Paula Deen Easy Coleslaw is a five-minute side dish made with pre-shredded cabbage, scallions, caraway seeds, and store-bought coleslaw dressing. It feeds 12 and shows up at every cookout, church supper, and fish fry across the South. Nobody wants to spend an hour on a side that disappears in ten minutes.
The dressing does all the heavy lifting here. Use a good one, because with only four ingredients, there is nowhere for cheap dressing to hide. Paula keeps it at a quarter cup so the cabbage stays crunchy. Too much dressing turns the whole thing into a soggy mess sitting in a pool at the bottom of the bowl.
Toss this right before serving for the best crunch. If you need to make it ahead, keep the dressing separate and add it no more than 30 minutes before the food hits the table. Sitting overnight turns it watery, and no amount of draining fixes that.
Paula Deen Easy Coleslaw
Course: SaladCuisine: American, SouthernDifficulty: Easy12
servings5
minutes40
kcalA quick toss of shredded cabbage, sliced scallions, and caraway seeds coated in a light layer of prepared dressing. Crunchy, cool, and ready in under five minutes.
Ingredients
4 (8-oz) packages shredded cabbage, or prepared coleslaw mix
4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/4 cup prepared coleslaw dressing
Directions
- Toss the slaw: In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Toss to coat.
FAQs
Can I use a head of cabbage instead of the pre-shredded bags?
You can, but shred it thin. Thick-cut cabbage does not absorb the dressing the same way and leaves you with big crunchy chunks instead of a proper slaw. Paula suggests napa, savoy, or red cabbage if you are cutting your own.
How long does this coleslaw keep in the fridge?
It holds for about a day, but the texture changes fast. The salt in the dressing pulls water out of the cabbage, so by day two it sits in liquid and the crunch is gone. Make only what you plan to serve.
Can I make this the night before?
Keep the cabbage and dressing in separate containers and toss them together 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Dressed coleslaw that sits overnight goes limp and watery. The scallions also lose their bite if they soak too long.
Why does my coleslaw get watery after sitting?
Salt in the dressing draws moisture out of the cabbage through osmosis. The longer it sits, the more liquid pools at the bottom. Drain and re-toss right before serving if it has been sitting for a few hours.
Can I skip the caraway seeds?
You can leave them out, but they give this slaw its slightly peppery flavor. Without them, the coleslaw tastes like plain dressed cabbage. Try half the amount first if the flavor is new to you.
