A classic cabbage salad, Creamy Coleslaw has crunch, colour and just the right amount of tangy dressing. It’s a perfect summer salad because it can be made in advance and pairs well with grilled meat. And it’s almost always served as a side dish at a fish fry.
There are basically two types of coleslaw. Oil and vinegar or creamy. Well, three if you count the ever popular KFC ground up green tinted salad. I actually don’t mind the flavour of that one, probably because it has horseradish in it. If you like horseradish too, you’ll love this unique Horseradish Salad that’s also popular with fried fish. But this is the way I like to make Coleslaw.
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The amount of Creamy Coleslaw Dressing in this recipe just happens to be the perfect amount for the pre chopped bagged coleslaw salad mixture you can buy. But if you don’t like plastic bag flavoured vegetables (yuk) prep about 6-7 cups of cabbage, carrots and sweet peppers. A food processor does a pretty good job of shredding everything quickly but if you want to control the length and width of the strips of veggies, use a sharp knife for the cabbage and peppers and a julienne peeler for the perfect carrot strings.
You don’t have to use both red and green cabbage but I like to have a variety of colour in this salad. If you’re concerned about waste just use one cabbage of either colour. I have noticed you can buy partial cabbage chunks in the produce section now so you might get lucky and find them if you’re planning to make Coleslaw.
Mix up the dressing in a bowl or a jar and stir/shake to combine. If you don’t have Miracle Whip style mayo, substitute regular mayonnaise and add about a teaspoon of sugar and a bit more vinegar. The sour cream adds a slight tang to the dressing. Plain yogurt works too. One of my mom’s secrets when making creamy dressings is to add a little sweet pickle juice. Not too much, just enough to add a bit more sweetness and acidity.
Toss everything together with almost all of the dressing. Save a bit and add more right before serving if necessary. It may look like too much volume but the salad will compress after tossing. It should be creamy but not sloppy.
Creamy Coleslaw is part of the trilogy of most popular classic summer salads. The other two are Potato Salad and Macaroni Salad. We always serve this with Cornmeal Crusted Crappie and Celery Bread.
If you make Creamy Coleslaw, consider leaving a comment or rating below. Here’s the recipe:
Creamy Coleslaw
Ingredients
- 6-7 cups mixture of shredded cabbage, sweet peppers and carrots use a variety of colours for the best presentation
- ½ cup dressing style mayonnaise like Miracle Whip
- 1 Tbsp sour cream or plain yogurt
- ½ tsp celery seed
- ½ tsp dry mustard powder
- 2 Tbsp white vinegar
- 1 Tbsp sweet pickle juice or increase vinegar and add ½ tsp sugar
- pinch salt and pepper
- ¼ cup minced parsley and chives or green onions
Instructions
- Shred, slice or chop a colourful variety of cabbage, carrots and sweet peppers.
- Combine dressing ingredients in a jar or bowl. Stir or shake well to mix.
- Pour most of the dressing over the salad, stirring to combine well. Reserve some dressing to add right before serving.
- Refrigerate salad until ready to serve. Add more dressing if needed. Salad should be creamy but not sloppy.
- Garnish with extra parsley and chives.
Nutrition
more summer salads
Pasta Salad with Asparagus, Bacon and Feta
Spinach Salad with Maple Roasted Pecans and Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette