No, if you want to make your own mix, you can. You can shred the cabbage yourself. You 'll need approximately 2 pounds. To prevent color bleeding (if you aren't a fan of the pinker color), try using shredded white cabbage instead of the tri-color cole slaw mix that has red cabbage in it. You can also opt for white onion over red to avoid any color transfer. If you prefer, you can also add a few handfuls of matchstick carrots as a substitute for the carrots in the prep-packaged cole slaw mix.