The salad recipe I'm sharing today is small but mighty. It's not loaded with leafy greens. In fact, it's quite a simple salad. My crunchy grated carrot salad is the perfect snack or side dish.
I created this salad for my Autumn Cleanse as a snack recipe since the healthy fats give you an afternoon refresh. The lemon and orange also brighten it up because we could all use a little extra sunshine in our lives.
Simple Carrot Salad Tips
The hardest part of this recipe is deciding whether to peel the carrots or grate them thinly. You do you!
I turn to this salad for an afternoon pick-me-up instead of veggies and dip because, well, it's healthier. But the dressing does elevate this dish to more than just peeled carrots and some greens.
Extra Topping Options
Feel free to up the protein in this salad with chickpeas or black beans. Use toasted sunflower seeds for a different flavor and feel free to add in some spices of your choice. The classic French carrot salad also includes fruit, so add that as a topping.
Carrot Nutrition
Everyone knows that carrots are healthy. The beta carotene that makes them orange is great for eye health. They are naturally sweet yet low in natural sugar. The nutrients in carrots have been shown to protect the body from several kinds of cancer.
Carrot Salad FAQs
Carrots contain beta carotene, fiber, potassium and antioxidants. Talk about nutrient-loaded!
The carrot salad you knew as a child is probably a French Carrot salad. It often includes fruit and is used as a side dish. Feel free to add fresh apples or raisins to my version!
While this salad is at its best eaten right away, you can refrigerate it for a day or two without the dressing on it.
More Carrot Recipes
If you love this grated carrot salad, use the rest of the bag in your fridge or pull some more from the garden to use in these recipes:
- Honey Turmeric Smoothie
- Potato Curry
- Vegetable Noodle Soup
- Carrot Top Smoothie
- Thai Coconut Soup
- Vegetarian Noodle Salad
- Creamy Tomato Soup
- Thai Lettuce Wraps
- Strawberry Carrot Smoothie
- Savory Zoodles in a Jar
Crunchy Carrot Salad
Rate this Recipe Print RecipeIngredients
- 2 carrots (peeled into strips)
- ¼ cup cilantro (chopped)
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- dash ground black pepper
- dash sea salt
Dressing
- 2 tablespoon orange (juiced)
- 2 tablespoon lemon (juiced)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Whisk together orange juice, lemon juice and olive oil. Set aside.
- Combine carrot strips, cilantro and sunflower seeds on a plate.
- Drizzle dressing over salad. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- You can grate the carrots for this salad instead of peeling them into strips.
- Swap out the sunflower seeds with hemp hearts (still nut-free) or sliced almonds.
- Does cilantro taste like soap to you? If so, use parsley instead.
- Feel free to use the carrots of your choice. When I created this salad for my Autumn Cleanse, I used rainbow carrots because they're fun!
Regina
Loving this crunch of the carrots and the sunflower seeds. Very good dressing too.
Mandie
Loved it. I thought because of the flavors, esp the cilantro, that it would be a perfect side for our taco night...and it was! Both hubby and I give it five stars.
Regina
This is tonight's and it's so simple and such few ingredients, I made it a side salad with a baked skinless chicken thigh. It's good though and I love the simple dressing.
Lynn
I loved this simple carrot salad; cool, crunchy and sweet! I grated the carrots and added hemp seeds.
Justina
Very yummy. Will be making again.
Heather Ford
Another very good salad. I really loved having the cilantro and sunflower seeds in here an the dressing brought it all together.
Tina S
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this salad! Of course you'd have to be a person that loves cilantro. I feel that really makes it special. The citrus dressing really made it bright-tasting!
Karyn
Tasty. I think I would like pepitas better than sunflower seeds.
Dukh Niwaran
This is my new least favorite--just sort of blah to us and hard for my husband to eat.