homemade coleslaw:
- Head of green cabbage
- Salt
- Carrots
- Red onion
- Pepper
- Mayonnaise
- Milk
- Buttermilk
- Lemon juice
- White wine vinegar
- Celery seed
HOW TO SOFTEN THE CABBAGE
Starting with fresh cabbage is always best. We love using green cabbage and simply cutting it in half, then cutting out the tough core.
After roughly chopping the cabbage, place it in a colander in the sink.
Now, liberally add salt to the cabbage, tossing a couple of times to make sure all of the salt has covered most of the cabbage. The salt naturally extracts moisture, which in turn, softens the cabbage. Be sure to rinse the cabbage thoroughly before adding the other veggies and dressing to remove the salt.
The dressing for this coleslaw is a perfect match of tang and sweet.
The combination of fresh lemon juice, white wine vinegar and buttermilk is ideal against the sugar.
Celery seed adds a depth of flavor that is subtle, but pleasant.
HOMEMADE COLESLAW CAN BE PREPARED AHEAD OF TIME
To save time, you can easily prep the veggies up to a day in advance and then keep in an air-tight container until ready to assemble.
Make the dressing up to several days in advance.
Simply pour the dressing over the veggies and then toss just before serving. The slaw will stay fresh for several hours. If serving outdoors in warm weather, consider placing the vessel on top of a large bowl of ice.
Homemade coleslaw is the quintessential summertime side dish. Another awesome slaw recipe is our Avocado-Lime Slaw!
It’s perfect with grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. Other amazing summertime side dishes are:
Southern Baked Beans
Best-Ever Potato Salad
Slow-Cooker Corn on the Cob
Cajun Pasta Salad
Jalapeno-Lime Slaw
In the meantime…let’s make this awesome Homemade Coleslaw!
Homemade Coleslaw
Equipment
- Colander
Ingredients
- 1 medium green cabbage chopped, about 4 to 5 cups
- 1 tbsp Kosher salt
- 1 - 2 carrots shredded, about 1 cup
- ½ red onion chopped
- ⅓ cup sugar Start with ¼ cup, and add more to taste
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 2½ tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1½ tsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp celery seed
Instructions
- Place cabbage in a large colander and sprinkle with the salt. Now, place in sink.
- After 30 minutes, rinse the cabbage. This will remove the salt.
- Place the cabbage, carrots and onion in a large bowl. Toss to mix.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all the other ingredients.
- Add the dressing to the cabbage mixture, and stir until fully mixed.
- Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Remove from the fridge just before serving, and give a good stir with a large fork.
Go ahead and call me lazy!
I’m going to buy a quality bag of coleslaw and use your excellent sounding dressing.
Also, I’m all set to make your red/white and blue trifle.
I love making trifles so everyone can serve themselves.
Your cream cheese and whipped cream layer sound like the ultimate!
I spend hours looking at your recipes and videos. So entertaining!
It’s like sitting through a good and funny movie!
Hi Barb! We can’t even begin to tell you how much your comment filled us with such happiness! We hope you enjoyed the coleslaw and the trifle! Keep us posted! xoxo Kris & Wesley
I am a huge coleslaw lover, and this recipe is absolutely fabulous! I made it exactly as written, and would not change a thing! (I love every recipe of yours that I have made, and so many are in my queue! Thank you!!!)
Hi Stephanie! Yay!! We are thrilled you made the coleslaw and had such great success! We are extra happy that you are enjoying our recipes. Thank you so much for letting us know and for the wonderful review. That means the world to us! Please stay in touch! Best, Kris & Wesley
Hello! Love your recipes! Quick question: is the 1/2 cup sugar in the dressing correct? My husband and I added 1/4 cup sugar and it was almost too sweet! Thank btw for adding the directions for salting the cabbage, such a necessary trick to use for coleslaw and very rare to come by in a recipe. Awesome advice!
Hi Emily! Thanks so much! We’ll check out the recipe for sure! We’re not big fans of overly sweet coleslaw either. Anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup seems to work for us, but we’ll double check! Thanks so much!
Wow, this cole slaw is absolutely delicious! I made fish tacos and used this slaw to scoop inside them. Yum!
Hi Ginny! That is so awesome to hear and we LOVE that you used the slaw in fish tacos! The best!! Thanks so much for letting us know!! Best, Kris & Wesley
This recipe is one of my favorites- I also have another favorite for summertime(home grown tomatos) Shredded cabbage, finely chopped onions, chopped tomatos, s&p, a little sugar and mayonnaise(Duke’s, of course) Love ya’lls recipes!
Yes!! Your version sounds heavenly…and YES! Gotta go with Dukes. A Southern staple!!