Apple and Whiskey BBQ Coleslaw

Side dishes are so important to American BBQ, it’s easy to picture grills full of steaks, pork shoulder and lobster but when you see it plated up, there’s always great side dishes. I thought I would have a go at the ever popular BBQ Coleslaw. I’m not a fan of shop bought coleslaw, I find it much too heavy with the lashing of mayo they put in. In fact, when I make my own coleslaw, I often mix in a little yogurt to make it a bit lighter.

This is no ordinary coleslaw recipe though, today we’re making BBQ Coleslaw! When we picked up a bottle of the Belfast-made Smokin’ Yankees Apple and Whiskey BBQ Sauce, we knew this would be a wonderful way to test it out.

We thought this was a great BBQ Sauce. From their Twitter Profile, I think it’s one they developed for BBQ competitions (I’m sure they’ll correct me if I’m wrong). It’s deep and there’s a lot going on with it. We could definitely pick out the flavour of apples and some notes from the whiskey. This is an all round great sauce and the flavours worked perfectly with this BBQ Coleslaw.

We used traditional coleslaw vegetables like celery, red onion, red cabbage and carrot which give a very deep colour and crunchy texture, we also supplemented the sweetness of the sauce by grating in an apple. You can’t just mix these crunchy vegetables with the tasty sauce though. For a great BBQ Coleslaw, you need to thin the sauce out a little and add some more pickling flavours. For this BBQ Coleslaw, we used a mixture of Smokin’ Yankee Apple and Whiskey BBQ Sauce, white wine vinegar and Dijon mustard. Mix at least an hour before serving and stir right before giving it to your patient guests.

So, the next time you’re preparing a feast don’t forget that the side dishes are important too! Whether you’re making this BBQ Coleslaw, or maybe you’re having a go at some BBQ Beans or Sweetcorn, these need a good bit of effort and time too.

We also gave this sauce a go with some thick cut pork chops. We’ll have the recipe up soon!