The Tangy Sauce That Makes A Perfect Coleslaw Dressing 

Coleslaw has an unfortunate reputation as a sad, obligatory vegetable side dish. It tends to get bypassed at barbecue feasts and passed over at potlucks. The bad rap is not unfounded — it can sometimes be overly dressed, oddly sweet, completely limp, or all of the above. But the raw cabbage salad has the potential to be so much more than that. Although you can purchase a tub of pre-made coleslaw at almost any grocery store, it's totally easy — and totally worth it — to whip it up at home. Homemade coleslaw is practically guaranteed to be fresher, crunchier, and just plain better than the store-bought kind. But either way, you can freshen it up with different dressings and mix-ins. Case in point: A tangy tzatziki sauce dressing is the perfect way to give your coleslaw a tasty Greek twist.  

At its best, coleslaw is tangy, creamy, crunchy, and flavor-packed, making it the perfect foil for juicy smoked meats or crispy fried chicken. And while it might sound like an odd pairing, tzatziki sauce makes an ideal coleslaw dressing for several reasons.

Like coleslaw, tzatziki is a broadly defined dish with many iterations, but the unifying factors are yogurt, garlic, and cucumbers. In our opinion, using tzatziki sauce as a coleslaw dressing combines all the best elements of different forms of coleslaw. We enjoy the tang of vinegar-based coleslaws, but they're often too acidic and harsh; and we love the creamy richness of mayo-based coleslaws, but they tend to be bland and strangely sweet. Tzatziki sauce, however, brings the perfect balance of tanginess, creaminess, and flavor to a coleslaw. 

While you can certainly make the tzatziki sauce from scratch and chop up a fresh head of cabbage, a few store-bought meal-prep shortcuts make throwing together a tzatziki-based coleslaw as easy as can be. Simply combine a bag of pre-shredded cabbage and a tub of tzatziki, and you have a fresh, zesty, flavor-packed coleslaw in less than five minutes. It doesn't get easier than that.

Using tzatziki sauce as coleslaw dressing is delicious, but it's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to coleslaw twists. You can add all kinds of fruits, herbs, nuts, spices, and even cheeses to your coleslaw for amped-up flavor and texture. For example, through a quick online search, you can easily find recipes for coleslaw with olives and anchovies, coleslaw with grapes and almonds, and coleslaw with apples and blue cheese.

Even better, you don't have to worry about offending coleslaw purists. The name coleslaw comes from koolsla: In Dutch, kool means "cabbage" and sla is translated into "salad." So essentially, as long as there's raw cabbage in the mix, it's fair game. While we're already pushing the boundaries, we'd like to add that coleslaw doesn't just have to be a side dish — it makes a wonderful sandwich addition, taco topping, salad component, and so much more. From tangy tzatziki dressing to creative mix-ins, effortless and crave-worthy coleslaw is ready for your next potluck.