Home » Recipes » Side Dish » Cilantro Lime Cole Slaw
posted by Michelle Gothon Aug 19, 2015 (updated Aug 10, 2023)
Looking for an easy coleslaw recipe that pairs perfectly with Mexican food? This easy cilantro lime slaw recipe is the one!
I love BIG flavors when I make Mexican food at home! My family loves taco night, and this Cilantro Lime Slaw is a staple at our house. It’s a great side dish for tacos, burritos or enchiladas!
As a bonus, this Cilantro Lime Slaw recipe is super easy to make! Just grab a bag of coleslaw mix, a bunch of cilantro and some limes and you are on your way to a tangy coleslaw in just about 5 minutes.
“I’ve made this many times and love it. It also makes a great bed for fish tacos.”
Linda S, Yummly User
Serving Suggestions:
- Serve on top of spicy shrimp tacos or your favorite fish taco recipe
- On pulled pork sandwiches, or barbecue chicken sandwiches
- Mixed into burrito bowls with smashed avocado
If you’re looking for a super sweet, vinegar slaw to serve with BBQ, try my Southern Coleslaw recipe.
Substitutions:
If you do not have lime juice, you can substitute white vinegar, red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
Use any type of cabbage. You’ll need roughly 3 cups.
“This was great for my pulled pork tacos. I added 1/2 cup of diced fresh pineapple and increased the sugar to two tablespoons. Shame on us but we like sweet.”
Johnson, Yummly User
Recipe Additions:
- Spicy Coleslaw Recipe: Add 1/2 of a fresh jalapeno (diced) to the dressing ingredients, and let it sit for 5 minutes before combining with the coleslaw mix.
- Garlic Cilantro Lime Slaw: Add 1 teaspoon of garlic powder to the dressing for garlicky flavor.
- Creamy Cilantro Lime Slaw: To make a creamy dressing, add 1/2 cup of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt to the dressing and whisk vigorously.
- Zesty Cilantro Lime Slaw: Add a teaspoon of taco seasoning to the slaw dressing.
- Other ideas: Diced red bell pepper, fresh corn kernels, fresh chopped pineapple.
Storing Leftover Cilantro Lime Slaw:
Store leftover coleslaw in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
Cilantro Lime Coleslaw
Yield: Serves 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Additional Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Looking for an easy coleslaw recipe that pairs perfectly with Mexican food? This easy slaw recipe is the one!
Ingredients
For the Cilantro Lime Dressing:
- ¼ red onion or yellow onion, sliced into very fine strips
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons sugar or Splenda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
For the cabbage slaw mix:
- 8 ounces coleslaw mix (green cabbage with carrots)
- 4 ounces shredded red cabbage
- 1⁄3 cup chopped green onion
- 1⁄3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add coleslaw mix, purple cabbage, onion, cilantro and green onions. toss to combine.
- In a small bowl, prepare the coleslaw dressing. Add onions, lime juice, olive oil, sugar/splenda, salt and pepper. Whisk vigorously and allow it to rest for 2-3 minutes to allow the lime juice to mellow out the onions.
- Pour dressing onto slaw mix, stir and cover. allow to rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Stir again, and serve.
Notes
For this recipe, I used coleslaw mix that had green and red cabbage as well as shredded carrots. You can absolutely shred your a head of cabbage (either color) instead using a sharp knife or grater. You'll need roughly 3 total cups of packed, shredded cabbage.
For extra lime flavor, add a bit of lime zest to the mix.
Make it spicy with a few shakes of hot sauce, a pinch of red pepper flakes or ½ of a diced jalapeno pepper.
Nutrition Information
Yield 4Serving Size 4
Amount Per ServingCalories 186Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 5mgSodium 200mgCarbohydrates 16gFiber 3gSugar 10gProtein 2g
The nutrition for this recipe is calculated by an app and may be incorrect.
Did you make this recipe?
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Love this Cilantro Lime Slaw? I think you’ll also love these recipes:
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originally published on Aug 19, 2015 (last updated Aug 10, 2023)
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20 comments on “Cilantro Lime Cole Slaw”
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I think the hardest part when it came to weight loss after my child was eating properly. I know it sounds terrible, but my husband would make me a cheese bagel before he left for work in the morning and when I got up an hour later (of course child decides not to work around our work schedule!) I would eat this cold, hard, bagel. Still the most delicious thing ever though because I barely had time to cook!!! Don’t be hard on yourself, you will be able to jump over that last bit of weight in no time 🙂 Also, coming from my sister who struggles with her weight, the worst thing she ever did was HARDCORE diet (as in eliminate everything) because as soon as she went back to normal eating she really saw her weight gain come back faster and stronger.
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Michelle —
I’m totally with you on the hardcore diets…. I’ve eliminated diet soda in the last two months. And now lessening carbs (which forces me to eat more veggies). I’m trying to be gentle with myself this time around because the fad diets just don’t stick!
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Denise | Sweet Peas & Saffron — Reply
Good for you! I had a baby a year and a half ago, and I’m not back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, either. I swear, I just look at a plate of cookies and the calories magically enter my body, ha ha! Love the looks of this cole slaw! Perfect for a BBQ!
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Michelle —
Oh, I hear you! I have periods of time where I’m fairly disciplined, then I totally go off the rails with the cookies!
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Justine | Cooking and Beer — Reply
Overshare away! I love posts like this, and you should be proud of yourself! You should also be proud of this cole slaw, because it looks amazing! I love it when coleslaw is more veggies than dressing! Pinned
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Michelle —
Yes! It’s super lightly dressed. Thanks Justine.
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Melanie | Melanie Makes — Reply
I love cilantro lime anything and this slaw looks like it would be delicious!
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Michelle —
Thanks Melanie!
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We are huge cilantro fans, so I need to try this one!
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Andi @ The Weary Chef — Reply
This is really beautiful. I’m going to try it next time we have Mexican (which will be very soon)!
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Laura @ Petite Allergy Treats — Reply
Girl, even don’t feel bad about baby weight! It took me 3 years to lose it all with each kid. running. like a mad women. It’s that exhaustion-I-need-food eating that does it. This easy slaw would be for munching on instead of potato chips (my downfall).
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Marissa — Reply
I am looking forward to trying this recipe. I have a serious aversion to mayonnaise, as well as store bought salads of any kind.
I gained 55 pounds with my pregnancy, lost all but 20 of it in maybe a year. Takes 10 months to put it on, give another ten to take it off. I was normal for BMI before, but seemed really tiny for my 5’10” height in a size 4. In my new size (still 5 years later) I look healthy with a size 12 hip, and people are very surprised I could have ever been 20 pounds lighter because I still look small on top and for my height. So I continue to eat very healthy, and don’t sweat the extra pounds post pregnancy. My body is just different now. So let me ask, do you feel healthy? Why try so hard to take off the pounds?
Sounds like you and I have similar reactions to the standard side dishes on Mexican dinner night. Here’s how I lighten up the meal, our house favorite! I simmer shredded chicken with chili , onion, and garlic powder. I shred zucchini and carrots to make up half the meat mix in the same pan. On the side (or beneath for a nice taco salad) I make a wild rice and a can of while black our pinto beans. We top our tacos with lots of lettuce, but with coleslaw is really amazing too! We’ll have to try out your recipe on tacos some night soon. 🙂 thanks!
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Michelle —
Thanks so much for your response! It sounds like we have very similar body types! I’m 5’11” and now a 14. Prior to pregnancy I was an 8 and very fit. I think a lot of the struggle for me is what you suggested; accepting that my body probably won’t look like it used to. But, I am slightly over a healthy BMI right now, so I do need to drop some weight to get back within a healthy range. I’m doing moderate low carb and weight training to get there, and it’s happening slowly (VERRRYYYY SLOWLY, like a half pound per week) but I am starting to look more toned, and I feel a TON better than when I wrote this post!
LOVE your suggestion to add zucchini and carrots into your chicken taco meat. That is brilliant! I am definitely going to give that a try!
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Laura Magdaleno — Reply
Thank you!!! Great recipe!! Kid approved!! My picky eater child loved it!!! She asked for more!!! ???? Surely making it again!!
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Michelle —
Fantastic! I am so glad to hear your kiddo loved it! Mine is going through a “nothing green” phase right now and it’s slowly killing me. 😉 Thanks for dropping a note to let me know!
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