Dave's Coleslaw

This was my first attempt at making cole slaw and I had great results. Just want to note that I substituted the dill pickle and pickle juice for sweet relish--just a personal preference. Also, I have made this many, many times and now I add only a medium onion per head of cabbage. I was being told that the onion flavor was a bit overpowering, so I have cut it back considerably. It's also worth mentioning to experiment with different types of mustard. I have used sweet and spicy and dijons, all with great results. The sugar balances it out nicely. Thank you very much for this recipe!

this is the only recipe i will be using from now on. i didn't have a pickle, so i used a tablespoon of dill relish instead. also decreased sugar to 1/4 cup. tasted great and got better with age.

I have spent years looking for a great cole slaw recipe and this IS IT! Tart, tangy perfectly balanced - Dave you did it - Thank you!

I made this coleslaw for a potluck and it was pretty good (on day one). A few days later I made a fish dinner and thought I would serve the coleslaw as a side. It was awesome! So much better on day 2 and 3. Yum! It's also very easy to make (especially if you cheat and buy the pre-shredded cabbage with carrots like I did. I used 2 bags.) :)

Excellent and easy cole slaw dressing, but WAY too much of it!

I have tried many different varieties of coleslaw. This is by far the best ever! Thanks Dave, with just a few minor changes to suit my family, it was delicious. I left out the carrots & added tomato's diced small right before serving instead. I used sour cream instead of Buttermilk. The perfect slaw recipe that I have been looking for.

Delicious! Perfect levels of tang & sweet.

This is a crowd pleaser. This coleslaw is elevated because of the yin yang relationship of sweet and tangy. I cheated w/ a 16 oz. bag of coleslaw mix (green & purple cabbage w/ carrots). Not being sure about the equivalency of a head of cabbage to a 16 ounce bag, I stuck with the amount of ingredients per the recipe since it would be easy to drain away any excess ‘liquid’. In subsequently looking up info, it appears an average size head of cabbage produces about 8-10 cups, or roughly 32 ounces. When making again, I’ll halve the mayo & buttermilk unless 2, 16 oz. bags are used. One modification was to garnish this dish w/ blue cheese, reduced fat crumbles. This was served as an optional topping on Shredded Chicken Tacos by Goya. ROXY24, thanks for sharing.

I have to say, I was very surprised when I made this recipe. I thought that adding the mustard would ruin this, but it didn't. I had about 25 guests that I made this for and everyone loved it! I will for sure make this again.

I just thought this recipe tasted ok. I followed the recipe as stated except for scaling back to 6 servings. I only let the flavors blend in the fridge for 4 hours initally before serving. I am used to a sweeter coleslaw so was tempted to add more sugar but did not. In all fairness, I tasted again 24 hours later and the flavor didn't taste any different than at 4 hours. For our family, there was too much dressing and it was soupy (even after being in the fridge overnight). I do feel this would be good on a pulled pork sandwich because it does not have an overpowering sweet or sour taste.

This is a wonderful creamy coleslaw; not too sweet and just the right amount of tang. I served this at a bar-b-que with a whole roasted pig. This slaw was perfect. It makes a lot of dressing so use a big head of cabbage.

I have made this many times and thiught I'd throw my 2 cents in. This is by far the best coleslaw I have ever eaten. Like many others I found the dressing a wee bit sloppy so I cut the mayo and buttermilk in half and left everything else the same. Most times I can't even leave it to sit overnight because it gets picked at as soon as its made. YUMMM!!

I have made this coleslaw to go with my sister's pulled pork for her Superbowl party for the past two years. Needless to say it has been such a big hit that I cannot even think of going to her party this year without. Everyone LOVES it!

This stuff is awesome. It's not heavy and too creamy like some deli cole slaws. I substituted bread-and-butter for the dill and dijon for yellow mustard just because that's what we had. I'm definitely holding on to this recipe.

Great coleslaw ROXY! Needed a side for our Surf and Turf BBQ and this was it! I love the pickle! Next time I'll cut back on the amount of sweet onion and add another baby kosher dill. I put the leftover dressing in the fridge and poured it over a spinach salad the next day... :)

Excellent recipe, Dave! I suppose the fact that it was too much dressing may have something to do with the size of the cabbage head. I like my slaw a little toward the dry side when using in hotdogs.

It's like eating a big mac, except with coleslaw instead of a hamburger. The pickle juice makes it truly awesome. More fattening than a good German slaw, but worth it.

This is very good! I did add a little bit more pickle juice, probably a total of 4 TBS. It turned out very good. I will be making this again and again.

I have made this recipe several times and it is a big hit! I double (sometimes triple) the cayenne pepper and I add drained crushed pineapple... LOVE it!! Ohhh.... and I use the bagged shredded cabbage...

This was very good. Not the same flavor as I'm used to having but very good flavor. Thanks for a great recipe.

This was the most amazing coleslaw I have ever tasted! Everyone loved it!!

Hands down the best slaw I've ever had. Thanks. Grew a bunch of cabbage in my garden this year and have been looking for good recipes to use it up. Took a look at the ingredients before deciding upon this particular recipe and boy and I glad I chose this one! Mighty tasty stuff!!!

This was GREAT! My husband ate some before the party we were bringing it to - and he wasn't going to STOP. And it was a big hit at the party - I was asked to bring a side for ham for a luncheon party. My brother-in-law loved it so much we set some aside for him for after the party. Thanks, Dave!!

So good..... tried it both with sour cream and with buttermilk. Liked the sourcream much better. Seemed to help with the runny consistency. Like my coleslaw more on the white side so used about half the mustard.

I really enjoyed this coleslaw recipe. I took it to a family christmas party and they loved it! It would be wonderful on sandwiches I agree. Some put on their ham sandwiches also. It would be perfect for pulled pork or reuben sandwiches. It tastes very close to KFC's coleslaw. Also, I enjoyed it the next day, but didn't care for it the 3rd day (does that make sense?). Wonderful recipe and will definitely keep.

Tastes just like at a fast food chains that I love. I made this for a BBQ, and a girls mom told me she didn't eat colesalw. Well, I gave her some anyway and she at 3 helping. she loved it and her mom couldn't believe it. A new favorite coleslaw.

This recipe was fantastic! Everyone wanted the recipe.

Very good with just a hit of a heat. This recipe makes a HUGE amount of the coleslaw. We quite a bit left over.

Absolutely fantastic recipe! Reminds me of the cole slaw that I used to make at work with a kit but so much better!!

Wow....this is great...don't change a thing. I thought it would be really runny dressing but after letting it sit the suggested 8 hours or more it was perfect with my slow cooker pulled pork sandwiches.....and loved the touch of mustard and dill pickle.

This is a great classic slaw. I din't have the time to tlet it sit for 8 hours. Mine only sat for about 1 hour and it was still delicious. I served it with BBQ pork sandwiches. My husband, the BBQ fanatic, loved it!

LOVED this! Took it to a BBQ, and topped it on pulled pork sandwich...delicious! (Actually, I had a hard time stopping myself from snarfing the whole huge bowl before we left for the picnic!) It does make a LOT of dressing, so make sure you serve it with a slotted spoon!

I didn't use a carrot; and instead of buttermilk, a little regular milk for consistency; and Splenda instead of sugar. This is the best coleslaw dressing ever! The pickle and juice really sets it off.

Love this! I did make the following changes: Half mayo - half sour cream and I omitted the garlic.

This was definitely the best of the coleslaw's I've tried making from this site. It was still missing the zing I was looking for, but still very good.

Great recipe- thanks! I used bagged coleslaw cabbage to make it easier. I also subbed sour cream for buttermilk just because it's what I had in my kitchen. Still 5 stars!

Also a lover of good coleslaw, I have to say that this is truly one of my favorites ever! Even my finicky kids love it with pulled pork sandwiches or even alone. I did not change anything from the recipe, and loved it!

Amazing coleslaw recipe! My husband loves coleslaw and has tried it from just about every restaurant in our area...never finding one he truly loved. Now I can make it myself and know that it tastes better than anything else out there. NOTE: I didnt have buttermilk so used equal amounts of sour cream in its place. Also, we ate it within two hours of making it and it was still fabulous! Cant wait to try it again tomorrow if its supposed to be better after more time....

Holy LORD! This stuff is good! I just finished it and I can't keep myself or my toddler out of it. GOOD STUFF!!!!!

The best coleslaw dressing! Compare it to the best restaurant slaw I have ever eaten. Family gobbled it up. Made the entire recipe but only used half to mix with the cabbage and stored the rest of the sauce in fridge to ensure we could have fresh coleslaw later in the week .

this recipe is fab.u.lous. i don't even like coleslaw but was making slow-cooked pulled pork and wanted a slaw to offer guests. i ended up eating more slaw than my guests! only things i changed: a little extra cayenne, no green onion, and substituted greek yogurt for the buttermilk. sooo good.

this is a good coleslaw recipe. i used a garlic dill and used a bigger sweet onion since i didnt have any green onions. i didnt use near the dressing it made maybe 1/2 so if i make this again ill cut all the dressing ingredients by at least half. the recipe states let it sit and thats absolutely correct i didnt think id like it so well right after i made it but as soon as the flavors melded this was good.

I'm picky about coleslaw. This was intriguing, but it ended up too juicy and one flavor was overpowering - maybe the green onions? I think I'll stick to my mom's recipe.

I LOVED this recipe! It was a huge hit amongst my household of all guys. I modified it a little b/c we have different ingredients in the UK: 1/2 the buttermilk and Branston pickle instead of dill. Tasted delicious and created a thicker dressing! Cheers!

This coleslaw was extremely pickely and that is saying a lot because I like pickles. Something about the creaminess, and sweetness along with the pickles did not agree with my tastebuds. To me, the ingredients did not mesh together well.

DELICIOUS!! I didn't have buttermilk so I used a mixture of mayo, sour cream, plain yogurt, and milk. Next time I may try a mixture of dill and sweet pickles since my husband likes his coleslaw really sweet.

This was very good. I made it for my daughters birthday party and everyone loved it. I thought there was a little too much onion. Thanks for the recipe

First time i ever made coleslaw in my life -- i was a little scepticle,however i took this to a family get together and had to give the recipe to 4 people!It truly is delicious -- my girlfriend says "its to die for" i added an extra clove of garlic and 1 extra teaspoon of salt,everything else was straight from the recipe -- you cant go wrong!! love it

I have tried many different coleslaw recipes, and this is a keeper. My husband loves it! I took it to a Superbowl Party and it was a hit! We put this on our pulled pork sandwiches, and everybody loved them.

Very, very good recipe. I found it way too liquidy so next time I would use 1/2 or a little less mayo and buttermilk, but leave everything else the same. Very nice taste. Hubby gave it a 9 on ten! Thanks for sharing!

Simple & great tasting. This will be my coleslaw from now on. Thanks Dave.

OMG! This is the best coleslaw recipe ever. Thanks, Mothergoust

This is a great recipe! My husband loves coleslaw and is always searching for a good recipe. He said this is the best he has ever had. We all loved it. Tastes great with pork. Note: Makes enough dressing for two batches. Use sparingly. Delicious!

wow! I am not a cole slaw lover, but this was delicious! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!

Very tasty, will cut back on buttermilk and add more dill pickle juice next time.

I've certainly made this more than once. It has become a regular side with bbq ribs

I gave it 5 stars for flavor and how it complemented the pulled pork. The only things I would change is the amount of dressing. I cut it down by half and it was still very soupy but I may not have used enough cabbage. Very YUMMY!!! will make again.

I made this recipe exactly as written and it was delicious on BBQ pork sandwiches. I think next time I will add more pickle though because I like it a little bit more sour.

Great Slaw had it on bar-b-q pulled pork sandwich and it made the meal. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.

Great twist on the "same 'ol, same 'ol" coleslaw recipes!! Served this with some extra spicy sloppy-joe's on home made beer bread rolls and it was delicious!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!

We love it. We make it at the firehouse about three times a month.

My first attempt at cole slaw, and by the sounds of things, it'll be the most requested recipe from me from now on! Thanks, Dave!

Awesome coleslaw! I made it exactly as the recipe stated except to halve the amount... but I forgot to halve the pickle juice, vinegar and mustard, I put the whole 2 tbsp of each. So it was a touch tangy. Next time I'll get that right. I really like what the dill pickles imparted to the flavor though. I've never made nor had coleslaw with dill pickles but I think this recipe is definitely a keeper! Good job!

not the coleslaw that i am used to but my husband loved it!

Yum! Did not add the mustard.

Thanks Dave! It gave me a great starting point. I coarsely grated the carrot, cabbage and onions - chopping the pieces that were too close to the end to grate. I didn't add mustard or dill pickles however and substituted seasoned rice vinegar for the dill pickle juice and white pepper for the cayenne pepper. The buttermilk, mayo, sugar consistency was perfect!! Added a teaspoon of celery seed because I'm from the south. Served it with pulled pork sandwiches and it was a hit!!

If this taste as good at it smells and looks, we got a winner. Been looking for a recipe for core slaw do a while. Thanks

Made with pulled pork sandwiches. Everyone loved it. Even our picky eaters.

I will definitely make this again! I only made 2 substitutions because of what I had on hand. I used 2 bags of 16 oz coleslaw mix and sour cream instead of buttermilk. I also cut the recipe in half because I didn't use a whole head of cabbage. It ended up being the perfect amount of sauce for 2 bags of mix and it was so good! It's still good if you don't wait before eating it but if you wait as directed, it's even better.

I absolutely recommend this recipe to anyone who needs a great side salad for any kind of dinner or topping. I have made this multiple times now and have tried several variations (i.e. adding more carrots or using yellow onions, or adding diced scallions) - each turning out excellent. I would highly recommend substituting 2/3 of a cup sour cream blended with 1 1/3 cup whole milk if you don't have buttermilk handy. This definitely works too..

I grew up on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and we had some pretty wonderful seafood places. The smell and taste of this coleslaw created such a pleasantly nostalgic experience for me that I know I'll use this recipe for life. In my opinion, it is perfect. Thank you for posting it.

This is excellent coleslaw and it got rave reviews from everyone at the BBQ where I took it. I halved the recipe and the only substitution that I made was that instead of using buttermilk, which I didn't have, I used a half a cup of milk and half a cup of Greek yogurt. This was so delicious and had that little bit of something different that I will certainly be making this again. Thanks Dave, it's a keeper!

Amazing. Best coleslaw ever! I doubled the garlic, added cilantro, red pepper flakes and fresh red bell peer (for color) and cut 1/2 of the regular mustard with sweet and hot mustard. So delicious and so fun to experiment and hit different flavor notes by changing up the ingredients!

I just made this for a barbecue and it was perfect! I left out the pickles out of personal preference, and it turned out wonderful! definitely make this a day or two beforehand.

Used bread and butter pickles instead of dill since I didn't have any...this recipe is fantastic! I won't be buying marzetti's cole slaw dressing anymore, thanks!!!!

Was great as-is. Will definitely make it again!

This was a very good coleslaw, and very tasty on pulled pork BBQ sandwich. I only used enough of the dressing to moisten the slaw--I didn't want it too sloppy. The recipe doesn't specify the size of the head of cabbage --I bought a huge one and ended up only using half of it for a large party. The size of the pickle and onion also are not specified. I used 3 thumb-sized pickles, and probably will add 1 or 2 more next time. I didn't add the green onions because I thought the large Vidalia was enough. But I want to try them. I really liked the lightness and flavor that the buttermilk added to the dressing.

Absolutly love and will use no other!!!!

We love this coleslaw. It is the only one I make now

I loved this version of coleslaw, and I usually HATE coleslaw! Substituted plain yogurt for the buttermilk.

I used this slaw to convince my mother n law that cole slaw can be better than store bought. It worked. she may start cooking, at age 70

Love this recipe!!! It's always a huge hit!

I thought the taste was great, a personal preference was to reduce the sugar and reduce the measurement of the liquid ingredients to make it less sweet and a bit thicker.

Just excellent! Both my hubby and I love this recipe. I added some dried dillweed. Buttermilk or sour cream, both good. Yummy, yummy, yummy! Thanks for sharing and all your work on perfecting it :)

I made this as written but eliminated the onion. I liked it well enough, but it wasn't our favorite. I'd probably eliminate the pickle an pickle juice next time. The cayenne was a great touch.

Followed the directions exactly adding 1 sweet onion and 3 green onions. Way too much onion and I love onions. The onion that I added was a smaller sweet onion.

Tested this recipe before family cookout with pulled pork sandwiches. I will be making it for the cookout, it tastes amazing and I think the hint of pickles will be amazing when the coleslaw is put on the pulled pork sandwiches. My new go to recipe for coleslaw. (I did cut the dressing in half as recommended by the author and I thought it was perfect)

My family and friends loved I will make it again. I put in a little seeded jalapeño for a small kick

I made this for my son's 2nd birthday. I got soany compliments truly delicious. I also substituted the dill pickle for sweet relish so it came out sweeter, I made it the night before the party and the next day it was even better (hence the compliments lol) thanks for this recipe!!!

awesome recipe! wouldn't make any changes. followed it exactly.

This is now my favorite Coleslaw dressing, sorry, Mom. I made it as written and it is excellent.

Mmmmm Mmmmm Goooood.

Great

I'm usually not a big fan of coleslaw; too goopy and too sweet. I really wanted coleslaw to go with pulled pork, however. This recipe intrigued me because of sharp ingredients like mustard, pickles and vinegar. I thought that would complement the pork nicely. I cut way down on the sugar and on the mayo and Greek yogurt (which I substituted for the buttermilk since that's what I had). Turned out I enjoyed this a lot! I may shock some of my friends that I will actually make coleslaw as a side dish in the future simply because I like it; if it's this recipe, that is.

My first attempt at Cole slaw from scratch. Came out great. Only suggestion for future newbies is to give some advance thought for a container to toss everything. Next time I'll use my crock pot or a large stock pot. After it's tossed and dressed, a 11x17" baking dish is big enough to serve.

I found that this recipe makes a quantity of dressing suitable for a head of cabbage of about 3 lbs. or a little larger, weighed before trimming. For a thicker dressing, I increased the amount of mayonnaise to 1½ cups and decreased the buttermilk to 1½ cups. Cider vinegar works fine, as does Dijon mustard. I greatly decreased the sugar to 2 tablespoons (coleslaw isn't candy!), and added a teaspoon of ground black pepper. An entire sweet onion (which, as a measurement, is vague and unhelpful) is way too much, yielding sometimes more than 2 cups when minced. A third of a cup is plenty. I suggest using from 1 to 3 cups of grated carrot. (3 cups is very carroty. I bought 2 large carrots weighing 1 lb. together, before peeling and trimming, to get 3 cups.) All else was per the recipe. Do let the coleslaw macerate overnight. Stir occasionally, and always before serving. While this recipe doesn't have quite the classic coleslaw dressing taste, it's very good in its own right.

I just needed dressing as I had a bag of slaw mix leftover so I halved the dressing recipe here. This is fantastic! We love dill anything and i think the addition of pickle juice really makes it! I make a dill relish so I used that juice and just used the restvofvthe jar contents for the actual pickle ingredient. Loved this! I've saved it so I can make the whole recipe for sumner bbq's

Followed the recipe exactly. This is the one I have been looking for forever. Nice and creamy. Thanks Dave!

Just made this and it’s delish! My cabbage head was on smaller side so I decreased buttermilk, pickle juice and vintages by half and it’s perfect! Thanks for a great recipe, it’s a keeper!