Creamy Chipotle Lime Coleslaw
Chipotle Lime Coleslaw is made with simple ingredients like crunchy, crispy vegetables that are slathered in a homemade smokey chipotle dressing to create the perfect coleslaw with a touch of spice.
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Coleslaw like this Lime and Chipotle Coleslaw is a versatile recipe to always have on hand. It's a great topping or a great side dish.
For a fun combination, you could put this coleslaw on a Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Sandwiches and I already use it on my Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches. This Lime Slaw would also be absolutely delicious on some Shrimp Tacos or even Fish Tacos.
Why This Creamy Coleslaw Works
This homemade Chipotle Lime Coleslaw isn't just good for putting on sandwiches though, it's a delicious side dish to take to potlucks, parties, and to serve at your summertime holiday celebrations.
This flavorful side dish is so filling, it could almost be a light summer salad. Coleslaw is a great thing to serve when feeding lots of people at cookouts. It can go on, or go with so many main dishes and helps things go further. This recipe makes 6 servings but can easily be doubled, or even tripled.
Easy Coleslaw Recipe Ingredients
- Coleslaw: A bag of coleslaw from the grocery store is typically made with shredded green cabbage and carrots. If you don't want to use the bagged stuff, you can shred a head of cabbage or more and shred some carrots with a knife or food processor. You'll need 6 cups of this mixture.
- Mayonnaise: You could swap this out for sour cream or Greek yogurt.
- Lime juice: fresh lime juice from fresh limes is far superior to the bottled stuff in my opinion. Sometimes the stuff in the bottle tastes like chemicals but the fresh lime juice adds a nice pop of fresh flavor.
- Apple cider vinegar
- Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce: If you don't have this, try using chipotle powder instead.
- Granulated sugar: Helps balance the heat and tanginess.
- Salt and black pepper
- Fresh cilantro: you could use parsley instead. Or omit this garnish altogether.
- Sliced green onions:
How to Make Coleslaw
- Step 1: In a small mixing bowl make the dressing. First add the mayo, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, chipotle, sugar, salt, pepper, and then whisk until it's well combined.
- Step 2: Add the bagged coleslaw mix to a large bowl. Pour on the dressing and toss to coat before serving with garnishes if desired.
Recipe Tips
- As the recipe is written, it has just a touch of heat, but you can easily adjust this to more or less depending on your taste buds.
- If not serving immediately, cover and chill before serving. In fact, I think chilling helps the tangy slaw develop the best flavor.
- Chipotle and lime coleslaw shouldn't sit out at room temp for more than 2 hours. If serving this outside during summer or the warmer months, you'll want to refrigerate it sooner.
Recipe Faq's
Sometimes with coleslaw or other things that are doused in a dressing, you have to worry about it getting soggy over time and making things wilt. But with this recipe, you can make the dressing separately and store it for up to 2-3 days ahead of time and then toss it with the slaw veggies just a couple of hours before you serve it.
You may find that your slaw can get watery after sitting for a bit, or after being stored. If this happens, freshen it with a tablespoon of mayonnaise at a time until it gets back to the consistency you want it to be.
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Creamy Chipotle Lime Coleslaw
Ingredients
- 1 (14 oz) bag coleslaw
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce finely diced See notes
- 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
- 3 green onions sliced
Instructions
- In a small bowl add the mayo, lime juice, vinegar, chipotle, sugar, salt and pepper and mix until combined.
- In a large bowl add the coleslaw, cilantro and green onions and sauce mixture and mix until combined.
- Cover and chill until ready to serve. Garnish with extra cilantro or green onions.
