Coleslaw
- Yield
- 4 servings
A creamy, tangy slaw that stays crunchy instead of sitting in a puddle. The lesson here is salting: pulling the water out of a vegetable before it ever meets the dressing.
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Ingredients
Batches and reset
4 servings · US measures · 1 batch
Batching
Salt and wring one base batch in each colander and towel; for a larger yield, work in a second batch. The salting and chilling times follow the same cues; they do not multiply with ingredient quantities.
Original recipe: 4 servings.
The salt, vinegar and sugar added to taste are left out of the nutrition estimate. Nutrition is incomplete: most of the salt and sugar rubbed into the cabbage is wrung out and poured away, and the share that stays is not established.
Before you start
- Read through the recipe first. Gather the knife or mandoline, box grater, large bowl, colander, small bowl, whisk, towel and cover. If your kosher salt is the dense, fine-grained kind, use about half as much.
Directions
Read through and gather
For the whole recipe
Read through the recipe, then gather the equipment and use the ingredient lines to prepare and measure everything. No stove is needed, but clear a spot in the refrigerator now. Everything is prepared and measured before the cabbage is salted.
Rub salt and sugar into the cabbage
For each batch
Rub 1 tsp flaky kosher salt and 1 tsp sugar into 1 lb green cabbage and the carrot in the large bowl with your hands, so every shred gets some. Move it all to the colander set over the bowl and let it sit until a shred folds in half without snapping and liquid pools below, about 60 minutes.
Whisk the dressing
For each batch
Whisk 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 tbsp cider vinegar, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp yellow onion, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp celery seed and 1/4 tsp black pepper in the small bowl until smooth. Cover it and refrigerate it until the cabbage is ready. The dressing is smooth.
Wring out the cabbage
For each batch
Wring out the cabbage and carrot in the towel, in two batches if needed: gather the corners and twist over the sink until the water stops running and the shreds feel damp, not wet. Taste a shred; it should taste seasoned, not salty.
Pour off the liquid and dress the slaw
For each batch
Pour out the liquid, wipe the large bowl dry, add the cabbage and carrot and scrape in all the dressing. Toss until every shred is glossy, then cover and refrigerate until cold and the dressing has soaked in a little, about 30 minutes.
Toss and taste a forkful
For each batch
Toss the slaw and taste a cold forkful. Aim for crisp and creamy, tangy then lightly sweet, with celery seed in the background. If it tastes flat, add flaky kosher salt to taste; if it is heavy or too sweet, add cider vinegar to taste, up to 1 tsp more; if it is too sharp, add sugar to taste. The coleslaw tastes tangy, creamy and balanced.
Toss again and serve cold
For the whole recipe
Toss once more and pour off any liquid in the bottom of the bowl. Divide the coleslaw among plates to make 4 servings. Keep it cold at the table and return it to the refrigerator within two hours, or within one hour when the air is above 90°F (32°C). The coleslaw is served cold.
About this recipe
Research preview: these details come from our sourced research and haven't been reviewed by our chef yet.
Why it works
Salting the shredded cabbage and carrot with a little sugar pulls their water out before they meet the dressing, and wringing them dry removes the puddle you would otherwise get. A short rest in the cold lets the onion, vinegar and celery seed settle into one flavor.
Associated with
Dutch in origin; American
The name comes from the Dutch koolsla, cabbage salad, and entered English in the 18th century. A 17th-century Dutch cookbook dresses thin cabbage strips with melted butter, vinegar and oil; mayonnaise slaw came later, after mayonnaise spread.
Taste
- Sweet
- Sour
- Salty
- Bitter
- Savory
- Heat
Tangy, then lightly sweet., Celery seed in the background. · crisp shredded cabbage, creamy dressing · cold
Skill level
Easy
No cooking and a few simple jobs; the one new habit is salting and wringing the cabbage before it meets the dressing.
Allergens
Contains: egg.
Mustard and celery seed are in the dressing; neither is a US major allergen, so US labels may not warn about them. Mayonnaise is usually made with highly refined soybean oil, which US law exempts. Check the vinegar for sulfites.
Diets
Vegetarian: Fits as listed Vegan: Doesn't fit as written Pescatarian: Fits as listed Dairy: See the allergen lines Egg: See the allergen lines Gluten: See the allergen lines
Occasions
Fourth of July cookouts
Coleslaw is among the most-searched Fourth of July side dishes.
Lenten Fridays
A meatless side, traditional alongside fish fries.
Picnics and barbecues
A make-ahead side that holds its crunch; keep it cold outdoors.
Serving and keeping
Best served: After at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator Tossed once more, with any liquid poured off
Make ahead: Salted cabbage stays crunchy all day in the refrigerator.
Storage: Keep it at 40 °F (4 °C) or below, covered. It does not freeze well.
Leftovers: Return it to the refrigerator within 2 hours of setting it out, or 1 hour above 90 °F (32 °C).
Food safety
- Keep the slaw at 40 °F (4 °C) or below. Set it out for no more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90 °F (32 °C), then refrigerate it.
- Cover and chill the dressing while the cabbage salts.
- Use store-bought mayonnaise, which is made with pasteurized eggs; a homemade mayonnaise would need pasteurized eggs.
We make no statement about cross-contact in your kitchen or in packaged ingredients. Check the mayonnaise, mustard and vinegar labels.
Nutrition notes
Raw cabbage supplies vitamin K, which matters for people whose vitamin K intake is managed on medical advice.
Most of the fat comes from the mayonnaise. Replacing up to half of it with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt makes a lighter, tangier slaw.
Swap notes
mayonnaise · lighter
Use: Sour cream or plain whole-milk Greek yogurt for up to half
What changes: Tangier; use a little less vinegar and taste.; Sour cream and yogurt add milk.
Not a swap: Plain yogurt for all of it, which turns thin and sour against the salted cabbage.
sugar · keto
What changes: Leave out the sugar in both the salting and the dressing; the slaw is sharper.
Not a swap: Honey, which is sugar too.
These notes don't change the amounts, allergens or nutrition shown for this recipe.
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- Recipe url
- https://isthebestrecipe.com/salads/coleslaw
- Name
- Coleslaw
- Servings
- 4
- Recipe yield
- 4 servings
- Recipe ingredient
- 1 lb green cabbage cored, weighed after coring, and sliced as thin as you can, about 1/8 inch, 1 whole medium carrot peeled and coarsely grated, 1 tsp flaky kosher salt for salting the cabbage, 1 tsp sugar for salting the cabbage, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 tbsp cider vinegar, 2 tsp sugar for the dressing, 1 tbsp yellow onion finely grated, with its juice, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp celery seed, 1/4 tsp black pepper freshly ground, to taste flaky kosher salt only if the taste step calls for it
- Copy action wording
- Copy recipe and estimated nutrition
Sources
- Food Allergies (major food allergens under FALCPA and the FASTER Act) (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2026-03-11)
- Open Food Facts product 0048001213388: Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise (Open Food Facts (crowd-sourced label transcriptions), 2026-09-19)
- 21 CFR 169.140 Mayonnaise (standard of identity) (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (eCFR text))
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II: Substances or products causing allergies or intolerances (legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives) rendering of the EU text, 2011-10-25)
- Cold Food Storage Chart (FoodSafety.gov chart as reproduced by the Virginia Department of Health) (Virginia Department of Health, 2021-09-20)
- Four Steps to Food Safety (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2025-11-24)
- FoodData Central: Cabbage, raw (FDC ID 169975) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Carrots, raw (FDC ID 170393) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Spices, celery seed (FDC ID 170920) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Vinegar, cider (FDC ID 173469) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Salad dressing, mayonnaise, regular (FDC ID 171009) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Sugars, granulated (FDC ID 169655) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Mustard, prepared, yellow (FDC ID 172234) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019-04-01)
- FoodData Central: Onions, yellow, raw (FDC ID 790646) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2020-04-01)
- Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2024-03-05)
- 21 CFR 101.54 Nutrient content claims for 'good source,' 'high,' 'more' (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (reproducing the eCFR))
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Nutrition Values
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