Red Cabbage Slaw

Creamy red cabbage slaw with carrots and homemade mayo dressing is a perfect balance of tart and sweet and ready as a BBQ side dish in just a few minutes.

There are two types of side dishes that I tend to flock to here on my blog – the first one is dips because who doesn’t love a good dip. (pssst, cucumber dip is my fav). The second one is salads.  The beautiful colors, the amazing flavors– the earth has yielded to us some of the best combination of colors and flavors and with NO work. Raw veggies, a bit of homemade dressing and boom- instant taste bud love.

And there are so many kinds of salads to choose from! Pasta salads, fruit salads, traditional salads. And this slaw, which is also considered a side salad, is no exception.

The red cabbage slaw makes a gorgeous choice for a salad and provides the best crunch.

How do you prepare a creamy slaw side?

Prepping a red cabbage slaw is one of the easiest sides you can do for a potluck. The prep really just includes making the creamy slaw dressing and cutting down all the delicious vegetables. 

What are the ingredients for cabbage slaw?

Raw red cabbage slaw in creamy vinegar based dressing with bits of crunchy carrots is a bright, flavorful and fun slaw that can be eaten alone or compliment shrimp and fish tacos, burgers, pork and so much more!

• head red cabbage, shredded
• matchstick carrots
• dry cranberries
• chopped pecans (or walnuts)
• real mayonnaise
• milk
• apple cider vinegar
• white sugar
• salt and pepper

How do you make the dressing?

Combine all dressing ingredients, add creamy mayonnaise, milk, apple cider vinegar and white sugar in a bowl and whisk.

What Makes Red Cabbage Slaw Great?

You may be used to other slaws that include green cabbage and shredded carrots, like most fast food restaurants serve with chicken, but this bright and bold red slaw is colorful and full of flavor. 

Is it easy to shred cabbage?

Cutting down Red Cabbage

When picking our a red cabbage, just look for a tightly wrapped red cabbage with little indication of loose leaves. Pick off any loose leaves prior to cutting.

• Food processor: I used my food processor to shred this cabbage in the images. I don’t know if it was the right choice, some of the pieces were small. It wasn’t like getting commercially shredded lettuce, but it worked fine for this and it’s a little smaller which maybe makes it better/easier to eat. Remember that food processors can work quickly and your cabbage salad can easily become cabbage slaw if you are not paying attention. Additionally, I halved the cabbage and then had to cut it into 8ths so it would fit into my food processor so please note if that is something you need to do.
• Manually shred by knife: The great thing about shredding by knife is that you can decide how big the pieces are. Larger cabbage pieces are helpful for making sure there isn’t too much dressing as the smaller the piece, the more dressing can pool in the bowl as it goes right through the pieces.

Tangy Red Slaw Variations

This type of side dish slaw salad is easily altered! Try one of the following recipe suggestions to mix it up:

• Add Apple slices or diced or shredded apple. Red for sweet or Green for tart.
• Add more matchstick carrots for color and flavor both.
• Bites of cucumber or red onion go great with the vinegar mayo dressing.
• Mix up dried cranberries for dried cherries.
• Add some salt and ground black pepper prior to serving.
• Bits of cooked shrimp go great in this red slaw salad.
• Crumbled crispy bacon pieces are a varying crunch over nuts.

What goes with Red Cabbage Slaw?

You can easily add this easy red slaw recipe on top of a hamburger, pulled pork,  inside a pork taco or even with salmon for some delicious crunchy and bright flavor. If you are making this recipe specifically to add on the top of meat, some like to leave out the nuts.

Try the slaw (without nuts) on a variety of foods or leave as a side dish option:

• BBQ Pulled Pork
• Mahi and Fish Tacos
• Salmon
• Burgers

How to Store Red Cabbage Slaw 

Red cabbage slaw can easily be stored in the fridge, in an air tight container of course, for about 3 days. Just give it a good  stir prior to serving to mix up any settled dressing. You can also drain extra dressing if its too watery as cut cabbage tends to hold onto moisture.

Is red cabbage slaw Healthy?

Red cabbage certainly has health benefits like Vitamin K and tons of fiber.

What is the best organic apple cider vinegar?

When it comes to brands, it really is a choice on which apple cider vinegar. Personally I prefer BRAGG Apple Cider Vinegar when I need organic and Publix brand if I do not. 

What’s the best coleslaw ever?

Coleslaw is one of those recipes, just like BBQ sauce, that is very specific. There are southern slaws, creamy slaws, vinegar based and mustard based.

This red cabbage slaw can be eaten on pulled pork, as a side dish for a burger or on fish and be delicious. Its easily changeable with ingredients and the real flavor is the red cabbage.

As far as the wide range world of coleslaw recipes, I would not consider red cabbage the very tippy top of recipes but it is good. 

Is red cabbage slaw better for you than green cabbage? 

Red cabbage has far more vitamin K than green (about 10 times more!), but I find that green cabbage goes amazing in beef cabbage soup and corn beef and cabbage.

Can you grate red cabbage?

You can grate a lot of things, but it doesn’t make it efficient or easy. Red cabbage is best thinly sliced with a sharp knife. Food processors do work but if you do it too quickly, the sizing can be quite small. Pulse gently.

If you tried this cabbage slaw recipe and love it, or have improvements that you made in your own kitchen, please leave a comment!