Kefir coleslaw

By Nik, founder of 東歐嚴選｜kefir.link and former chef · Updated 2 November 2026

Coleslaw earns its place next to fried chicken and barbecue for one simple reason: its crunch and sharp acidity cut straight through smoky, fatty meat. This lighter version skips the mayonnaise altogether. Plain milk kefir makes the dressing creamy and tangy, red wine vinegar sharpens it, and a spoonful of honey rounds it off.

A salad whose name means cabbage salad

The word coleslaw comes from Dutch, and it means nothing more than cabbage salad. The dish is traced to the Netherlands, where it was an established side by the eighteenth century, and the Dutch word appears in print in 1746. The American English form followed in 1794. Today coleslaw is popular in North America, Britain and the Netherlands, both in a creamy style and in a sharp vinegar-and-oil style.

Taiwanese home cooks usually make it with mayonnaise or yogurt, sharpened with lemon juice or vinegar. They serve it with fried chicken, steak or ribs.

Kefir does the job of buttermilk

Many creamy coleslaws get their tang from buttermilk, and plain, unsweetened kefir can replace it in equal amounts. Here kefir and a little oil make the whole dressing, so it coats the shreds lightly instead of smothering them. Dill, chives or coriander can stand in for the parsley. Pile the slaw onto a barbecue chicken sandwich, or serve it with burgers, hot dogs or fish and chips.

Why coleslaw turns watery

Cabbage is mostly water, and the salt in a dressing slowly draws that water out. As the slaw sits, the dressing thins into a puddle at the bottom of the bowl, and buttermilk-style dressings are especially prone to this. If you want the slaw to stay crisp for longer, toss the shreds with a little salt for about 5 minutes, then rinse and dry them well before dressing. Leave them longer and the cabbage turns limp. A thin kefir dressing works best with a short rest, so the cabbage takes on the flavour while it is still crisp.