For a Latino Holiday Twist on Traditional Coleslaw Try This Mexican [Recipe]

Create a new tradition to your holiday with this Latino twist

This Mexican Cole Slaw with Cilantro Lime Dressing is crunchy, tangy, and loaded with plenty of bold flavors. It’s easy to make and uses simple easy to find ingredients.

I’ll admit, I have never really been a coleslaw kind of person. I’m the person who usually gravitates to the potato salad at the summer picnic. This holiday season, a friend asked if I could bring over a coleslaw to a party she was hosting. In my mind, I was thinking….” Really? That’s what you’re asking me to make…boring and not very flavorful. Why couldn’t you have asked me to make something fun and spicy and festive.”

Since I knew that other dishes for this party were going to be tacos and rice, I thought wouldn’t it be great to make something that’s a little different than plain old boring coleslaw. I decided to add a Latino twist to my coleslaw and elevate it from its humble status of the backyard barbecue. I wanted to make a version that could stand alone as a side dish, but also be used as a topping for the tacos and have a bit of kick to it.

With just a few ingredients that add that Mexican flavor profile, I came up with something that was a huge hit at the party.

Here’s the simple recipe for this zesty Mexican Coleslaw with Cilantro-Lime Dressing. This is a large batch meant for a big gathering. It will make about 16 cups. You can half this very easily.

Mexican Coleslaw with Cilantro-Lime Dressing:

Salad Ingredients:

• 2 14 oz. bags of coleslaw blend (It’s best to find a red & green cabbage mix that has carrots in it. You’ll get a lot of fun color in the finished dish)
• 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
• 3 corn cobs roasted on a griddle and kernel cut off the cob
• 1 ½ jalapeno seeded & chopped

Dressing Ingredients:

• ½ cup cilantro (I like to add more as this is one of my favorite herbs. I use ¾ to 1 C.)
• ½ cup red onion diced
• 1 cup red wine vinegar (I like to use a mix of ½ red wine & ½ champagne vinegar)
• 1/3 cup olive oil (You can use veggie broth if you want to avoid oil)
• 3 tbsps. fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 ½ tsps. sea salt (You can add more to taste)
• 1 ½ tsps. cracked pepper (You can add more to taste)
• DIY taco seasoning (You can adjust the seasoning mix to your taste)
• 3 tsp. cumin
• 1 ½ tsp. chili powder
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• ½ tsp. onion powder
• ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. paprika

Directions:

Place all the dressing ingredients in a large mason jar, cover it and shake well. You’ll want to let this marinate for a couple of hours in the refrigerator so that the flavors meld together.

While you’re working on the dressing you can also work on getting the corn cobs heated on the griddle for that skillet charred taste. Remove the husks and place them on your hot griddle set to a medium/medium high heat. You’ll hear them pop a little bit as you keep turning them until you see them with some browning throughout the whole corn cob. Let them cool down so you can handle them and cut the kernels off the cob.

Place the coleslaw, red pepper, corn kernels, and jalapeno into a large salad bowl. I love the addition of the roasted corn for its smoky flavor and charred look that adds a bit of that homemade Mexican feel. If you’re tight on time, you can certainly use a can of corn drained.

Now it’s time to dress our slaw. Grab your dressing and start to pour it over the coleslaw mixture. You may just want to start with ½ of it and give the slaw a thorough mixing with a large spoon. Try to get it all evenly coated. Add the rest as needed to coat everything well. If you feel like you will need a bit more dressing, go ahead and add a bit more red wine vinegar to the slaw. Just be careful to not let it get soggy.

It’s best if you can cover the coleslaw and let it sit in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours before serving it so that the slaw can absorb all the savory spices from the dressing. I like to add some garnishes to my salad bowl before setting it out to serve. For this slaw, I added a sprinkle of cilantro, jalapeno sliced rings and cotija cheese. This slaw is so versatile. It can be a side dish. It can also be a topping to any tacos including skirt steak, chicken fish & shrimp. Taco Tuesday will never be the same once you add this dish to the menu. This would also be a great topping on a pulled pork sandwich. I can even imagine it topping a hot dog!

If you want to make this a hearty enough to serve as a main course, go ahead and add a can of black beans or cooked shrimp. There’s really no end to the ways you can use this. I’m looking forward to having this recipe during the warm spring & summer months too at the next backyard barbecue!

Here’s a recipe card you can add to your recipe collection for a quick reference.

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