This Classic Vegan Coleslaw is easy to make with a shredded cabbage and carrot mix and a 5-ingredient mayo dressing. It’s creamy, tangy, and perfect for picnics, potlucks, or weeknight dinners!
For the best summer meal, serve your creamy vegan coleslaw with a scoop of Vegan Baked Beans, these soft Southern-Style Vegan Buttermilk Biscuits, and a BBQ Jackfruit Pulled Pork sandwich.
Creamy and so refreshing, my easy Vegan Coleslaw recipe uses pre-shredded cabbage and carrots and a super simple dressing that comes together in only 5 minutes.
This is one of those must-have recipes to keep on hand all summer long. It’s one of my favorite side dishes for cookouts, barbecues, and potlucks! I love it on the side of these Grilled Veggie Burgers, my finger-licking good Baked BBQ Tofu, and this crispy Vegan Fried Chicken.
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“This is the only recipe I use for slaw. Nora knocks it out of the park every time! It’s also a very easy recipe. We love it!” – Jen
Why you’ll love this easy vegan coleslaw
- A must-have summer side – I make vegan coleslaw usually a few times a month in the summer. It’s ridiculously good layered on a Vegan Sloppy Joe or served with these Sticky BBQ Tempeh Ribs!
- So quick & easy – This 10-minute coleslaw recipe is made with time-saving, store-bought ingredients, like a pre-shredded cabbage and carrots mix, vegan mayo, and pantry staples.
- The best dressing – The simple mayo and vinegar dressing makes this coleslaw. It’s flexible, too! Make it with your favorite vegan mayo, reduce the sugar, or swap the vinegar for lemon juice.
How to make vegan coleslaw
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Add the vegan mayo, granulated sugar, apple cider vinegar, celery seed, and salt to a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
Stir the shredded coleslaw mixture into the bowl with the dressing until coated. Taste, and adjust the flavors as needed.
Serve the creamy vegan coleslaw right away or chill it in the covered bowl for a few hours before serving. Enjoy!
Refrigerate the coleslaw for 3 to 6 hours
I highly recommend chilling the coleslaw in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving. This lets the flavors mingle and gives the cabbage a chance to soften a bit without losing its crunch.
Frequently asked questions
Sure! Feel free to chop or shred a mixture of green cabbage, red cabbage, carrots, green onions, and/or fresh herbs if you’d prefer. Just make sure you have about 5 cups total.
Pro tip: If you’re shredding the veggies yourself, use a food processor fitted with a shredding/grating blade. It’s so much faster than doing it by hand with a box shredder or knife!
You can omit the mayo from the recipe to make a tangy, vinegar-based coleslaw instead.
Or, if store-bought vegan mayo isn’t available to you, I’d suggest making your own. My Vegan Mayo recipe is easy to make with cashews, and my Tofu Vegan Mayonnaise is oil-free.
Sure. Try using only 1 tablespoon of sugar for a less-sweet version. Or, swap the white sugar for coconut sugar, agave, or pure maple syrup.
I actually find that the coleslaw tastes even better when it’s made a few hours in advance. Before get-togethers, I’ll whip up a batch and store it covered in the fridge for about 3 to 6 hours.
The coleslaw will keep for up to 4 days in a covered container in the refrigerator, but it’s best served on the same day you make it. Otherwise, it gets limp and not so crunchy.
Classic Vegan Coleslaw
Ingredients
- 5 cups coleslaw mix with red cabbage and carrots
- 1/2 cup Vegan Mayo
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add the vegan mayo, granulated sugar, apple cider vinegar, celery seed and salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk together until fully combined.
- Add in the coleslaw mix and stir well. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving, if possible. It's also fine served immediately. Enjoy!
- Coleslaw will keep in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to 4 days, but it will get rather limp and less crunchy with time.
Notes
- I used a bag of coleslaw mix to make this really easy, but you can of course chop up your own mixture of green cabbage, red cabbage and carrots if you’d prefer. Make sure you have about 5 cups total.
- Instead of sugar, you can substitute coconut sugar, agave or pure maple syrup.
- If desired, chop your cabbage mix smaller before adding to the bowl with the dressing. I prefer smaller pieces so I often do this, but it’s not necessary.
Great salad, thank you! Serving it this weekend with skinny taste pulled pork- no one will ever know the difference!
Sounds delicious! Thank you, Birdie, for sharing your wonderful review! Enjoy!
Delish! Did not have time to refrigerate it but it was still SO good!
Perfect!
OMG, Nora! ❤
This is SO delicious! Thank you, so much, for continually sharing your delicious vegan recipes : )
I was really missing coleslaw and figured I’d check to see if Nora had a recipe. Of course she did and it’s perfect! I’ll be making this all summer! Thanks Nora!
You are welcome! Thanks for sharing your wonderful comments! Enjoy your summer, and the coleslaw!
Question for you: I haven’t made your recipe yet. But I made a similar one and the dressing just turned to water. Is that the way this dressing is on this recipe? What vegan Mayo did you use? Thanks!
Nope, the dressing doesn’t turn to water. I usually use Vegenaise brand, but sometimes I use other kinds. It’s a light creamy dressing, just like regular coleslaw.
Quick, easy, and delicious! How could anyone complain?
Thanks for sharing a fantastic recipe.
Thank you so much! Makes my day! I appreciate your review!
This is an amazing recipe! Leaves tons of room for creativity too! I added a chopped purple onion, fresh grated garlic-but I’m nuts like that lol.. I served it in/on a Chipotle black bean burger. It was way more fun that plain lettuce. It got 5 stars from all my friends (none of whom noticed the whole meal was vegan)
I love your fun details about your coleslaw! Sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing your fabulous ideas, feedback and review! Wishing you happy cooking!
My go-to slaw recipe. I missed cole slaw so much when I became vegan and I searched for the perfect recipe. IMO, this is it. The celery seed totally makes it, DO NOT leave it out! Thanks so much for publishing this, Nora!
You are welcome! How fantastic you are able to enjoy Cole slaw again! Thanks for sharing your fabulous feedback!
This is my absolute go to for coleslaw. It’s reminiscent of a fried chicken place from my youth, we always ordered extra coleslaw. I’ve gotten great compliments on this slaw. No one has ever even questioned it being vegan 🌱. Nora Cooks is my go to for amazing vegan recipes! Thank you!!
This is exactly what I was hoping for! Last time I made coleslaw, I just followed the instructions on the back of a pre-chopped bag of cabbage/carrots and it was awful. So glad I found your easy recipe! I also used vegenaise, but used 1/4 tsp of celery salt (omitting the regular salt) since that’s what I had (instead of celery seed). Tasted exactly like a traditional coleslaw. Thank you!!
Hi Stephanie. I’m glad you found my recipe as well! Thank you for taking time to share you wonderful feedback!
I am sitting here craving something bbq like. Ran across the recipe for the bbq TVP sandwiches and saw the coleslaw recipe linked to that …totally sounds like dinner to me tonight! Thanks for the recipe Nora, just signed up to get your emails too!
You can always trust Nora to have our back❤️ Healthy nutritious and tasty recipes ? Thanks ?
Delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
We really enjoyed this! I appreciated that the recipe didn’t call for lots of oil and sugar like other coleslaw recipes. Definitely would make again!
Glad to hear that you enjoyed the coleslaw! Thank you for your great feedback!
Amazing! I have never liked coleslaw before but decided to try this recipe and I LOVE it! Substituted maple syrup for the sugar as I try to not eat white sugar. Could not stop eating it right then out of the bowl :). Thank you! I will be making this often!
Isn’t it so delicious!? I’m so glad you loved the coleslaw! Thank you for your wonderful feedback and review!
I made this the other day and I practically ate the entire bowl myself! It was so delicious!!! I love when we can take classic recipes and make it vegan! Thank you so much!!!
That’s so great to hear, Logan! I’m so glad you loved the coleslaw!
The apple cider vinegar taste is absolutely repulsive in my opinion and completely ruined the slaw. To each their own. I’m gonna try again with white vinegar, the ratios in the recipe seem on point, hence the 4 stars. Try try again!
Sorry you weren’t a fan of the ACV! Let me know how the white vinegar works for you.
amazing coleslaw recipe, thanks nora! ❤
Perfection !!
Thank you!
Made it! Just like 100% of your recipes, it was quick and delicious!
Thank you! I’m glad you loved the coleslaw! Thank you for using my recipes, and sharing your review!
Super easy and tasty. Tastes just like Mom’s cole slaw!
Thanks for sharing your review! I’m glad you love the coleslaw!
Just made this for the second time. Absolutely love it.
Thanks for sharing Kaitlin! Glad you loved it!
Made this recipe tonight for my family to go along with some veggie burgers- it was AMAZING!!! I now have a go to dish to bring to barbecues in the future 🙂
Thanks for sharing your comments, Madi. I agree that coleslaw is so delicious at barbecues! I’m glad you love my recipe!
I have made this several times and enjoy every time! This is a delicious recipe. If you have an apple throw it in there as well it has nice texture and flavor.
Thanks for sharing your review, Scarlet! I’m glad you like the Coleslaw!
Love adding apples to anything mayo topped 🥰
It was very easy but so delicious! I love it:)
Thank you for wonderful recipe♪
Thank you for sharing your great review! I’m glad you loved the coleslaw!