I love this homemade coleslaw recipe, the crunchy texture of the creamy coleslaw makes it my favorite anytime salad. I promise after tasting this American Classic this will be your go-to coleslaw.
![coleslaw in a glass bowl](https://www.askchefdennis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/cole-slaw-hero-10.jpg)
My Easy Coleslaw Recipe, can be made in 10- 15 minutes, and It’s the perfect side dish for all of your barbecue dishes.
I always serve it with BBQ Baby Back Ribs and my world-famous Buffalo Style Chicken Wings.
![chunks of barbecue brisket topped with coleslaw and onion rings on a brioche bun](https://www.askchefdennis.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/BBQ-Brisket-sand-12.jpg)
My homemade coleslaw goes great on sandwiches (or with sandwiches), and my BBQ Beef Brisket is a delicious example! It’s great with pulled pork and a topping for tacos.
Looking for a dish to bring to a summer potluck? You can’t go wrong with my cole slaw, it goes with everything!
Ingredients for my Coleslaw Recipe
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make my Coleslaw Recipe. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”
Not only does setting up your ingredients ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Basic Ingredients
- green cabbage
- carrot
- mayonnaise
- apple cider vinegar
- sugar (I use raw cane sugar)
- fresh lemon juice
- salt and black pepper
You’ll find some recipes include celery seed or celery salt, but I’ve never enjoyed the flavor of that seasoning. If you want a more colorful coleslaw, add some shredded purple cabbage to the mixture.
How do I prepare the cabbage?
The first step is using a sharp knife carefully cut the head of the cabbage in half. Then remove the core and any of the thicker white parts of the cabbage
You can use a food processor with a shred attachment or slicing blade to cut make short work of the cabbage. If you slice the cabbage by hand or with the food processor it will still need to be chopped. How much is your decision. I like to chop it fairly small, but you can leave the pieces of cabbage up to about an inch if you like.
My favorite way to prepare the cabbage is with a box grater, making the pieces very small and tender.
How to make the dressing
See this post for more information on making my coleslaw dressing.
- Add one cup of mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to a medium bowl.
- Combine the ingredients mixing until smooth and creamy. *Refrigerate until needed.
This mayonnaise dressing can be made with light mayonnaise, and I have seen some recipes add sour cream to the dressing, but it’s not necessary.
How to make my Coleslaw Recipe
Add the shredded carrots to a large bowl with the chopped cabbage.
*You can use precut cabbage or coleslaw mix at your grocery store, but fresh shredded cabbage is so much better.
Mix the carrots into the chopped cabbage.
Add the coleslaw dressing to the cabbage mixture.
Mix the slaw dressing into the cabbage mixture. Make sure that all of the cabbage mixture has been thoroughly coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
The cabbage can be a little tough, so letting it marinate in the slaw dressing overnight will help soften the cabbage and improve its overall flavor. The cole slaw can be made up to 2 days ahead of time.
After one bite, I’m sure you’ll agree this is the best coleslaw recipe, and you won’t be buying store-bought coleslaw anymore.
Recipe FAQ’s
This is a personal decision. It takes all the work out of making cole slaw, but you will sacrifice a little flavor with any precut lettuce or cabbage. There are preservatives added and I can always notice the lingering flavor. But they do work well when you’re pressed for time and still a much better option than buying grocery store salads.
The short answer is no, but it really needs time to marinate in the flavors and soften the cabbage. Letting cole slaw sit for 2-4 hours will help the flavor and texture. If you can make it the day before it will be even better.
Place the shredded cabbage in a colander, sprinkle the cabbage with a tablespoon of salt, mixing to distribute the salt. Let the salted cabbage sit for an hour or two, then rinse it with cold water to remove the salt and pat dry with paper towels. You may want to cut back on the salt in the recipe, as the cabbage will absorb some of the salt.
MrsCRuss
The dressing is perfection! We made tweaks based on our family’s preferences (red onion, celery, and yellow bell pepper in the slaw) but this recipe is a crowd pleaser. I actually wrote it down, lol.
Chef Dennis Littley
Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed my coleslaw recipe and that you tweaked it more to your tastes.
Shauna
Thanks for sharing Chef Dennis!! This is the absolute best coleslaw recipe I’ve ever made!!
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m vefy happy to hear that.
A Reid
Excellent recipe for coleslaw….I used sweet pickle juice instead of lemon juice 😋
Chef Dennis Littley
The pickle juice is a tasty adjustment. That’s how my mother in law use to make it.
Jeanne
I made this tonight for the first time. My husband really liked and was surprised that I made the dressing. Maybe I will try adding celery salt next time as a few other people did.
Chef Dennis Littley
Thanks for letting me know my coleslaw recipe was a success!
Lori
Simple recipe is delicious!
Chef Dennis Littley
Thank you! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed my coleslaw recipe.
Jim D
This is exactly how we make it with the exception we do add some celery seed. Usually the day later most of the mayonnaise has run to the bottom of the bowl. Any ideas on how to prevent this? We enjoy your site, many good recipes.
Chef Dennis Littley
The easiest way to prevent the dressing from getting watery would be to salt the cabbage.
Using a tablespoon of salt per head of cabbage, sprinkle it over the shredded cabbage in a colander and let it sit for one to four hours. This process, called osmosis, draws excess water out of the cabbage cells and helps preserve its crispiness. You can also rinse the cabbage with water to remove the salt, then dry it with paper towels to remove as much of the moisture as possible.
Jim D
Thank you very much. We will certainly give that a try.
Andrea
Absolutely perfect!
Chef Dennis Littley
Thank you!!
Sue
Needed to zhuzh up my boring cole slaw. This recipe is just what it needed. Delicious. Thank you Dennis.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed my coleslaw recipe, its a family favorite!
John-waako
Have made this delicious dish a few times and love it every time!
Chef Dennis Littley
Thank you for letting me know you’ve been enjoying my coleslaw recipe. It makes a regular appearance at my house.
Virginia L. Corcoran
Absolutely amazing!!!! I hate cole slaw and I could eat an entire bowl. The only change I made was to add celery seed.
Clara Crooks
I loved this recipe! The coldslaw was delicious! My favorite, as I love it! Thanks so much for the recipe Chef Dennis!!!!!
Chef Dennis Littley
Thank you! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed my coleslaw recipe. It’s my wifes favorite coleslaw!
Patricia Oliver
I have been looking for a Cole slaw recipe for years and never quite liked any I tried. Both my husband and I LOVE this recipe. My husband doesn’t normally go for a mayo type dressing but this works. It’s now the only recipe I’ll make. Thank You!!
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed my coleslaw recipe. I hope you find more recipes on my website to try.
April
WOWZA, this dressing is YUMMY!! I had no other option than to use a 16 oz bag of precut coleslaw mix, but this salad dressing was superb. Thank you for sharing!!
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed my slaw dressing. Its so much better than store bought~!
Hayley Dhanecha
Love simple and easy recipes, and this coleslaw recipe was perfect.
Veronika
So simple and so good! Nothing beats this classic! Tasted just as good as at a restaurant.