Homemade Broccoli Slaw Dressing - Mighty Mrs | Super Easy Recipes (2024)

Get ready to ditch jarred slaw dressing because you can actually make your own homemade broccoli slaw dressing with just mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar plus some salt and pepper. This dressing is perfect to add to a broccoli slaw or traditional coleslaw mix.

★ Why You’ll Love this Recipe ★

Broccoli Slaw is a favorite side dish for summer dinners and cookouts. Lighter, crunchier, and with more flavor than coleslaw you'll love every bit of the creamy and tangy flavor Broccoli Slaw brings to your table.

If you like traditional coleslaw you have to give this lightly creamy broccoli slaw recipe a try. The dressing alone is worth trying.

I like a light dressing for my slaw, so I can actually taste the vegetables. This dressing keep the veggies fresh and crisp.

The broccoli stems and grated carrots mixed with sweet onion and green pepper are the perfect flavor combinations to pair with creamy and slightly tart dressing with just a touch of sweetness.

★ How to Make Broccoli Slaw Dressing ★

Is making homemade slaw dressing difficult?

Nope! Start with a bag of slaw mix and then cut up the pepper and onion or use a food processor to chop. Then stir in the other ingredients.

This creamy dressing takes all of ten minutes to prep and once you mix it all together you have a delicious side dish that stores well in the fridge for days. What's better than that when you're busy and don't want to spend time in a hot kitchen?

It doesn't get any easier than this recipe, all you need to do is:

• Chop the pepper and onion.
• Add broccoli slaw, pepper and onion to a large bowl.
• Mix together dressing ingredients then add to slaw.
• Stir to combine everything. Once the veggie mixture is well coated you're ready to serve.

This simple slaw dressing brings out the natural flavors of the vegetables. I bet if you knew it was that easy, you would have started making your own a long time ago!

The best part is you are in control of how much mayo, vinegar and sugar you add. So if you want to lighten any of those ingredients, you can.

★ Ingredients You'll Need ★

This homemade broccoli slaw dressing is really easy and makes a tasty broccoli slaw when paired with a bagged broccoli slaw mix.

So pick up a bag of broccoli slaw gather these ingredients for the dressing:

• Broccoli Slaw Mix: You can get a bag of Broccoli Slaw mix in your produce section at most grocery stores.
• Green Pepper: I use one green bell pepper diced up nice and small in my slaw recipe.
• Sweet Vidalia Onion: A nice sweet Vidalia onion is the perfect flavor to go with the vinegar and mayonnaise in this recipe and finish off the explosion of flavors you get with each bite.
• Mayonnaise: I use real mayo, but if you like Miracle Whip you can use a little less, it gets watery faster since it's a little thinner. I think it's much sweeter than real mayo also, so cut the sugar down a little in this recipe too.
• Vinegar: Any type of vinegar will work, so if you have apple cider vinegar or white vinegar at home just use it. I wouldn't use wine vinegar unless you really like that more Asian-inspired dressing.
• Sugar: A little bit of sugar takes the bite out of the vinegar and gives a nice smooth taste to the dressing.
• Salt and Pepper: You can use as much or as little S&P as you like, it's all about your preference with those two ingredients.

My secret-weapon ingredients to add flavor to the bagged slaw mix is to add in diced bell pepper and sweet vidalia onion. The flavor the bell pepper and sweet onion bring, goes really well with the dressing and slaw mix and gives this broccoli slaw an awesome and more complex flavor that I think you'll really love.

These extra veggies pair well with both the broccoli slaw mix as well as the traditional cole slaw mix.

What makes this homemade broccoli slaw dressing taste so good?

The natural flavor of the vegetables is brought out by the creaminess of the dressing. Mayonnaise adds a bit of fat into the mix and, fun fact, one of the reasons fat tastes so good is that, in effects helps things "stick" to your tongue longer so you can really savor the flavors. We use just a touch of may o to get that effect without making this slaw tastes overly saturated.

The vinegar helps brighten the taste of the veggies and add tang much the same way salad dressing does to a traditional salad.

The added veggies, as I mentioned, also add a depth a flavor.

★ Optional Add-ins ★

You could add additional vegetables if you wanted to — anything that sounds good to you. Broccoli florets, cauliflower, cucumber, etc.

Chopped green onions are a great ingredient to add even more freshness to this recipe.

A handful of crunchy sunflower seeds would also bring a nice nutty flavor to this easy broccoli slaw recipe.

If you wanted to make this dish more like traditional coleslaw, you can add shredded red cabbage and give it a little more color too!

Slaw is all about how you like it, and everyone makes it a little bit different. Usually inspired by how your parents or your grandma made it! 🙂

★ FAQs & Tips ★

What vegetables are in a broccoli slaw mix?

If you're buying a ready-made mix, which is fine, you can expect to find a healthy blend of shredded broccoli, carrots and red cabbage.

You can also use this dressing on traditional coleslaw which is typically a mix of red cabbage, green cabbage and carrot.

What foods go well with broccoli slaw?

My favorite way to eat broccoli slaw or coleslaw is with seasoned or waffle fries. I take my fries and dip them in the coleslaw and oh my goodness... my mouth is seriously watering right now just typing this. You just gotta try it. It's kinda like the fries dipped in a chocolate milkshake thing but ever so slightly more healthy.

For dinner, try pairing this slaw with my baked macaroni and cheese, some grilled 3-2-1 Ribs, or for weeknights try it with my barbecue pork cornbread skillet. Mmmm mmm!!

Is this broccoli slaw runny or creamy?

All slaws are not equal and I've met quite a few people who are very picky about their slaws! I prefer a light, less creamy slaw so that what you'll get with this recipe.

You can adjust the mayo and vinegar ratios to your liking without messing things up. That's the beauty of homemade. It can be tweaked to your exact taste buds.

So if this is your first time making homemade slaw dressing, try making a small batch and see what you think. Adjust for the full recipe as you see fit. You can also adjust the sugar to make it more or less sweet.

How long does broccoli slaw last in the fridge?

You will need to store leftover broccoli slaw in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to five days, it will get soggier and soggier the longer you keep it though. Give it a really good stir before serving.

Broccoli Slaw goes perfectly with any summer dish, grilled main dishes are my favorite to pair a fresh slaw with because it brings together the freshest side dish with an easy charred main dish.

Can you eat raw broccoli slaw?

Just about all slaw recipes are raw, they are a variation on a salad with fresh vegetables and mayonnaise-based dressing.

What is the difference between broccoli slaw and coleslaw?

Coleslaw has green cabbage and red cabbage as the main ingredients, this recipe has broccoli and carrots as the main ingredients.

What is broccoli slaw made of?

The ingredients in bagged broccoli slaw vary by manufacturer but they are usually shaved or grated broccoli stems, carrots, and red cabbage.

Try a different texture.

Another option for this slaw is to food process the broccoli slaw mix along with the pepper and onion and then add the dressing. This gives the slaw an entirely new texture. Everything is finely chopped. I like to do this to change things up or if I'm planning to use the slaw as a topping, like on top of a pulled pork sandwich.

This homemade broccoli slaw dressing was featured on Wine'd Down Wednesday and South Your Mouth!

★ More Recipes You'll Love ★

Love a good side dish recipe that's easy to make?

Browse all my side dish recipes

Planning a party and want ideas for food?

Browse all my party recipes