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Refreshing, bright, tangy: this easy creamy Cilantro Lime Slaw is as colorful as it is flavorful! Cabbage cilantro lime slaw for shrimp tacos, fish tacos, and more. A tasty cilantro lime cole slaw for picnics, lunch, and BBQs!
Why We Love This Recipe
- Easy to Make: whisk together a homemade dressing, then toss with chopped veggies. That’s it!
- Deliciously Creamy & Fresh: fresh limes, an abundance of cilantro, and a little honey make for incredible flavor!
- Goes great with shrimp tacos, salmon bowls, and shrimp bowls.
Cilantro Lime Slaw for Shrimp Tacos or Fish Tacos!
I specially developed this cilantro lime slaw recipe for shrimp tacos—namely these unbelievably good bang bang shrimp tacos. The bright citrus crisp of creamy cabbage slaw goes so well with fried shrimp, fish tacos, and these Panko shrimp tacos.
Growing up, we did not eat much coleslaw, and when we did, it was not the fresh kind. As an adult, I’m re-doing my whole outlook on cole slaw, slaw, or however you like to call it. 😉 This creamy cilantro lime slaw is just the right amount of tangy and creamy, with crisp cabbage, fresh lime juice, plenty of fresh cilantro, and touch of honey.
The result is a cilantro lime cabbage slaw that tastes amazing with practically anything: fish tacos, shrimp tacos, popcorn shrimp, and so much more.
Cilantro Lime Cole Slaw Ingredients
- Red & green cabbage: I like this combo for the color and the subtle difference in texture.
- Carrots
- Jalapeños: remember to deseed these, or they’ll be painfully spicy!
- Onion
- Mayonnaise: adds just enough creaminess to truly make this cabbage cole slaw.
- Cilantro: make sure to finely chop fresh cilantro so we can skip the food processor!
- Limes: use fresh-squeezed limed juice for the best flavor; bottled will make not-so-good slaw.
- Garlic
- Honey: adds just a touch of sweetness to balance the creamy citrus flavor of this slaw.
- Salt & Pepper: once you stir everything together, add more of each as desired.
How to Make Lime Cilantro Slaw
All it takes are three easy steps to make lime cilantro slaw. Most of this recipe is chopping and slicing, a task I findly oddly soothing.
- Make the dressing: Whisk mayonnaise, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, honey, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
- Slice & toss veggies into a large bowl, including red and green cabbage, carrots, onions, and jalapeños.
- Toss veggies in dressing: Pour the dressing over the veggies and toss to coat. Add creamy cilantro lime slaw to shrimp tacos, fish tacos, and more!
Cilantro Lime Slaw – No Mayo
To make cilantro lime slaw with no mayo, simply substitute the mayonnaise in this recipe with the same amount of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. Easy!
Customizations
- Adjust sweetness: for more, increase the honey; for less, leave it out altogether (although it’s very subtle).
- Make it brighter: put in more lime juice or less.
- Increase or decrease the heat: For more heat, increase the amount of jalapeños to your liking, and maybe add in a few squirts of your favorite hot sauce to the cilantro lime slaw for fish tacos. To decrease heat, remove jalapeños completely.
- For a lighter option: as mentioned above, you can cut the calories by swapping the mayo with equal parts light sour cream or light Greek yogurt.
- Adjust the veggies: Don’t like carrots? Leave them out and sub with more cabbage and onions. Adjust any of the veggies to your liking, just keep the overall quantity the same so there’s enough dressing.
Cilantro Lime Slaw For Shrimp Tacos & More…
- Tacos & Burritos: crispy Panko shrimp tacos, fish tacos, bean and cheese burritos, bang bang shrimp bowl, cheese and mushroom quesadilla.
- Seafood Dishes: Asian salmon, blackened salmon, coconut shrimp
- Chicken: buffalo wings, air fryer lemon pepper wings, Cajun chicken drumsticks, homemade chicken nuggets
- More Sides: easy mashed potatoes, Hasselback sweet potatoes, tortellini pesto pasta salad.
Tools You Need
- Japanese Mandoline Slicer – the super fast, super sharp vegetable slicer I grew up seeing my mom use. It lasts forever and is now my go-to.
- Safety Gloves – this is basically required. As sharp as the slicer is, you’ll be needing safety gloves to avoid any incidents. Love these!
For more delicious recipe ideas like cilantro lime cole slaw, follow us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. If you’ve tried this recipe, take a pic and tag us on Instagram using #beamingbaker. We can’t wait to see it! Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️
More Lime, Cilantro, Cabbage Recipes
Creamy Cilantro Lime Slaw
Equipment
Ingredients
Creamy Cilantro Dressing
- ½ cup mayonnaise*
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 2 limes, juiced and zested
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Cilantro Lime Slaw
- 1 ½ cups red cabbage, shredded
- 1 ½ cups green cabbage, shredded
- 1 cup carrots, grated
- 1 green onion, chopped
- 2 jalapeños, deseeded and finely chopped, skip or reduce if sensitive to heat
Instructions
- Add all Creamy Cilantro Dressing ingredients into a medium bowl: mayonnaise, cilantro, limes, garlic, honey, salt and pepper. Whisk until well mixed. If needed, add lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.
- In a large bowl, toss to combine cilantro lime slaw ingredients: red cabbage, green cabbage, carrots, green onion, and jalapeños. Use a mandoline slicer with safety gloves to cut veggies quickly and evenly.
- Pour dressing over vegetables. Toss to combine and thoroughly coat. Serve with bang bang shrimp tacos, with crispy shrimp tacos and salmon rice bowl. Enjoy!
- ★ Last Step: If you made this recipe, leave a comment and review. It truly helps our small business keep running and it helps readers like you!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
