Forget Classic Coleslaw – Add This Tangy Ingredient For 20X The Flavor

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Coleslaw is a classic side dish that hits its stride during cookout season, a staple part of the spread at barbecues and picnics. The creamy and crunchy accompaniment is a cooling contrast to grilled meats, balances fried foods, provides a tasty veggie pop to sandwiches, and can be used in a myriad of other ways. Its flavor winningly marries cabbage's earthy pepperiness with a zesty, sometimes sweet dressing, which also usually includes a vinegar, like apple cider or red wine, and maybe a little sugar. Mustard, celery seed, and buttermilk are other common additional ingredients. However, the slaw can get a major flavor boost with the tangy addition of sweet pickle relish.

The relish is made from chopped cucumber pickles, combined with sugar or corn syrup, and may include other vegetables like red bell pepper or onion. Blending it into the slaw's mayonnaise-based dressing gives more tanginess and sweetness to the sauce. Depending on how big the pickle bits are, the relish can also bring a little extra crunch.

The dressing is mixed with shredded or grated cabbage and often carrots as well. Other vegetables like onions, bell peppers, or celery are sometimes included, and you can use other unique ingredients too. Assemble the coleslaw up to about two hours ahead of time to keep it from getting too watery from the sliced veggies. You can also prevent excess seeping by sprinkling some salt and a little sugar over the cut cabbage in a colander to let the liquid drain. Rinse it after about 15 minutes and pat or spin it dry.

Sweet pickle relish particularly shows up in Southern-style coleslaw, just as the South's go-to mayonnaise is Duke's. Sweet relish is often part of potato salad in that part of the U.S. too, which commonly includes hard-boiled eggs and celery.

Country music and Food Network star Trisha Yearwood uses it in the coleslaw recipe she got from her mom, which appears in her cookbook, "Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen." Yearwood shared on Facebook that it's not necessary to add sugar to the dressing because of the relish, and that you can swap it for sweet salad cubes, which is the same thing with larger chopped pieces. Country legend Dolly Parton makes her slaw with a related ingredient twist, adding sweet pickle juice and chopped dill pickles.

Coleslaw brightened with this special addition can bring more oomph to foods it's frequently paired with in a meal. When topping a fried fish sandwich, its relish echoes and amplifies a similar ingredient in the fish's tartar sauce. Served on or with a pulled pork sandwich, its tangy sweetness matches the same sugary tang in the pork's sauce. Just the same, the cool slaw's relish-sweetened dressing helps tame a Nashville hot chicken sandwich's heat.