This easy Mexican coleslaw recipe is ready in 5 minutes and makes a delicious southwestern-style side to serve with main dishes. Packed with the perfect amount of spice and tangy flavor, a creamy cilantro lime slaw recipe is a refreshing complement to summer cookouts.
Mexican Coleslaw Sidedish
A Mexican coleslaw recipe is the perfect marriage of my copycat KFC Coleslaw and Mexican Corn Salad, easily combined to create one creamy cabbage slaw for tacos.
Made with a shredded Mexican cabbage salad plus plenty of spices and seasonings, the simple cole slaw mix is tossed and coated in a creamy Mexican coleslaw dressing.
Cilantro lime coleslaw is crispy, cool, bright and tangy all at the same time; it makes a crunchy topping for fish tacos, a savory stuffing for sandwiches, adds bulk to burgers and burritos, and pairs perfectly with your favorite Mexican food.
Pile this coleslaw for tacos on your plate and taste how it transforms bland chicken, shrimp, beef, or beans into the best Mexican meal.
From appetizers to desserts to dinners plus some side dishes too, I have many easy Mexican recipes that you can make with this Mexican Slaw!
Why We Love This Taco Coleslaw Recipe
- Quick and easy to make in 5 minutes.
- Uses fresh, simple ingredients.
- Tangy cabbage slaw for tacos is low carb and gluten free.
- Delicious topping for tacos or side dish to accompany a main meal.
- Perfect for picnics, backyard barbecues, potlucks, and Cinco de Mayo parties.
More Mexican Recipes
Ingredients
- Mayonnaise: You can also use full-fat plain Greek yogurt to make it more healthy.
- Sour cream
- Fresh lime juice: I prefer to use fresh squeezed lime juice for this recipe, but bottled like juice will work too.
- Taco seasoning: I love using my homemade taco seasoning!
- Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Fresh coleslaw blend (shredded cabbage & shredded carrots)
- Frozen southwestern style corn mix
- Green onions
- Fresh cilantro
- Optional Garnish- additional sprinkle of chopped green onions, chopped cilantro and southwest style corn
Substitutions and Additions
- Add Ins: You can add avocado for some protein, extra veggies (like bell peppers, red onions, jicama, and/or radishes) for more vitamins, or nuts and seeds for extra crunch.
- Serving Suggestions: The best part about this Mexican slaw recipe is that it can be so much more than a side. Some serving ideas include:
- Taco Topper: Top your Queso Chicken Tacos, Sheet Pan Tacos, Oven Baked Beef Tacos, and Taco Lasagna with this tangy taco coleslaw.
- Bulk Up Burritos: Use this taco slaw to bulk up your Burrito Bowl and Baked Burritos.
- Stuff Your Sandwich: This slaw works great as a stuffing for Air Fryer Hamburgers, Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes, Crockpot Chicken Quesadillas, Crack Chicken Sliders, as well as your other favorite sandwiches.
Recommended Tools
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring tools
- Wooden spoon
- Large Serving bowl
See Full Recipe Card Below
Jump to RecipeHow to Make Mexican Coleslaw
- Make The Dressing: Stir together the mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice, taco seasoning, chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, salt, and black pepper.
- Make The Coleslaw Mixture: Combine the coleslaw mix, corn, green onions, and cilantro. Add the dressing to completely coat.
- Serve: Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish, and serve. Enjoy!
Tips From Our Recipe Developer
- You can substitute a frozen, and thawed, mexican street corn mix for the southwest style corn mix. It will typically have charred corn and peppers in it. If the frozen bags are unavailable in your area you can also substitute with a 15.2 oz. can of Southwest style corn with peppers. You will want to make sure to drain all the liquid from the can before adding it to your taco coleslaw.
- Fresh squeezed lime juice will give you the best flavor, but you can also use bottled like juice to save time.
Storage Tips
- To Store: This taco coleslaw is best served chilled. You can make it ahead of time and keep it refrigerated, covered with plastic wrap, for up to 8 hours before serving.
Other Easy Side Dish Recipes
- Mexican Street Corn
- BLT Pasta Salad
- Easy Baked Beans
- Olive Garden Salad
- Mexican Street Corn Dip
- Salad Supreme Pasta Salad
Taco Coleslaw
Serves — 8
Taco Coleslaw is a delicious combination of creamy coleslaw mixed with Mexican corn salad. Easy to make in 5 minutes, it's the perfect side for picnics, potlucks, or topping for tacos.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 16 oz bag fresh coleslaw blend (shredded cabbage & shredded carrots)
- 21.6 oz (2 10.8-oz) bag frozen southwestern style corn mix thawed (1-2 tablespoons reserved for optional garnish)
- ⅓ cup green onions chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped
- Optional Garnish- additional sprinkle of chopped green onions, chopped cilantro and southwest style corn
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, fresh lime juice, taco seasoning, minced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, salt and black pepper. Stir to combine.
- In a large mixing bowl add the bag of fresh coleslaw mix, thawed southwestern style corn mix, chopped green onions and chopped fresh cilantro.
- To the large mixing bowl with the coleslaw ingredients add the taco dressing and mix to completely coat all the coleslaw with the dressing.
- Transfer to a large serving bowl and top with the optional garnish of chopped green onions, cilantro and southwest style corn mix.
Jenn’s Notes
Storage:
This taco coleslaw is best served chilled. You can make it ahead of time and keep it refrigerated, covered with plastic wrap, for up to 8 hours before serving.
Tips:
- You can substitute a frozen, and thawed, mexican street corn mix for the southwest style corn mix. It will typically have charred corn and peppers in it. If the frozen bags are unavailable in your area you can also substitute with a 15.2 oz. can of Southwest style corn with peppers. You will want to make sure to drain all the liquid from the can before adding it to your taco coleslaw.
- You will find the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, usually in small cans, in the latin food section of your grocery store. There are multiple peppers inside each can. You can transfer the additional chipotle peppers in sauce into a freezer safe container and store it in the refrigerator, or freezer, for up to 1 month. These peppers are very hot. I find that one pepper is plenty to add a nice amount of heat to the coleslaw without being too hot. However, if you really enjoy spice you can feel free to add more of the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce to your dressing.
- For ease of use I love buying the bags of pre-shredded cabbage and carrots (labeled as coleslaw mix) in my produce section. If you prefer to shred your own cabbage and carrots then you will need about 6 cups total. You can also use a shredded kale or broccoli slaw blend as a substitute for the cabbage coleslaw blend.
- Fresh squeezed lime juice will give you the best flavor, but you can also use bottled like juice to save time.
Nutrition Info
Calories: 301kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 387mg | Potassium: 298mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 508IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 1mg
My family requests this at every family gathering. It is so good and so easy to make.