This jalapeño slaw uses pickled jalapeños for a zesty flavor that's amazing on tacos, as a cookout side, or anywhere else you'd serve a creamy slaw.
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It's grilling season, and that means heaps of amazing sides, like pasta salad, broccoli slaw, and this zesty, creamy jalapeño slaw.
Pickled jalapeños tend to be less spicy than fresh, so you can easily control the heat level. Start with the smaller amount of pickled jalapeños, taste, and add more until you reach your desired heat level.
This creamy, crunchy slaw is a family favorite. Even my kid love it! My son can do mild to medium spicy food, though, so definitely start slowly, if you're making this for a kid that doesn't have a spice tooth yet.
I love serving this jalapeño slaw at cookouts, and it's also great on a BBQ pulled mushroom sandwich or as a side with vegan nuggets!
⏲️ Time-saving tip!
You can mince the pickled jalapeños and shred the cabbage for this slaw yourself, but if you're in a hurry, buy bagged slaw and a jar of chopped pickled jalapeños. With those tweaks, this easy vegan side is ready in about five minutes!
✓ Ingredients and substitutions
- shredded cabbage - You can use green, red, or a mix! To save time, I use bagged slaw, which is basically just pre-shredded cabbage. Sometimes there are some shredded carrots in that kind of mix, which is fine.
- vegan mayo - If you don't do mayo, you can use my garlic cashew cream instead.
- green onion - You can use sweet onion or red onion instead, if you prefer.
- chopped pickled jalapeños - Save time with a jar that's already chopped or chop your own. You can also pickle your own jalapeños by following my recipe for quick pickled onions and jalapeños but replacing the onions with more jalapeños!
- yellow mustard - The tang of yellow mustard brings out all of the flavors in this slaw so beautifully!
🥣 How to make jalapeño slaw
- Add all of the slaw ingredients to a large bowl.
- Toss together and serve!
🫙 How to serve and store
I love this as a side or a topping! Here are some serving suggestions:
- alongside my chicken fried tofu, for a vegan KFC-style meal
- piled onto tacos
- as a side or topping for sandwiches. I love this on my BBQ soy curls sandwich!
- as a side at your next cookout
Really, anywhere you'd use plain ol' coleslaw, this jalapeño slaw will not just work but add a whole extra flavor dimension to the mix.
Your slaw will keep for around three days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
📖 Recipe
Pickled Jalapeno Slaw
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups shredded cabbage see note
- ⅓ cup vegan mayo
- ¼ cup chopped green onion
- 2 to 4 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapenos to taste
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
Instructions
- Toss everything together in a large bowl. Chill until you're ready to serve.
Video
📝 Notes
- Buy bagged, shredded cabbage. In the photos and video, you'll see that there are little carrot pieces in my slaw. That's because I used bagged coleslaw mix, which is just shredded cabbage and sometimes a touch of shredded carrots.
- Use already-chopped pickled jalapenos. Most grocery stores sell pickled jalapenos that are already chopped up. Such a time-saver!
Emily
I was looking for a quick slaw recipe that wasn't super sweet to serve for a construction jobsite lunch. Quick prep, minimal ingredients, etc. The guys LOVED this and request it every time we make lunch! It also goes great with a baked potato and baked beans to survive your next barbeque with a decent portion of food on your plate. Thanks for the recipe!
Becky Striepe
What a delicious serving suggestion! We are doing baked potatoes for supper one night this week, and now I'm going to make this slaw to go with. Thank you, Emily!