Forget about all the coleslaw you ever tasted before. This is the one you want. Hands down the best crunchy creamy coleslaw with tahini dressing, fresh lime and cilantro.
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I don't get why people search for coleslaw KFC recipe. It's shit. And that's an understatement. The only coleslaw recipe you want to be cooking is this one. Why?
This recipe for coleslaw is the mutt's nuts. Add in the velvety smooth creamy tahini coleslaw dressing and you have yourself a flavour and texture bomb.
Don't worry, the coleslaw dressing recipe is also as easy as shredding the cabbage. Once you have made this recipe for coleslaw once, you are not turning back to that KFC coleslaw ever again.
The great thing about coleslaw is that it's very easily customisable and you could serve it with almost anything.
Coleslaw and pulled pork being the most popular. We will have a look down below in the section about serving suggestions on what to serve with it.
The secret to preparing this versatile little salad well is all in the shredding and the dressing.
First, let's look at what we need to make coleslaw.
Ingredients
- Cabbage - Red and white cabbage. The younger the better as old cabbage tend to be bitter sometimes and extremely watery.
- Red onion - Make sure it's good quality, young and sweet.
- Carrot - Nice, firm and fresh.
- Herbs - I used cilantro(coriander). Below are some variations on this.
- Tahini - Use a good natural brand. Nothing emulsified.
- Sesame oil - Use a nice fragrant toasted sesame seed oil.
- Mayonnaise - Either make your own or use something like Hellman's real. They don't pay me for saying that by the way)
- Sesame seeds - Make sure to toast them in a pan if not toasted already. I use a mix of white and black. It looks nice.
- Honey - Natural runny honey. You could also substitute with other sweeteners. See the section below on variations.
How to make it
10 minutes is all it takes to go from zero to coleslaw.
- Wash all the vegetables and herbs thoroughly.
- Shred the cabbage finely with a mandolin or a sharp knife.
- Grate or julienne the carrots finely.
- Chop the cilantro(coriander) finely
- Whisk the ingredients for the coleslaw sauce together until well combined.
- Mix the sauce into the vegetables making sure it's all well mixed in. You could bruise the vegetables a bit to make sure the sauce goes into all the nooks and crannies.
- Let it stand for a few minutes to macerate so the cabbage release a bit of juice. Give a fresh mix-through.
- Serve with a few lime wedges, fresh cilantro(coriander) and toasted sesame seeds.
There you have it. Way better than any coleslaw you ever tried and looks at the colour on that. Bam!
Variations
You could adjust this coleslaw recipe easily to your personal liking or create a completely different recipe altogether by tweaking the following ingredients.
- Vegetables and fruit - You could use other crunchy vegetables here too. Think kohlrabi, green papaya and apple. Add in dried fruits like apricot or raisins if you like that. Just remember to tune down the honey in the dressing as that is also sweet.
- Herbs - Substitute the cilantro for chopped parsley, chervil, chives, dill, basil, tarragon, mint or a combination of these.
- Oil - Most extra virgin oils can be used in place of the sesame oil. Just be mindful of the intensity and flavour so that it does not overpower the other flavours of this recipe.
- Mayonaisse - You could easily replace the mayo with sour cream or yoghurt to make it healthier and lighter. To be honest, the bit of mayonnaise in this salad is negligible when mixed with the juices from the cabbage.
- Nuts and seeds - you could substitute the sesame seeds for roasted peanuts, cashews, pecans or seeds like pumpkin sunflower and flax.
- Heat - If you like it spicy you could turn up the heat by adding in some chopped chillies or ground up chilli flakes. Alternatively, add a few spoon fulls of hot sauce like homemade sriracha or a small spoon of adjika paste.
- Sweetness - Adjust the sweetness in the dressing by changing the honey to maple or agave syrup or using sugar alternative like stevia if you are following a low sugar diet.
Vegan version of this recipe
To make this a vegan coleslaw recipe you only need to do one thing. Remove the mayo or replace with a vegan alternative.
You could also make a nut relish instead and blend the cilantro with some apple, water, cashews, lime, honey and a touch of seasoning.
Just be mindful of the sweetness from the apple and honey. Add sparingly and balance the taste. a touch of heat and mint also goes well here.
Alternatively, use avocado blended with some water until it looks like mayo and proceed as normal, taking note of the balance between sweet and sour.
Serving suggestions
This is of course more than a coleslaw with pulled pork recipe. You could use this coleslaw on many other occasions and as we have seen use it as a completely stand-alone dish.
- Meat - To lighten sous vide steak, add this as a side dish. Crispy pork belly. So soft it's even better than pulled pork. Sells itself no need for me to do so). These lamb koftas will be awesome with tahini coleslaw and some pita bread.
- Fish - Lovely and light in summer. Try with this angelfish, this juicy pan-fried salmon or as a complete salad add this home-cured salmon.
- With fried food - Why does KFC serve coleslaw? It's good with fried food. They just can't make it properly. Think fish and chips, fritters, falafel, fried chicken and Thai fish cakes.
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Frequently asked questions
How much coleslaw per person?
I normally go for 150g of side salad. This measure works for any side salad and it's what we use in professional kitchens mostly.
Can coleslaw be frozen?
You will spoil it so this one needs to be eaten fresh.
How long does it keep?
coleslaw can keep for about 3 days. Keep in mind though that the cabbage will give off a lot of juice so stir that back in. Make sure it's properly covered to avoid taking any other flavours from the fridge or drying out.
Useful equipment for this recipe
Mandoline slicer - Buy Now
THIS PAGE CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS - I MIGHT EARN A TINY % OF THE SALE THROUGH THESE LINKS NO EXTRA COST TO YOU. PROBABLY NOT EVEN ENOUGH TO BUY A BEER).
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Coleslaw with Tahini Dressing
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 200g white cabbage, finely shredded
- 200g red cabbage, finely shredded
- 100g carrot, grated
- 30g red onion, finely sliced
- 20g chopped fresh cilantro(coriander)
For the tahini dressing
- 30g tahini
- 10g dijon mustard
- 3g sesame oil
- 100g mayonnaise
- 30g honey
- 4g fine sea salt
- 4g white wine vinegar
- 1g freshly cracked black pepper
Extra for serving
- 5g toasted sesame seeds
- 1 fresh lime
Instructions
For the salad
- Wash all the vegetables and herbs thoroughly.
- Shred the cabbage finely with a mandolin or a sharp knife.
- Grate or julienne the carrots finely.
- Chop the cilantro(coriander) finely
For the Sauce
- Whisk everything together until well combined.
To assemble and serve
- Mix the sauce into the vegetables making sure it's all well mixed in. You could bruise the vegetables a bit to make sure the sauce mixes in nicely.
- Let it stand for a few minutes to macerate so the cabbage release a bit of juice.
- Serve with a few lime wedges, fresh cilantro(coriander) and toasted sesame seeds.
Notes
- Make this coleslaw vegan by using a vegan mayonnaise or omitting completely
- If you are allergic to sesame then skip the tahini, sesame oil and sesame seeds.
- Use this coleslaw with pulled pork tacos, smoked beef brisket, and as burger topping.
- You could add sliced apples, raisins, curry powder, toasted almond flakes or pumpkin seeds to jazz it up even more.
- To make a complete omnivore salad, add some hot smoked salmon, grilled chicken or fried strips of steak.
Nutrition Facts
Coleslaw with Tahini Dressing
Serves: 5 portions
|
Amount Per Serving: 150g
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 243.16 kcal | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 20.0 g | 30.8% | |
| Saturated Fat 2.95 g | 14.8% | |
| Trans Fat 0.0 g | ||
| Cholesterol 7.8 mg | 2.6% | |
| Sodium 372.08 mg | 15.5% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 16.0 g | 5.3% | |
| Dietary Fiber 3.81 g | 15.2% | |
| Sugars 9.26 g | ||
| Protein 2.83 g | ||
| Vitamin A 22.83 % | Vitamin C 48.98 % | |
| Calcium 8.71 % | Iron 8.29 % | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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