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This creamy coconut coleslaw takes me back to our vacation in Maui. It is, I could say, a “copycat” of the famous “France’s Coleslaw” we tried in Coconuts Fish Cafe on the island of Maui.
My sister and her husband went to the restaurant with us in Maui. We all had the coleslaw and tried to guess what was in it. I jotted down the proposed list of ingredients and was determined to make it at home. Props to my sister Sveta for picking up on the horseradish. Re-creating this was fun.
I should have taken a picture of my test kitchen. I had ramekins everywhere! The results were amazing. I think you’ll love this coleslaw!
It is delicious in any sandwich, over tacos or just in leu of your average coleslaw. I made the most amazing shrimp tacos with a mountain of this coconut coleslaw and those tacos were basically inhaled.
My sister came over to try them and she went on and on about how much she liked the coleslaw and even packed a to-go box for her husband to try it.
Ingredients for Coconut Coleslaw:
1/2 medium green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/4 small purple cabbage, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup Real Mayo
1/4 cup Coconut milk (Original, unsweetened)
2 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (both work great!)
1 tsp Horseradish cream sauce
How to Make Coconut Coleslaw:
1.In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together 1/2 cup mayo, 1/4 cup coconut milk, 1 tsp horseradish sauce, 2 tsp sugar, 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice – honestly I tested both and liked them. My husband liked the vinegar slightly more so I went with that one for this batch).
2. In a medium bowl, combine thinly sliced green cabbage with very thinly sliced purple cabbage. I like the contrast of larger green cabbage pieces with thinner purple mixed in.
3. Once the dressing is creamy and smooth, pour it over your prepared cabbage and stir well. Just before serving, give it a quick stir to make sure any dressing at the bottom coats the cabbage. So yummy!
Creamy Coconut Coleslaw Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium green cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1/4 small purple cabbage, very thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup real mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup Coconut milk, Original, unsweetened
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice, both work great!
- 1 tsp Horseradish cream sauce
Instructions
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together 1/2 cup mayo, 1/4 cup coconut milk, 1 tsp horseradish sauce, 2 tsp sugar, 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (
- or lemon juice - honestly I tested both and liked them. My husband liked the vinegar slightly more so I went with that one for this batch).
- In a medium bowl, combine thinly sliced green cabbage with very thinly sliced purple cabbage. I like the contrast of larger green cabbage pieces with thinner purple mixed in.
- Once the dressing is creamy and smooth, pour it over your prepared cabbage and stir well. Just before serving, give it a quick stir to make sure any dressing at the bottom coats the cabbage. So yummy!
Nutrition Per Serving
Love-Love-Love!!!!! Making this awesome slaw for Thanksgiving-this time I’ll add toasted coconut. Yumm-o!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Hi Natasha, what can i replace horseradish cream sauce with? They don’t sell it where i live. Can’t wait to try this with your shrimp tacos!
Hi Carole, You could just leave it out but the flavor wouldn’t be quite as good. I haven’t tested any other substitutions so I’m not sure what else to suggest.
go with just horse radish found as every sea food counter in every supermarket around the country in cold section ask and ye shall receive I prefer the regular cause it has a great taste or mix in the mayo till ya like the taste remember food is a matter of taste
Thank you for sharing that with us.
Carole,
You could make your own…
I read a comment from another lady that said the ingredients for the slaw recipe from Maui was mayo, coconut milk, pineapple juice, and Wasabi for a slight kick, So you can use the pineapple juice in place of the horseradish. Not sure about the sugar so play around with it and the what is best.
Can the coleslaw be made a day ahead?
Hi Candice, I’ve made it a day in advance and it was still good after being refrigerated 48 hours. I haven’t tested it further than that.
Never mind. I read the comments.
I haven’t looked for horseradish cream in the grocery, but I will assume it is different from just grated horseradish?
Hi Rita, yes, you can usually find it in a small glass jar near the condiments section.
Can’t wait to try this recipe
thank you
Hi Natasha – this sounds marvelous but I haven’t made yet. Most traditional coleslaw recipes advise you leave it in the fridge for a while before serving after the dressing is added. How long this recipe? Thanks!!
Hi Leanne, we serve ours instantly. We love the crunch from the fresh lettuce. I’ve made it a day in advance before and it was still good after being refrigerated 48 hours. I haven’t tested it further than that.
I didn’t have the patience to read through all the comments, so someone may have said this. I’d bet my bottom dollar that the Coconuts recipe includes fresh ginger.
This recipe does not but some of our readers have added that to their recipe 🙂
Natasha, AS a Mexican I usually like stuff Authentic ! Why, Because it saves a CULTURE, Namely MINE! But I see you are trying to be Mexican, and the shrimp Taco with the mango, coconut was pretty tasty ! I was thinking about adding a little pineapple,being Pineapple was originally from Mexico, the taste Profile is there ! So I give you an A+ Good Job as a Junior Mexican in Training ! Don’t Forget YOU have fruit to pick this summer! Ha ha Ha Ha !
Thanks so much Roberto, lol! I’m happy you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for sharing your awesome review! 🙂
Hi Natasha. When I need a new and or old recipe, I always go to your site first. Do you think I could add some shaved coconut and pineapple tidbits? I was wondering about it getting soggy…….
Hi Sue, I haven’t experimented with those so I can’t say for sure but it should work if you have well drained pineapple tidbits.
How far in advance could you make this? Night before for next day dinner?
Hi Carolina, I’ve made it a day in advance and it was still good after being refrigerated 48 hours. I haven’t tested it further than that.
I’ve made your bbq chicken & coleslaw now more times than I can count, lol. It’s one of my favourite Pinterest recipe finds! Thank you for sharing, it’s seriously amazing!
You’re welcome Rikki! I’m glad to hear how much you love the recipe! Thank you for sharing your fantastic review!
This turned out really nice!! I didn’t have any horseradish cream on hand so I used fresh minced ginger instead and it worked really well! Thankyou !
You’re welcome! I’m glad to hear you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I want to make this salad a day before eating it . Will it hold well? I’ve made before and love it but just don’t know how well it holds because it was all gone after making it !
Thanks for all recipes ! My husband is from Russia and your website has saved us! I cook so much Russian food because of your recipes and he is always impressed !
Hi Carra, if you want it to last longer, try using a canned coconut milk which is thicker. I think this salad is best the day it is made and should be refrigerated until used.
The red cabbage bleeds if left to long in the frig.
I looked at this recipe as a base for ingredients and edited a little (as I always do with other people’s recipes to meet my own tastes!). I recommend using canned coconut milk from an asian grocery store- that is literally coconut flesh/water ground up. The cartons you get at the normal store are watered down, chemically treated mimics of true coconut milk. Plus, the canned stuff is much thicker, so you can use more coconut than mayo in the recipe which I like better (I use an avocado oil mayo which worked great!). I also used honey rather than sugar. Yum!
Thank you for sharing your healthy modifications. I seriously love all your ideas! I will have to revisit this salad soon and try your suggestions! 🙂
Hi, some time ago I accidentally found this recipe – and I love it… I don’t eat/ drink dairy products, so coleslaw is never really easy to make in my country… but home made mayonnaise and coconut milk work like a charm – I would never have come up with this subsitute. I don’t have and don’t like horseradish, I just used freshly ground (grated?) ginger root – works perfectly fine and goes well with the coconut milk. Thanks for the recipe.
I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you for sharing your amazing review with me 🙂
My husband loved loved loved this! We all did! So good!
That’s GREAT! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review Lauren 🙂
I added 4 drops of Sriracha to it. Just a hint of spice!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
We don’t have horseradish cream in my country, only horseradish mustard for some reason. Do you think that will work?
I’ve never tried that product so I can’t really say for sure without testing it myself. I would suggest adding it to taste to a small batch of the coleslaw to see how it tastes.
I was just wondering about how many people does this serve…. if is it used with your Slow Cooker BBQ chicken? The same amount? About 8?
Hi Elizabeth, it really depends on how you serve it. It’s 1-cabbage worth of coleslaw. If you’re using it for sandwiches as with the BBQ chicken, yes it would still serve about 8 :). Enjoy!!
I have horseradish sauce, and then hot horseradish, which should I have used?
Either will work but mine was the hot variety 🙂
Is there a substitute for horseradish cream sauce? Not quite easy to get it here in this part of my world. But I would hope to make this dish!
Hi Zoe, the horse radish adds a flavor to the coleslaw that is not easy to substitute. You could omit it, but it would not have quite the same depth of flavor. It would still taste good though!
We have gone to Coconuts/Maui since the beginning and I have been trying to duplicate this as well. We know Mike (Founder and Father of Francis and now proud grandpa) and Francis personally and all he/she will tell us is that there isn’t any mayo in it! There is wasabi in it (and it now states it on their site)! Thick coconut milk is needed (one with heavy coconut cream – no lite milk for this). I think you are missing the main ingredient tho’…..Maui! 🙂
Thanks for a great “close to the real thing” recipe.
I hope you give this recipe a try one day and also the tacos. I love the ones I have just as much if not more and we were crazy about their tacos! 🙂
I can’t wait to test out this recipe. We know Mike the owner who created the famous fish taco. He does not add Mayo as his daughter does not like it and he said he only uses coconut milk. We lived by there for years and we had many tacos. I would have never guessed the horseradish! Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Donna! I love that you know the owner, that’s so neat!