This refreshing Creamy Coleslaw with Apples (Sugar-Free) has crunchy cabbage, shredded sweet apples and lemon rich mayo. A perfect combo!
- Super quick slaw. No carrots, no onions, no peeling!
- Simple ingredients. Nothing fancy, cabbage, apple, lemon, mayo.
- Versatile. Great side salad. Perfect for grilled meats and BBQs.
Homemade coleslaw is quick to make. This simple combination of apples, green cabbage, lemon juice and creamy mayo is particularly easy. I keep the skin on the apples for extra colour and flavour. A fuss-free Creamy Coleslaw.
You can cut time even more with a ready bagged coleslaw mix.
I like to add plenty of creamy mayonnaise as the coleslaw dressing, and our Homemade French Mayonnaise is perfect for this crunchy salad. A generous amount of mayo helps to soak up the added lemon and juices from the cabbage and apple, helping to avoid a watery coleslaw.
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Ingredients
Coleslaw Ingredients
- Cabbage. White cabbage works well for this Creamy Coleslaw recipe.
- Mayonnaise. I use my Homemade French Mayonnaise for this Apple Slaw, but a ready-made shop bought mayonnaise will work well also. To give an even deeper apple flavour, you can use apple cider vinegar, instead of wine vinegar, when making your own Mayonnaise.
- Lemon.
- Apples. I find sweet apples work best. The sweetness of the apples enhances the sweetness of the cabbage and avoids the need to add any additional sugar. I prefer red apples to give some colour contrast to this delicious slaw. Gala apples have a lovely red colour and I like to use Royal Gala, a particularly red variety of the sweet Gala apple. Other sweet red apple varieties you could use include Fuji, Braeburn and Honeycrisp. However, a sweet green apple such as the Golden Delicious will work well too.
- Salt and Pepper.
See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.
Mayonnaise Ingredients
If you would like to make your own Mayonnaise, full instructions on how to make our quick and foolproof Homemade French Mayonnaise are given in our recipe post on how to make Mayonnaise.
Useful Equipment
No special equipment is needed for this Apple Slaw recipe. I have listed the key useful items below.
- chopping board
- chopping knives suitable for chopping the white cabbage and quartering the apple
- grater for grating the apple
- large bowl
- spoon for mixing
How to Make Apple Slaw
Step 1. Finely chop the white cabbage with a sharp knife.
Step 2. Quarter the apples and remove the core. Finely chop or grate the apples. I like to use a box grater to grate the apples.
Step 3. Sprinkle the grated apple with the lemon juice and put in a large mixing bowl.
Step 4. Add the Mayonnaise and thoroughly mix together with the grated apple and lemon juice.
Step 5. Add the finely chopped white cabbage. Mix together all the ingredients.
Step 6. Adjust the seasoning adding salt, pepper or extra lemon juice to the cabbage mixture as needed.
More Ideas
- Mayonnaise. I like to vary the coleslaw dressing by adding yoghurt or creme fraiche to the Mayonnaise. This gives it an extra tang and lightens the taste. If running short of Mayonnaise, I also find that adding yoghurt, creme fraiche or soured cream is a good way to stretch the Mayonnaise further.
- Apples. You can tune the sweetness level down by changing the apple variety (or adding more lemon juice). The FruitGuys.com website has a useful chart for comparing the sweetness of various apple varieties. Although I prefer red apples, you can of course go all green and use a sweet green apple variety such as Golden Delicious. If you prefer a more tangy coleslaw, try using tart apples, such as tart Granny Smith apples.
- Nuts. Echoing the flavours of a Waldorf Salad, sprinkle chopped walnuts onto the Coleslaw for some extra crunch.
- Dried Fruit. Add dried fruit such as raisins or cranberries to give some extra bursts of sugary sweetness.
Top Tips
- Sprinkle the grated apple with lemon juice as soon as possible after it has been grated. The lemon juice helps to prevent the apples from browning.
- Add the Mayonnaise to the grated apple and mix together thoroughly before adding the chopped cabbage. Again, this helps to prevent the apples from browning.
More Recipes with Mayonnaise
For another super easy salad, try this Quick Potato Salad with Spring Onions (Scallions).
Mayonnaise is a key ingredient of the classic bistro dish Oeufs Mayonnaise, for which you must make your own Homemade French Mayonnaise if you want to take part in the Oeufs Mayonnaise World Championship.
French Mayonnaise is amazingly easy to make and our recipe for Homemade French Mayonnaise (quick and fool-proof) is packed with tips for success!
📋 Recipe Card
Creamy Lemony Coleslaw with Apples (Sugar-Free)
Ingredients
- ½ white cabbage
- 1 red apple (such as Gala)
- ½ lemon
- 4-5 tablespoon mayonnaise
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Finely chop the white cabbage.
- Quarter the apples and remove the core. Finely chop or grate the apples. I like to use a box grater to grate the apples.
- Sprinkle the grated apple with the lemon juice from ½ lemon and put in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the Mayonnaise and thoroughly mix together with the grated apple and lemon juice.
- Add the finely chopped white cabbage. Mix together all the ingredients.
- Adjust the seasoning adding salt, pepper or extra lemon juice as needed.
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