Just say no to bland store bought coleslaw and hello to this delicious homemade creamy southern coleslaw recipe.
Coleslaw is one of the most underrated BBQ and grilling side dishes, most likely because it is often store bought, poorly made, or is simply lacking in personality.
Here’s a mayonnaise based creamy cole slaw that’s not too sweet and a few little tweaks to make it really special. Hash it and heap it on top of a pulled pork sandwich as they do in Memphis or the Carolinas. It would be a great choice for a West Virginia Slawdog (shown with the recipe). Prepare this simple, yet classic, homemade coleslaw for your next cookout and your guests will certainly notice the difference.
Up your game: Join our Pitmaster Club. Try it out for free for 30 days. No credit card is needed. No spam. Join now and Be Amazing!
Creamy southern coleslaw recipe


Simple Creamy Southern Coleslaw Recipe
4.35 from 281 votes
Just say no to bland store bought coleslaw and hello to this delicious homemade recipe. This classic simple creamy coleslaw recipe is not only the perfect side dish for your next BBQ and grilling cookout but is also amazing on a Memphis and South Carolina style pulled pork sandwich or on a West Virginia style hot dog.
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Chilling Time 1 hour hr
Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Salad, Side Dish, Vegetable
Cuisine: American, Southern
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
Slaw
- 1 pound green cabbage (about half a medium cabbage)
- 1 large carrot, peeled
- ½ small white onion
- 2 tablespoons Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
Dressing
- 1 tablespoon distilled vinegar
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon celery seeds (not celery salt)
Method
Prevent your screen from going dark
- Prep. First, read my article on The Science of Slawsome Slaw. Then decide how you want to cut the cabbage, carrot, and onion: Chopped, grated, or hashed and have at it. I prefer this recipe shredded or chopped.
- Salt. In a large strainer or colander, mix the cabbage, carrot, and onion with the salt and put it in the sink or over a bowl for an hour. The salt will draw out a lot of water that will otherwise dilute the dressing. Then rinse the mix with cold water to get rid of excess salt and pat dry. You can now hold it in the fridge for a day if you want.
- Dress. Whisk together the dressing in a large bowl. Add the cabbage, carrot, and onion mix. Taste, adjust seasonings, cover and chill for at least 1 hour if possible before serving.
Notes
About the vinegar. Switch to cider vinegar at your own risk. I think plain white distilled works better.
About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.
My favorite add-in. I first tasted this in Charleston South Carolina, and I loved it. Add 1 tablespoon of sweet pickle relish or chipped sweet pickles.
Optional. Add 1/2 red or green bell pepper, sliced thin or hashed.
Optional. Add 3 radishes, red or white, hot if you like, sliced thin or hashed.
Optional. Add 1 small minced jalapeño if you like it hot. Chipotle powder is another way to amp it up. Horseradish, just a tablespoon in the background, is a surprising addition.
Sign up for a free trial of the AmazingRibs.com Pitmaster Club and experience everything that the world's largest membership-based BBQ and grilling community has to offer!
Before you can post a comment or question you must sign into our commenting partner, Disqus. This helps make sure everyone hanging around the grill is civil. We do not tolerate nastiness, racism, porn, inappropriate language, or attacks on others. All comments are the property of AmazingRibs.com and we reserve the right to quote them, edit them, delete them, and block people from making future comments.
Please leave comments and questions on the same page that is devoted to that subject so others can see questions and our answers when they are reading about the subject. You must enable JavaScript to use the comments section, and you must accept cookies to post comments. Note: the software that runs Disqus is different from the Pitmaster Club, so members need to sign into the Pitmaster Club separately.