Give Coleslaw The Upgrade It Deserves With This Sweet Ingredient

One of the big mistakes that can happen when making coleslaw is omitting at least one star ingredient that can elevate your cabbage-heavy dish with some serious "wow" factor. Admittedly, basic coleslaw can be stodgy and dull, but Southern home cooks know a simple pick-me-up that you likely already have in your fridge: sweet pickle relish. It should come as no surprise that sweet pickle relish elevates this side dish, considering the essential role it's been known to play in some of coleslaw's close culinary cousins: potato, macaroni, egg, tuna, and chicken salads. There's just something about a relish of briny, tangy pickles that brings a little sweet somethin' somethin' to your dish ... and it couldn't be easier to incorporate.

We've discussed fresh additions that can upgrade store-bought coleslaw, but the particular beauty of adding sweet relish to your dressing is that it's compatible with nearly any coleslaw recipe you prefer. Do you like to just dump a bag of pre-shredded veggie mix in a bowl? Presto, just stir some relish into the dressing that comes along with the kit! On the other hand, if you prefer to make coleslaw a labor of love and shred your cabbage, carrots, and any other crispy players by hand yourself, the addition of sweet relish into your treasured family recipe is an easy way to give your bowl some sass without changing up the formula too much. Relish will slip easily into most coleslaw preparations, but it really shines if you are willing to dress up the formula, too.

On a Facebook post dedicated to "old fashioned cooking," a home cook swore by sweet relish as one component of their coleslaw recipe. Notably, this user grated fresh onion into their sweet relish slaw along with cabbage and carrots, providing a complementary source of sweet, sharp crunch. On a different post in the same group, another sweet relish-loving coleslaw creator alleged that a couple of "heaping" tablespoons of sugar added to the appeal. That said, we wonder if this may be too cloying for some, depending on their tolerance for sweet side dishes. Elsewhere on the site, another coleslaw recipe veered in a more zingy, savory direction with the addition of vinegar and both red and green bell peppers to play off the sugar in the sweet pickle relish.

Technically, there are no rules about what you can "properly" put in coleslaw. If you enjoy the sugar of sweet relish and want to really lean in, how about jazzing things up with some mango in your slaw? Shaved fennel or sugar snap peas in your veggie blend will also introduce texture while building layers of flavor. On the other hand, if you like the inclusion of pickle-y flavor, but not the sweetness, dill relish might be the substitute you crave. Or, hear us out ... what about some slivered cornichons? There's a difference between cornichons and gherkins, as you know, and matchsticks of these mouth-puckering pickles will definitely put some spring in your 'slaw.