Savory and a little sweet, this celery slaw salad gets extra crunch from apple and carrot with a tangy flavor bump from fresh crumbles of blue cheese.
For all you coleslaw purists out there, yes, I know, this is not the traditional coleslaw salad. For that, check out my recipe for the Best Creamy Coleslaw or my No-Mayo Sweet Vinegar Coleslaw Salad.
But if you’re hunting for a little something special, this celery slaw with blue cheese fits the bill. It’s fresh and crunchy, savory and sweet, and wildly quick to make, and features ingredients that are seasonal no matter what time of year.
So, how do you make classic coleslaw even better? Add more spunk—think blue cheese and a tangy vinaigrette—with celery, carrots, and apples adding more crunch to munch in your coleslaw mix.
What’s In Blue Cheese Celery Slaw
This coleslaw recipe calls for the regular coleslaw mix you’ll find at the grocery store, then adds celery and a light vinaigrette to really get it going.
- Coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage
- Celery
- Green onion
- Carrot
- Apple
- Blue cheese
- Canola oil
- White vinegar
- Celery seed
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
How to Make Celery Slaw
There truly isn’t much to making this celery slaw salad, where you’ll spend more time chopping than you will be mixing it together.
Use store-bought coleslaw mix or shred your own. I take the easy route and use bagged slaw mix. If you want to shred your own, shred or thinly slice the cabbage into nice, thin strips.
Thinly slice or julienne the other crunchy vegetables. This salad tastes best when you get bits of bites of all the ingredients at once. Use a julienne peeler (I love this set of peelers) or a chef’s knife to thinly slice the celery, carrot, green onion, and apple.
Buy a good quality blue cheese and crumble it yourself. Already crumbled cheeses are dry and bland and don’t have nearly the flavor freshly crumbled do.
Blue Cheese Slaw Dressing
This coleslaw dressing is oil and vinegar-based, keeping the salad flavors light and bright, not thick or heavy.
In a small bowl or jar with a fitted lid, mix the dressing ingredients together with a few of the blue cheese crumbles, then dress the coleslaw, toss, and serve.
Reserve some of the blue cheese crumbles to sprinkle on top. Presentation is just about as important as taste, where a few crumbles of cheese on top of the salad give eaters a preview of what’s in store.
How Long Does Coleslaw Last?
This coleslaw salad tastes best after a 30-minute rest in the fridge before serving it. This gives the flavors time to come together. These ingredients are all sturdy, and won’t wilt before serving.
Additions and Substitutions for This Recipe
- Instead of blue cheese, try creamy gorgonzola, sharp white cheddar cheese, or a spunky feta cheese
- Add chopped nuts like toasted pecans or walnuts, or sunflower seed or pepitas
- Add shredded purple cabbage to the mix
- Try any variety of apple
- Thinly sliced red bell pepper adds a sweet bite
What to Serve With This Slaw
- Crispy Baked Buffalo Chicken Breasts
- Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Crunchy Slaw
- Parmesan Crusted Chicken
- The Best BBQ Chicken
- Pulled Chicken Sandwich with Creamy Ranch Sauce
- Bacon Cheeseburger with Caramelized Onions
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Celery Slaw with Apple and Blue Cheese
Ingredients
- 4 cups coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage , about 7 ounces
- 4 celery ribs , very thinly sliced
- 4 green onions
- 1 carrot , thinly julienned or shredded
- 1 small apple , cored and thinly sliced
- ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
- ½ cup canola oil
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, toss the coleslaw mix, celery, green onion, carrot, apple, and blue cheese. In a small bowl, mix the canola oil, vinegar, sugar, celery seed, kosher salt, and black pepper. Pour the dressing over the slaw mixture and toss to coat. Taste for seasoning, and sprinkle with more blue cheese and green onion for a pretty topping. The slaw can be served immediately but tastes best with about 30 minutes resting time for the flavors to come together. The salad can be refrigerated for 3-4 days.
Nutrition
More Crunchy Slaw Recipes
- How to Make the Best Creamy Coleslaw
- Easy Coleslaw Dressing
- Sweet Vinegar Coleslaw (No Mayo)
- Easy Mexican Coleslaw Recipe
- Kale and Cabbage Coleslaw with Marcona Almonds
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This was so delicious my husband and I ate The Leftovers for lunch the next day, and I made it again the following day for dinner!
Awesome, so glad you liked it my fellow Heidi. :)
This slaw was excellent. The celery supplied a good crunch. We like blue cheese, so the flavors fit our taste preference. It came together easy and so quick. The blue cheese especially complimented our fall meal of pork chops and baked sweet potatoes. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Thank you so much Jan, we’re happy you enjoyed it!
Problem with receipe you state pecans in the instructions but no were do you mention pecans in the ingredients list. Why is that.?
Hi Connie. We don’t use pecans in this recipe, so that’s a typo (though we do suggest them as an addition that would be yummy). Thanks for pointing this out, we’ve corrected the instructions!