Cilantro Lime Bacon Coleslaw
31 Comments
Mar 10, 2021
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Cilantro lime bacon coleslaw is the ultimate addition to your next taco night or summer barbecue. Shredded cabbage is tossed with zesty cilantro lime goodness and crispy bacon bits for a mouthwatering and highly addictive slaw.
Bowls of guacamole and pico de gallo are taco night essentials. But when it comes to fish tacos (especially my shrimp tacos), this cilantro lime bacon coleslaw is a no brainer topping. It’s bright, refreshing, and the crispy bacon bits work amazingly in this slaw.
Coleslaw is one of my favorite summer recipes because you can serve it up as a side dish, a salad, or a topping on tacos, burgers, and more. It’s incredibly versatile, like a blank canvas for flavors, and you’ve seen me make a creamy coleslaw (the classic recipe) and a vinegar coleslaw (with no mayo). But you know I’m a sucker for anything “cilantro lime!”
Cilantro Lime Bacon Slaw Ingredients
With just a handful of ingredients, this coleslaw comes together in a cinch!
- Bacon: Master super crispy bacon bits with my oven baked recipe!
- Cabbage: I’m using green cabbage, but feel free to add in some red cabbage for a pop of color.
- Cilantro: You’ll need just 2 cups of lightly packed cilantro leaves.
- Lime Juice: As always, fresh squeezed lime juice is always best!
- Olive Oil: Helps to coat the cabbage in cilantro lime goodness.
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
4 Ways To Shred Cabbage
While it might be tempting to buy the pre-chopped coleslaw bag – fresh is the way to go. You’ll get much better results when it comes to both flavor and texture! Here’s a few ways to do it:
- Knife: Slice the cabbage in half, then into wedges. From there, slice along the vertical edge to make longer pieces or horizontally for shorter pieces.
- Mandolin: Once you’ve cut your cabbage into wedges, slice the with the cut edge down.
- Spiralizer: This is one of my favorites to slice in mere seconds! For an extra-large cabbage you may need to cut it in half. But for an average-sized one, just pop on the straight blade and twirl away.
- Box Grater: Don’t have the above tools? Don’t worry, a box grater will do! Just make sure to use the side with large holes on your grater.
How To Make Cilantro Lime Bacon Coleslaw
- Bake the bacon. Just pop it in the oven at 400°F for 18-20 minutes until crispy.
- Shred the cabbage. Using one of the above methods, shred the cabbage and toss it into a large mixing bowl. Add in the chopped cilantro as well.
- Make the dressing. Whisk together the oil, lime juice, salt, pepper, and drizzle it over the slaw.
- Toss it all together. Crumble in the bacon, give it a toss, and there you have it!
Ways To Use This Slaw
This slaw is the perfect way to add some fresh, zesty flavors to your meal. Personally, this is my favorite coleslaw for shrimp tacos. But here’s a few other ways to make the most of it.
- Add to tacos. While this is the perfect pairing with shrimp or grilled fish tacos, feel free to add it to classic carne asada tacos too!
- Add to a burrito bowl. Add some freshness to a carnitas burrito bowl or a barbacoa burrito bowl.
- Serve as a side. This will taste oh so delicious along with cilantro lime chicken, garlic grilled shrimp skewers, or juicy carnitas.
How To Store Coleslaw
Whether you’re making this for your weeknight dinner or an upcoming party, this slaw will keep for 3-5 days in the fridge. Just make sure to store it in an airtight container to retain its freshness.
Are You A Cilantro Lime Lover?
I’ve got a few more delicious ways to incorporate this fresh and zesty flavor into your everyday meals!
- Cilantro Lime Chicken
- Easy Cilantro Lime Rice (Chipotle copycat!)
- Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice (the low carb version)
- Citrus Lime Vinaigrette
If you make this cilantro lime bacon slaw, let me know how it turned out! I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below.
Cilantro Lime Bacon Coleslaw
Description
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and place the bacon slices side-by-side on the tray. Then cook the bacon for 18-20 minutes or until it's reached your desired level of crispiness. Remove the tray from the oven and transfer the bacon with tongs to a paper towel-lined plate.
- In a medium bowl, add the cabbage, cilantro, and crumbled bacon.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Then pour the dressing over the slaw.
- Toss everything together and serve in a large bowl.
Lisa's Tips
- You can slice the cabbage different ways depending on how you plan on serving this recipe. In these photos, I've sliced the cabbage chunkier, like a salad, but if you take a look at my shrimp taco recipe I've thinly shredded it as a topping.
- This is a relatively small portion of slaw (as I use it primarily as a taco topping), but you can always double the recipe for a larger portion or crowd. This has about 4 servings as a salad, but can top about 12 tacos in smaller amounts.
Nutrition
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This is SO good: great texture with the crispy bacon, the meaty cabbage softened by the oil and fresh lime juice. When you take a mouthful, you just want another one right away! A great variation on coleslaw.
It’s my personal favorite variation as well. :) Happy you love it, Carole!
This coleslaw is hands down my favorite to add to different dishes! From your shrimp tacos, breakfast eggs nest and baked sweet potato with bbq chicken!!! I did add onion to go along with bbq chicken and sweet potato!! So amazingly delicious!!! As always your recipes are fantastic!! By cooking your recipes I’m becoming healthier and relieving autoimmune disease symptoms and lymes disease symptoms!! Your recipes have changed my life!! Thank you, Lisa!!!
I’m so thrilled you love this coleslaw recipe, Heather! It’s one of my personal favorites as well. :) And I’m glad you’ve been enjoying many of my other recipes as well!
This is my go to side dish! It’s so good.
Bacon in the oven makes this super easy too.
Just taste tested as my carne asada grills. So delicious! Will be another amazing Downshiftology meal and the left overs will be amazing throughout the week.
Another delicious recipe, Lisa!! I served this unusual slaw with smoked pulled pork over sweet potatoes for our crowd of adult kids and I swear, I think someone licked the bowl! (might or might not have been me)
A new staple, for sure! Thank you for being so consistent in your excellent recipes. I know whatever of your recipes I prepare , it will be a crowd pleaser!
My favorite way to eat cabbage! This recipe is perfect! I always make this when we fire up the smoker.
Soooo…. I’ve made this before with the bacon, so delicious! This time I didn’t add the bacon because I served it with your carnitas and your cauliflower rice which I made with a Mexican flare… cumin, coriander, cilantro and chili powder. I love your recipes and how versatile they are! You can switch things up and it’s always yummy!! Thanks so much! ❤️
so simple, light and delicious.
appreciate all your recipes!
Thanks Pam, I’m glad you’re enjoying all my recipes!
Easy and Excellent Flavor!! Perfect on top of my Chicken Fajitas!
What a perfect combination for a flavorful dinner!
Made this and it is so nice and refreshing. I am always looking for more low carb salads, so thank you very much for the recipe!
Glad you love this slaw Celine!
Oh my gosh this recipe is delicious! I had missed it as part of your shrimp tacos, so glad you added it separately! This was a delicious side dish to add to a lunch. It is incredibly fresh and light tasting, I will definitely be making it again.
It sure is great as a side apart from the fish tacos :)
Bacon and cole slaw together sounds amazing! A perfect recipe for a summer bbq.
Absolutely! Perfect for any time really :)
Yum this coleslaw sounds and looks amazing! This is going to be made this weekend!
This is sure to be a weekend favorite!
Love this coleslaw! It’s so fresh and tasty. I also added red onion for color/taste and loved that addition as well! Thank you for sharing!
Love the idea of adding red onion to this for color :)
This looks refreshing, delicious, and healthy! I love the combo of ingredients!
Thanks Journa! It’s a delicious tangy and savory combo :)
What a delicious way to enjoy cabbage! Such a winner with the addition of bacon :) Yum!
The bacon bits work wonders in this coleslaw :)
Just made and ate this beautiful bacon coleslaw. It was delicious!!! This recipe’s a keeper.
Happy to hear you enjoyed this coleslaw recipe Denay!
Hey shorty!! Love your website. I hope you’ll do a bok choy recipe sometime without all that gross processed saucy oily peanuty stuff I found in other recipes. You’re my go-to for healthy recipes! I heard it’s really high in calcium!
Hi there! I actually have a Garlic Ginger Bok Choy recipe on my website :) You can find it through the search bar.