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.

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.

How to make Red Cabbage and Carrot Slaw

1. Add red cabbage (shredded or food processed down), matchstick carrots, dried cranberries and chopped up pecan pieces to a large bowl and mix together to combine the ingredients.
2. To make the quick homemade dressing for the slaw, add creamy mayonnaise, milk, apple cider vinegar and white sugar and mix well.
3. Pour creamy dressing over red cabbage mixture and stir well to evenly coat all leaves.
4. Fold in walnuts with a spatula.
5. Refrigerate slaw for 2 hours or overnight for flavors to mingle well.
6. Stir well before serving as a side for pork (or on it!), inside tacos, as a coleslaw to burgers, or simply just to enjoy on it’s own.

Variations: This type of 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 slaw 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.

• 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.
• 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!

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Yield: 2 cups

Red Cabbage Slaw with Carrots

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Creamy red cabbage slaw with carrots and homemade vinegar mayo dressing is a perfect balance of tart and sweet. You can make the cabbage small and bite sized, like a slaw, or shred for a larger side salad if you prefer.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 head red cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 cup matchstick carrots
• 1/4 cup dry cranberries
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
• 1/2 cup real mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

1. Add red cabbage (shredded or food processed down), match stick carrots, dried cranberries and pecan pieces to a mixing bowl and mix together to combine the ingredients. 
2. In a separate bowl, add mayonnaise, milk, apple cider vinegar and sugar and mix well.
3. Pour mayo dressings over red cabbage mixture and stir well to evenly coat all leaves.
4. Fold in walnuts with a spatula.
5. Refrigerate slaw for 2 hours or overnight for flavors to mingle well.
6. Stir before serving.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 193Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 275mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 4gProtein: 1g

Nutritional information is automatically calculated with ingredients and serving size and may not be accurate. Please always double check with your own nutritional apps as well.

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