Keto Coleslaw – Fantastic Low Carb Recipe

This low carb keto coleslaw recipe is easy to follow and quick to make. A family recipe that is always very popular at any barbeque makes this crunchy dish a great option to take along as a potluck to any gathering. Coleslaw is made by shredding raw cabbage, usually with a mayonnaise based dressing. If you use low carb mayonnaise this coleslaw recipe fits perfectly in the ketogenic diet. The crunchy texture and mild, earthy, and a little tangy flavors of the walnuts adds a great dimension to this salad. Since it lasts well in the fridge it is a great salad to prepare for eating the next day. This amazing, popular salad can really be thrown together in 5 minutes and can safely be stored without losing taste for 3 days in the fridge so it is a good option for meal prep.

What is Coleslaw?

It is a shredded cabbage salad with a creamy dressing. The word ‘cole’ is derived from ‘kool’, the Dutch word for cabbage. It is cabbage salad, not ‘cold’ slaw. KFC sells coleslaw that is popular all over the world and everyone loves, to make this taste similar to Kentucky coleslaw is not too hard.

Coleslaw is sometimes just called slaw.

You can also make this coleslaw without mayo, by using Greek yoghurt.

How to Make this keto friendly coleslaw

Shredded coleslaw mix is available in most supermarkets which makes this salad super quick and easy to prepare. Basically you make a simple creamy dressing by mixing  mayonnaise, heavy cream, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, parsley, coriander and celery seeds. You add this creamy keto dressing to the coleslaw mix that you buy in the supermarket. A simple, quick low carb and keto coleslaw recipe that tastes so good no one will ever guess it is low carb!

Making coleslaw mix from scratch

If you do not want to use the coleslaw mix or it is not available it is easy to make coleslaw from scratch. Replace the coleslaw mix with the following ingredients prepared and mixed:

• 2 cups green cabbage sliced
• 2 cups of purple cabbage sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and julienned (cut into short strips)
• 2 onions, sliced

Variations in this keto coleslaw

Skip the mayo, if you do not like mayonnaise no problem, replace the mayo with ⅓ cup (80 ml) plain Greek yogurt.

Dijon mustard with it’s strong flavor and a bit of spice adds a nice  tangy, sharp component to this coleslaw. Add 2 tbs 

Celery seed also taste nice in this salad, since it is usually mixed with salt it will make the salad a bit more salty.

KFC coleslaw

To make your coleslaw similar to the Kentucky fried chicken coleslaw simply use a food processor to chop your coleslaw mix into small pieces before tossing with the dressing. 

Ingredients in Keto coleslaw

The Best Mayonnaise for Keto friendly coleslaw.

Mayo is a fantastic keto ingredient, basically zero carbs and a good source of healthy fats, micronutrients, and antioxidants. All mayos are not created equal.  What is mayonnaise? Mayonnaise is basically a mix of whole eggs and/or egg yolks, some form of oil (soybean, canola, olive, and avocado are most common), mustard, an acidic component (usually lemon juice or vinegar) and salt.

The best keto-friendly mayonnaise is sugar free.

The oil used to make the mayo is very important, good oils to make keto mayonnaise are avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil, MCT, High-oleic sunflower, coconut oil. Mayo made with soybean oil, canola oil, regular sunflower oil are not good, being high in polyunsaturated fats. Also look at artificial ingredients and preservatives in the mayonnaise. 

For the keto diet try to avoid Light mayo, fat-free mayo, reduced-fat mayo, and Miracle Whip

Even the cheaper mayo products have a low enough carb content that they can be used on keto. 

Awesome Store Bought Keto Mayonnaise

• Primal Kitchen makes some of the best quality and tasting keto friendly mayonnaise – Primal Kitchen Real Mayonnaise with Avo Oil is a delicious, creamy keto-friendly mayo with zero net carbs.
• Tessamae’s Organic Mayonnaise another rich and creamy mayo with zero net carbs and it is low in calories.
• Sir Kensington’s Avocado Oil Mayo is a great tasting, rich, preservative free keto friendly mayonnaise. 
• Hellman’s Organic Mayonnaise comes from one of the most popular commercial mayo brands out there, it  it has zero carbs per serving, the fat content is relatively low so although not ideal for keto diet it will probably not cause you to be knocked out of ketosis.

Is this coleslaw keto friendly?

Coleslaw that you get in a restaurant is usually not keto friendly since the sweet dressing often contains sugar (carbohydrates). We usually do not add any sugar, since we find the sweetness from the cabbage and carrots is enough. Taste and judge yourself. You can keep it keto friendly and increase the sweetness by replacing the sugar with a different sweetener in this which case you remove basically all carbs. 

Cabbage is the main component of this salad and is a great addition to any keto diet, it is low in carbs and low in calories. 

Mayonnaise is a very popular ingredient in the keto diet being high in fat and very low in carbs and protein. Some cheaper store bought mayo brands are sweetened, but are usually low enough in carbs that they qualify for the keto diet.

What is the keto diet?

The ketogenic diet is very low in carbohydrates and high in fat, it shares similarities with low carb diets such as the Atkins and Paleo diet. It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. By replacing carbohydrates with fats your body turns to a metabolic state called ketosis to generate energy.

Salad Nutrition

You can see from the nutrition data, the recipe has almost no carbs, great for the keto diet.

Nutritional data was calculated with an online tool and can be verified using your preferred nutrition calculator.

What did you think of our Keto Coleslaw recipe?

Did you like this salad? Please let us know, any comments or suggestions would be appreciated!