This vintage Cole Slaw recipe relies on a mayo-free oil and vinegar dressing flavored with dry mustard and celery seed. Straight from my Mother-in-Law’s recipe box, it is the perfect side for barbecues and picnic dinners.
Picnic Recipes
It’s no secret that I don’t like mayonnaise. I never have. Perhaps I’m not alone in that aversion but it is a peculiarity that makes summer entertaining a bit of a challenge. I love picnics but, for as long as I can remember, picnics and potlucks mean lots of salads drenched in dressing made with mayonnaise. It can be discouraging.
Some believe it can also be dangerous. Mayonnaise based salads are one of the foods we are most often warned to treat with particular care during picnic season. While current opinions vary, believe me, I embrace that warning. Whether it is the mayonnaise itself that is the culprit or the conditions surrounding its use, mayonnaise, especially when it is homemade, has a reputation for hosting bacterial growth in warm atmospheric conditions.
For me that’s reason enough to collect recipes for salads that have an oil and vinegar based dressing, especially for hot weather social events. One of my favorites was given to me by my Father-in-Law. It was a favorite of his from my Mother-in-Law’s recipe box.
An Old Favorite
My husband comes from a large family. At one family gathering the conversation turned to memories of favorite foods. There were stories of holidays and special events, dinner guests, cleaning up after dinner and more. And of course there were stories about favorite recipes.
My Father-in-Law told the family, “Your mother used to make Railroad Cole Slaw. You’ll never get cole slaw like that anywhere nowadays. You could make it and it would last for weeks. Shred cabbage, I think you add an onion sliced thin. Then you put together vinegar, oil and dried mustard. Then you boil it. Pour it over the slaw and it sits out for 4 or 5 hours. After that you put it in the refrigerator and eat it out of the refrigerator.”
I love old recipes and this one sounded interesting. I asked my Father-in-Law if he would share the recipe and he let me copy it from my Mother-in-Law’s recipe card. I promised to try it when I got home. By dinnertime the next day I had a beautifully crisp slaw with a sweetly tangy dressing. As promised, Railroad Cole Slaw is delicious. It also keeps well and goes with almost everything.
Railroad Cole Slaw
Course: SaladCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy12
servings20
minutes4
minutes4
hours20
minutesMade with an oil and vinegar based dressing, this vintage Cole Slaw recipe goes great with Barbecue and is perfect for hot weather social events.
Ingredients
1 head cabbage, grated
1 onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
3/4 cup salad oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Directions
- Place half the grated cabbage in a bowl and layer half the sliced onions on top.
- Sprinkle sugar over onion. Layer other half grated cabbage and then other half sliced onions over this.
- In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, oil, salt, celery seed and dry mustard. Bring mixture to a boil and pour over cabbage-onion mixture.
Do not refrigerate. Due to modern sensibilities I suggest refrigerating it. The recipe will still work out just fine.- Let slaw
stand at room temperaturerest in refrigerator four hours, then stir to dissolve sugar. - Add carrots or green pepper for color, if desired.
- Store in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Recipe Source: my Mother-in-Law’s recipe box.
This is similar to my grandmother’s. Now I am 70 so it goes back a long way and no pre made sauces were available. She used to also whisk an egg yolk into the hot vinegar mix and it turned it into a work of art.
Sounds wonderful, Jo. Thanks for sharing your grandmother’s version and your appreciation of her art!
I made a combination of this recipe and a kosher deli health salad. Added thinly sliced green pepper, carrots and celery. My food processor 4 mm slicing disc made quick work of all of the knife work.
In the dressing I put 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 water and nuked for 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved, then added the remaining ingredients. I increased the celery seed to 2 teaspoons.
I remember a salad of this type that was available in containers in the deli case near the potato salad and regular cole slaw during the 1970’s, I always wanted to try and duplicate……
I just put a large bowl in the fridge to marinate.
Thanks for sharing your ideas. Your salad sounds delicious!
This is perfect for summer picnics of which there will still be many.
Both recipes are terrific! I like the name Railroad Slaw! ;0)
I love mayo, but I prefer my coleslaw with a vinegar base.
Well I do love mayo but this sounds delish and safer at picnics!