Vinegar Coleslaw Recipe

Our vinegar coleslaw recipe is refreshing and packs a ton of sweet and tangy flavor without all the calories and fat of a mayo based coleslaw.

Vinegar based coleslaw is great as a bbq side dish, for fish taco slaw, on top of a pulled pork sandwich or try our BBQ Bao Buns or just as an easy, healthy side dish for dinner.  If you want a creamy traditional slaw try our Chick-fil-A Coleslaw Recipe, it’s the original directly from the restaurant with just a few minor tweaks.

How Do You Make Coleslaw?

This vinegar coleslaw recipe is perfect for using some prepared ingredients from the grocery store.  I can’t tell you the last time I bought a head of cabbage for coleslaw instead of a bag of already shredded vegetables. 

It’s much easier and time saving to buy a bag of shredded cabbage and carrots labeled coleslaw.  Try to find a bag that has both green and red cabbage, just for the visual, it won’t change the taste.  You’ll find bags of shredded coleslaw with the other bagged salads.

Mark Bittman says that salting your cabbage and letting it sit for a couple of hours helps add taste and preserve the crunch.  Mark says to salt the cabbage and leave for an hour or two, rinse and then the cabbage is ready for the slaw.

I’m sure Mark’s idea probably works; I haven’t tried it and haven’t seen a reason to add the step.  If one of your tries this step, I’d love to hear how it works out for you.

Slice the red onion, chop the cilantro and quarter the lime for juicing. Wash and dry the lime before cutting.

Combine the coleslaw dressing ingredients of lime juice, apple cider vinegar, kosher salt, black pepper and olive oil.

Mix everything together and refrigerate until ready to use.  It’s even better if the slaw sits for a couple of hours.

Substitute Ingredients For Vinegar Coleslaw Recipe

Bagged Coleslaw Mix – My son thought I had “cheated” when he saw the bag labelled coleslaw.  What he didn’t understand is that the bag only holds shredded cabbage and carrots, you still need to make and add the dressing.  Personally, I like the convenience of the bagged pre-shredded slaw.

You can shred your own cabbage. If so, look at the next section of this post to learn about how to store and cut cabbage for our vinegar coleslaw recipe.

Dry Mustard – The mustard is there to help emulsify the dressing, not for taste really.  You can skip it if you like but the oil and vinegar will not mix as well.  You can also substitute a tablespoon of Dijon mustard or yellow mustard, but it will effect the taste a bit.  Who knows, you may like it better.

Sugar – For the little bit of sweet you can add thinly sliced apple to the slaw and omit the sugar.

Red Onion – You can use any onion you prefer.  I like how the red onion adds color.  Add some sliced green onion for color and taste as well.

Apple Cider Vinegar – You can use any vinegar that you like, apple cider vinegar is my personal favorite for this recipe.  Rice Wine Vinegar will give you a more mellow taste and balsamic brings it’s own strong taste forward.

Cilantro – If you aren’t a cilantro lover just leave it out.  You can add some chopped fresh flat leaf parsley for a very clean bright taste instead.

Olive Oil – You can use another light tasting oil if you don’t have extra virgin olive oil.

Other great ingredient additions to the vinegar coleslaw recipe:

Celery seed, fresh peppers or chilis like jalapenos add a nice little kick.

How To Cut & Store Cabbage For Our Vinegar Coleslaw Recipe

If shredding your own cabbage you’ll most likely have excess cabbage leftover.  Try to find small heads of both green and red cabbage, about a pound each.  It’s almost impossible to find smaller heads.

I found a great site, Cedar Circle Farm (Add link https://cedarcirclefarm.org/tips/entry/cabbage-using-storing )  that gives great information on all kinds of vegetables.  Below are suggestions for cutting and storing the cabbage for our vinegar coleslaw recipe.

A good way to cut the cabbage is to quarter and core the cabbage head.  Then cut diagonally across each wedge and then into thin slices.  This will give you larger shreds than you typically see in coleslaw.  You may want to cut even finer if you like traditional looking slaw.

Once cut, the cabbage will deteriorate faster than a uncut whole head.  So if you aren’t going to double the vinegar coleslaw recipe below, you’ll want to protect the extra cabbage from spoiling.

Wrap the remaining cabbage in plastic wrap and store in the hydrator drawer.  It should last at least an additional 3 weeks.

Before Serving Vinegar Coleslaw Recipe

The longer the slaw sits the more tender the cabbage and the stronger the taste BUT the cabbage will also wilt a bit.  You can let it sit up to 24 hours but you’ll want to prep the coleslaw before serving.

First, set aside 1/4 of the raw cabbage mix from the dressed coleslaw.  Just before serving add the reserved raw cabbage mix and stir into the dressed slaw.  It will give a fresher look and a crunchier texture.

Don’t wash the cabbage until you are ready to use it.  Cut the cabbage heads in half, then wash the half you are going to use.  For the half of the cabbage head that you want to store, leave the tough outer leaves on to protect the inner, tender leaves.