Classic BBQ slaw gets a Texas attitude adjustment with tangy buttermilk dressing and enough jalapeño bite to keep your mouth awake. This isn't the mayo-heavy cafeteria stuff—we're talking crisp cabbage that stays crunchy.←Back to Taco Topping Recipes
3 cup green cabbage, finely shredded
0.25 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1.5 tbsp jalapeño, seeded and minced
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp honey
1.5 tsp kosher salt
0.25 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
Toss shredded cabbage with 1 tsp salt and let it sit for 15 minutes - this is where patience pays dividends.
Whisk together buttermilk, mayo, jalapeño, vinegar, honey, remaining 0.5 tsp salt, and black pepper until smooth.
Drain any liquid from the cabbage and pat it dry with paper towels.
Toss cabbage with the buttermilk dressing and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Add chives and give it one final toss before serving because nobody likes wilted herbs or a separated slaw situation.
Chef's Notes
The salting step is the secret that separates great slaw from watery disappointment. Cabbage is mostly water, and salting draws it out through osmosis while also tenderizing the shreds slightly. Toss your shredded cabbage with salt, let it sit 15 minutes, then drain and pat dry. Skip this and you'll be eating cabbage soup by the time the taco hits your mouth. A mandoline makes quick work of shredding cabbage uniformly thin, but a sharp knife and some patience work too. Buttermilk is the tangy, slightly thick liquid left after churning butter, and it's what gives Southern cooking its distinctive twang. If you don't have it, mix 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon white vinegar, let it sit 5 minutes until it curdles slightly, and you've got a reasonable substitute. The real thing is better, but we work with what we have. This slaw actually improves after 30 minutes in the fridge as the dressing softens the cabbage and the flavors meld, but it gets soggy after about 4 hours. The sweet spot is somewhere between "just made" and "forgotten in the back of the fridge." Add the chives at the last minute so they stay bright and perky rather than wilting into the dressing like they've given up on life.
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