Sweet Vidalia Onion Slaw is an utterly simple, utterly brilliant side for your next picnic, barbecue, or potluck — the famously mellow onions are sliced paper thin and tossed with a cool buttermilk dressing — it’s a little bit of heaven on a paper plate!
Vidalias are super mild, sweet onions that were only discovered by accident in Vidalia Georgia in the 1930s — something about the soil in that particular area resulted in their unusual mellow quality, and they’re so darned sweet and delicious that they eventually became trademarked. The only onions that can call themselves Vidalias are from those certain counties in Georgia. Vidalias are mild enough to eat right out of hand, like an apple, but I think this slaw is an even better idea. Serve it as a side, or on hot dogs, brats, burgers, sandwiches, etc. It goes with anything and everything and couldn’t be simper…
I made an appropriately Southern style slaw dressing to complement these Georgian gems. It’s a blend of buttermilk, mayo, and a champagne vinegar. A bit of salt, pepper, and a good dash of celery seeds completes this dressing. The buttermilk and the champagne vinegar work together to elevate even a homey slaw into something special.
If you’re like me and generally avoid eating too many raw onions, I think you’ll be amazed at how you can tolerate these without any problems at all. The flavor is sweet and mellow, and there’s none of the harsh sharpness we associate with regular onions. Unlike regular onions, sweet onions can be stored in the refrigerator.
Onions are so tightly packed that when you slice one of them paper thin and separate all the strands it’ll fill a pretty good sized bowl. I love this recipe because with just one onion you can have this sweet Vidalia onion slaw on the table in no time. Most people don’t know it but onions are really healthy — they can help prevent everything from heart attacks and strokes, to ulcers and cancer. This delicious slaw might just put cabbage out of business!
tvfgi recommends: a sturdy mandoline slicer
I couldn’t do without my mandoline slicer, I use it all the time for salads, French fries, gratins, and slaws like this one. It’s earned its place in my kitchen countless times, I won’t be without it.
make this recipe your own!
- make it creamy ~ this dressing is on the thin side…if you’d like it thicker and creamier, use half the amount of buttermilk.
- make it with a kick ~ I almost added a bit of horseradish, I think that would be nice. Or a bit of grainy Dijon mustard…depends on your mood.
- make it light ~ to lighten the dressing try using Greek yogurt in place of the mayo. Don’t worry about the buttermilk, despite its name, it’s super low in fat. If you don’t have buttermilk you can use regular milk, but the flavor won’t be as good.
Sweet Vidalia Onion Slaw
Ingredients
- 2 Vidalia onions, or other sweet variety
buttermilk dressing
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp champagne vinegar
- 2 tsp celery seeds
- 1/2 tsp salt
- lots of fresh cracked black pepper
garnish
- dill, parsley, thyme, or chive
Instructions
- Peel and slice the onions into 1/8 inch slices. This is best done on a mandolin slicer. Cut the slices in half or thirds.
- Put the onions into a bowl, carefully separating the strands as you add them.
- Whisk together the dressing and be sure to taste to adjust any of the ingredients.
- Pour enough dressing over the onions to saturate them, but don’t drown them. Toss well and refrigerate for several hours before serving.
- Garnish with just a bit of green before serving, it could be dill, thyme, parsley, or chive.
Nutrition
Thanks for pinning!
This looks like something my dad would absolutely love! I don’t actually eat onions myself, but I’m forwarding the recipe his way to try!
Let us know how he likes it Britni 🙂
This sounds totally delicious. I love all kinda slaw/relish and this looks so simple to make.
I can so see this slaw becoming a summer staple. Love the Vidalia onions!
I love a good slaw recipe for topping things with and this one sounds like a great new one to try this summer! I’ve never heard of using buttermilk in a slaw recipe, but I’m so intrigued by the idea!
I’m not a huge fan of onions but I do love them on my hot dogs so I’ll have to give this a try sometime this summer 😀
Thanks for sharing!
Woohooo! It’s s 3 day weekend in Shanghai and we’re grilling sausages. Now I know exactly what to top them with. Just need to find sweet onions… The hunt is on!
let me know how you like it Hanady, and have a fun weekend!
That’s a lot of onions but looks amazing! Excited about those sweet onions!
You know it’s so funny Matt, one little onion explodes into a whole bowlful when you slice them on a mandolin!
Oh I just adore onions and don’t mind regular ones raw so I bet I would adore this slaw. I adore most slaws lol! I’ll have to see if I can source these onions in the UK as I’d love to try this recipe.
I think you’re in for a treat, Jo. Not sure if you can get Vidalias in the UK, my guess is not…but I bet there is another variety of sweet onion available to you.
You took an ordinary onion and made it into something extraordinary!
Thanks Tanya, I was really pleased with this recipe…I thought I had invented it, but after I finished the post I googled it and saw that it’s, of course, a ‘thing’. But I did notice that most if not all recipes add cabbage to the onion, and I like my pure version better 😉
You have the most creative recipes, Sue. I would never in a million years have thought of this, but I love Vidalia onions, I get a crate of them shipped from Georgia every year!