Easy Coleslaw Dressing

Close up shot of homemade coleslaw in a blue bowl

5 from 6 votes

This easy creamy Coleslaw Dressing comes together in about 5 minutes with just a handful of ingredients that you probably already have on hand!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword coleslaw dressing, creamy coleslaw dressing, traditional coleslaw recipe

Prep Time 5

Total Time 5

Servings people (1/2 cup servings each)

Calories 252.8kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

Ingredients

1 (14 ounce) bag coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots) (or shred your own cabbage and carrots for a total of about 6.5 cups)
¾ cup mayonnaise (I use Duke's, but any similar variety will work)
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons grated onion
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons celery salt (or substitute with 1 teaspoon of salt)
Fresh dill, to taste (I use about 1 - 2 tablespoons)
A little squeeze of lemon juice (about 1 tablespoon)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Place coleslaw mix in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour dressing over coleslaw mix and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

When the cabbage absorbs the dressing, it wilts slightly and shrinks in volume. After chilling for at least 1 hour, the total amount of coleslaw yielded from this recipe is approximately 3 cups (or 6 1/2-cup servings).

How do you keep homemade coleslaw from being watery? This dressing works so well because it's very thick. This is ideal because when you combine the dressing with the coleslaw mix and it sits in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, the liquid that the vegetables naturally release will thin the sauce without making the coleslaw too watery.
If you don't want to purchase a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix, you can shred your own cabbage and carrots at home. You will need a total of about 6.5 cups - 6.75 cups of loosely packed shredded slaw.
Adapt this to make it a healthy coleslaw dressing recipe. Replace the mayonnaise with light mayo, use yogurt instead of sour cream, or replace the full fat sour cream with a light sour cream. You can also decrease the amount of sugar that you use for a less sweet dressing.
Is coleslaw dressing gluten free? Yes, if you carefully select your ingredients, this recipe is naturally gluten free. Duke's mayonnaise is gluten-free, and pure distilled white vinegar is also gluten-free. Sour cream is also naturally gluten free.
If you don't like the taste of fresh dill, you can omit it from the recipe. I, however, think it's delicious and it really adds a bright freshness to the dish that I never want to skip! You can also replace the fresh dill with about 1 teaspoon of dried dill weed, or use a different fresh herb like chopped parsley, basil, thyme or rosemary.
Don't have celery salt in your pantry? Replace the celery salt with 1 teaspoon of regular salt. The celery salt adds great flavor, though!
Can you freeze coleslaw dressing? No, I don't recommend freezing this dressing. The mayonnaise in the dressing tends to separate when frozen and then thawed. Homemade coleslaw dressing will stay fresh in the refrigerator for at least 3-5 days. If the dressing has been left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours, it should be discarded.

Nutrition