This Mexican Coleslaw calls for coarsely-chopped cabbage, fresh cilantro, and a creamy avocado dressing made with Greek yogurt, fresh avocado, jalapeno, and lime juice. It’s delicious!
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This slaw is the stuff dreams are made of! As a lover of all things Mexican food, I couldn’t resist putting a Mexican twist on this classic side dish. It’s crunchy, fresh, and tossed in the most divine creamy avocado dressing. Y’all, seriously, this dressing is *so* good…I double-dog dare you not to eat a spoonful of it alone in the process! The coleslaw dressing of my childhood was made primarily of mayo, and while I love a good classic coleslaw, the addition of avocado, jalapeno, and lime juice in this dressing make it ultra-creamy and perfect for this Mexican-inspired slaw!
Recipe Ingredients
It’s pretty simple, y’all! Just a few ingredients yield the most delicious chunky Mexican coleslaw! Here’s exactly what you’ll need:
For the Slaw
- Red Cabbage + Green Cabbage – ½ head each of red + green cabbage get a rough chop for this slaw. We went for a rough chop to make this coleslaw a little bit chunkier than the traditional variety!
- Matchstick Carrots – like any great coleslaw, carrots get thrown into the mix too! We’ll use 1 cup of matchstick carrots here.
- Fresh Cilantro – one head of fresh cilantro gets a rough chop and is added to the slaw at the very end!
For the Creamy Avocado Dressing
- Greek Yogurt or Avocado Oil Mayo – we use a healthier avocado mayo here to load up on the healthy fats, and keep the junky oils at a minimum! If you’re looking for an egg-free option, an equal amount of Greek yogurt or sour cream will work great in place of the mayo!
- Avocado – this is the real key to a creamy dressing – the addition of a small avocado makes this dressing SO GOOD!
- Jalapeno – ½ of a fresh jalapeno gets blended into the dressing – be sure to deseed your jalapeno if you want a less spicy dressing!
- Lime Juice – fresh is best here! The juice of 3 limes thins out the dressing while adding some acidity!
- Sea Salt + Cracked Black Pepper – a pinch of each should get the job done just fine!
How to Make
It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3! Really, 3 steps, and this slaw is done and ready for serving! Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Roughly chop the veggies. Give the cabbage and cilantro a rough chop, and toss the cabbage in a large bowl. The cilantro will go in last, so leave it on the cutting board for now!
- Blend the dressing. Add the mayo, avocado, jalapeno, lime juice, sea salt, and pepper to a blender (or use an immersion blender – we like this one) and give it a quick blend!
- Toss + serve! Toss the cabbage and carrots in the dreamy, creamy avocado dressing, add the chopped cilantro and give it all one more good toss, and enjoy!
Coleslaw Variations
While we opted to keep this recipe simple, here are a few ways you can change it up!
- Use pre-shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix – If you don’t want to chop your own cabbage, you can replace it with 8 cups of shredded cabbage, or use 9 cups of a coleslaw mix with carrots.
- Add green onions – About 1/3 cup of green onions are a great addition to this slaw.
- Add thinly sliced red onion – if the bite of red onion is more your thing, thinly slice 1/4th of a red onion and toss it in with your slaw!
- Add red bell pepper – thinly sliced or diced red bell pepper will provide a welcome crunch and just a hint of sweetness to this yummy slaw!
How to Store Mexican Coleslaw
For the freshest leftovers, store this Mexican slaw in an airtight container (these are our favorites) in the fridge. It should stay good for 5 days this way! The cabbage is pretty sturdy, but if you’d like to prevent wilting as much as possible, keep the dressing and veggies separate until you are ready to serve.
Can I make this coleslaw ahead of time?
You sure can! If you’re bringing this to a get-together, we recommend waiting to toss the dressing and cabbage together until you’re ready to serve (or just before you leave the house). If you aren’t able to wait, no worries! Cabbage is hardy enough to keep from getting soggy either way.
How to Serve Mexican Slaw
You can treat this slaw as a taco or burrito bowl topper, as a side all on its own, or even as a meal prep lunch option with chopped grilled chicken on top! We’ve got TONS of recipes that will accompany this slaw beautifully! Here are a few of our favorites:
- Instant Pot Carnitas Tacos
- Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Carne Asada Tacos
- Instant Pot Salsa Chicken
- Tacos Al Pastor
- The Best Beef Fajitas
- Instant Pot Chipotle Brisket
- Blackened Fish Tacos
More Favorite Slaw Recipes
Mexican Coleslaw with Creamy Avocado Dressing
Ingredients
For the slaw:
- 1/2 head purple cabbage roughly chopped
- 1/2 head green cabbage roughly chopped
- 1 cup matchstick carrots
- 1 head roughly chopped fresh cilantro or about 1 cup
For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt or avocado oil mayo
- 1 small avocado or 1/2 large
- 1/2 fresh jalapeno seeds removed for less spicy option
- 3 limes juiced
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Toss all the slaw ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside.
- Place the dressing ingredients in a blender or mason jar (where you can use an immersion blender). Blend on high for 1 to 2 minutes, or until smooth. Add more lime juice (or water) if needed to get the consistency you want.
- Pour the dressing over the slaw, toss to combine, and serve!
Nutrition
Where’s the recepie card with the ingredients list and quantities. Why so much unnecessary wording for a simple recepie?
Hi Alina! There should be a green button at the top of the page that says “jump to recipe”. It will take you directly to the recipe card! Totally understand the frustration of not being able to find what you are looking for!
It is a great recipe. Thx
You are welcome! -Team F&F
About how many cups of coleslaw would you estimate the 2 1/2 heads to be?
Hi Ashley! There’s only 1 head of cabbage in this recipe (1/2 head of green + 1/2 head of purple) which is about 8 cups of cabbage!
Thanks for the recipe.
https://www.restaurantthatdeliversnearme.website
Can you leave a link to the recipe that you said would go good with this?
Yes – this coleslaw goes *perfectly* with our Blackened Fish Tacos!
Love that sentiment about blogging Cassy! I think it’s easy for people to type out nasty comments or get fed up with an affiliate link from behind their screen not realizing the effort and time that goes into all of the free content they enjoy! I’m forever grateful for all of the free content (by way of recipes, podcasts, IG posts) that you share AND book resources. Thanks for all you do 🙂
Thank you so much, Diane!
This was the best recipe to see pop up today! I have been brainstorming different slaw recipes when I bought cabbage this week and have all of these ingredients in my fridge! Thanks 🙂
Awesome!!
Cassy Joy,
You’re the best-wonderfully written post and this recipe looks delicious!
Thank you so much, Marianne!