Creamy Coleslaw at Home (KFC-Style)

Name: Creamy Coleslaw at Home (KFC-Style)
Prep time: 4 h 20 min
Total time: 4 h 20 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: half a medium white cabbage, about 500g; 2 medium carrots; 1/4 small onion; 1/2 tsp fine salt; 150g mayonnaise; 60ml buttermilk; 2 tbsp caster sugar; 1 tbsp white wine vinegar; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard; 1/4 tsp ground white pepper

Finely chopped cabbage and carrot in a sweet, tangy buttermilk dressing, chilled before serving.

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 0 min
Chilling: 4 hr
Serves: 6

Easy · Total 4 hr 20 min · Updated 12 September 2026

Why This Recipe Works

Chopped, not shredded. The cabbage cut into small dice rather than long strands is the entire difference between this and a supermarket slaw. It holds dressing instead of shedding it.
Buttermilk plus vinegar gives you sharpness without the dressing splitting. Mayonnaise alone is too heavy and lemon alone too thin.
It has to sit. Four hours in the fridge draws water from the cabbage and lets the sugar and acid balance out. Eaten immediately it tastes raw and separately of each part.

How to Make It

Chop cabbage, carrot and onion very finely. Whisk the dressing until smooth, fold it through, then refrigerate for at least four hours. Stir again before serving and check the seasoning cold. Salt reads weaker at fridge temperature.

Ingredients

For the slaw

half a medium white cabbage, about 500g
2 medium carrots
1/4 small onion
1/2 tsp fine salt

For the dressing

150g mayonnaise
60ml buttermilk
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp ground white pepper

Instructions

1
Quarter the cabbage and cut out the core. Slice it thinly, then run the knife through the slices in the other direction until you have pieces about the size of a grain of rice.
2
Grate the carrots coarsely, or chop them as finely as the cabbage. Grate or very finely chop the onion.
3
Toss the vegetables with the fine salt in a colander and leave for 15 minutes over the sink. Squeeze gently and pat dry. This is what stops a watery slaw.
4
Whisk the mayonnaise, buttermilk, sugar, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and white pepper until completely smooth and pourable.
5
Fold the dressing through the vegetables until everything is coated. It will look too wet; it will not be in four hours.
6
Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
7
Stir well, taste, and adjust with salt, sugar or a squeeze more lemon before serving cold.

Tips for the Best Results

White cabbage, not red. Red bleeds and turns the whole bowl purple within an hour.

A food processor pulses this in seconds, but pulse it; hold the button down and you get purée.

No buttermilk? Stir a teaspoon of lemon juice into 60ml whole milk and leave it five minutes.

Season at the end and cold. A slaw seasoned warm always tastes under-salted from the fridge.

Make Ahead & Storage

Best made the day before. It keeps three days covered in the fridge, though it loosens as it goes, drain off any liquid and stir rather than adding more dressing.

What to Serve It With

Fried or roast chicken, obviously
Pulled pork, in a bun
Burgers, piled on top rather than beside
Jacket potatoes with butter

Nutrition (Estimated, per serving)

Nutrient	Per serving
Energy	210 kcal
Fat	18g
of which saturates	3g
Carbohydrate	11g
of which sugars	9g
Fibre	2.5g
Protein	2g
Salt	0.6g

These are our own estimates, calculated from the ingredient quantities above and divided by 6 servings. They are not laboratory figures, and yours will differ with the cut of meat, the brand of each ingredient and how generously you serve it. Treat them as a guide, not a measurement.

Frequently Asked Questions About Creamy Coleslaw at Home

Why is my coleslaw watery?

The cabbage was not salted and drained first, or it was dressed and served straight away so the water came out in the bowl instead of the colander.

Can I make it lighter?

Replace half the mayonnaise with thick natural yoghurt. It is sharper and noticeably less rich; reduce the vinegar slightly to compensate.

How long does homemade coleslaw keep?

Three days in the fridge. After that the cabbage softens and the dressing thins out, which is unpleasant rather than unsafe.

Is this KFC's recipe?

No. KFC has never published it. This is our own dressing and our own method for the same style of finely chopped, sweet-sharp slaw.

Curious what it costs to buy instead of make? The KFC menu prices are here, with calories beside every item.