I tried coleslaw recipes from Guy Fieri, Ina Garten, and Sunny Anderson, and the best one called for raisins and apples

Fieri's coleslaw is pretty classic, with green and red cabbages, shredded carrots, and plenty of mayo-based dressing. Although many of the ingredients were easy to find at the store, or even in my pantry, it was more difficult to find the mustard powder the dressing called for.

I ended up using ground mustard in place of mustard powder. I thought they were the same thing, but evidently powdered mustard has a finer texture than ground mustard.

I cut the recipe in half, so I used a quarter of a head of green cabbage and about one-eighth of a head of red cabbage. The recipe called for pre-shredded carrots, which made things easy.

In a small mixing bowl, I combined the dressing ingredients: mayonnaise, sour cream, salt, celery seeds, ground mustard, cayenne pepper, whole-grain mustard, sugar, and white vinegar.

Rather than pouring all of the dressing into the slaw mix at once, Fieri recommends adding only a portion at a time until it reaches the preferred wetness.

I added 3/4 of the total amount in the hopes of achieving a creamy coleslaw that still had some crunch. 

I thought Fieri's coleslaw had a great texture. It was creamy without being soggy, and it still had plenty of crunch in the veggies.

Unfortunately, I was hoping for more flavor in the dressing, especially with the additions of whole-grain mustard, ground mustard, and cayenne pepper.

Despite all these ingredients, the dressing was a bit bland. If I make this again, I'd double some of these flavorful additions.

I was excited to try Garten's vegetable coleslaw, which adds some kale into the mix in addition to lots of cabbage and carrots.

The whole batch of veggies is then mixed with a classic mayo-based dressing.

Although I'm not picky about the brand of mayo we keep at home, Garten's recipe specifically calls for "good mayonnaise," like Hellmann's or Best. I went with the latter.

I used a slicing blade to finely shred green and red cabbage. Then I flipped the blade to a grater to shred the carrots.

I only had to remove the ribs of the kale and thinly chop the leaves before adding them to the mix.

In a separate bowl, I combined all of the dressing ingredients: mayo, Dijon mustard, cider vinegar, celery seeds, celery salt, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

It called for quite a bit of both celery seeds and celery salt, and I'm not a very big fan of celery. The smell had me concerned about the flavor, but it was still easy to whip up.

I poured the mixed dressing into the shredded veggies and combined them.

I loved the extra veggies in this side dish. They helped give the slaw plenty of crunch to combat all the dressing.

The dressing also had great flavors, but I wish it wasn't so heavy on the celery.

I'd definitely make this again, but I'd tone down the celery for my own taste preferences.

Anderson's coleslaw recipe was unique, with the addition of Granny Smith apples and golden raisins. I wasn't sure how this would go with the mayo and sour cream, but I was looking forward to trying the sweet-and-savory combination.

Despite looking at three different grocery stores, I couldn't find any savoy cabbage, which the recipe called for. I figured the flavor would be similar if I subbed in green cabbage, but the savoy would've resulted in a more delicate texture.

I love some crunch in my slaw, so I was fine with the substitution.

To make Anderson's easy apple-raisin slaw, I started by assembling the dressing. It combined mayo, sour cream, golden raisins, celery seeds, and apple-cider vinegar.

In a large, separate bowl, I mixed the green cabbage (in place of savoy cabbage), shredded carrots, and shredded apples.

The apples were browning quickly, so I had to move fast to get them mixed with the dressing.

I never would've thought to put raisins in coleslaw or that I'd like them this much, but this dish was delicious. It balanced sweetness, savoriness, acidity, and some tanginess from ingredients like sour cream, Granny Smith apples, and raisins. 

I also liked that the slaw veggies were really crunchy, and the dressing was creamy without being too wet or soggy. The raisins added a nice chewiness.

I immediately wanted to whip up some spicy barbecue tofu to balance the sweetness in this slaw.

I'd make Fieri's and Garten's coleslaws again with some tweaks — more spices in Fieri's and fewer celery-based ingredients in Garten's.

But Anderson's sweet, savory, and tangy coleslaw came out perfect, even though I had to swap out the main cabbage.

I've already started planning meals around this side dish, and I can't wait to impress loved ones with it at summer cookouts. 

This story was originally published on July 3, 2023, and most recently updated on July 3, 2024. 

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