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This crunchy grated carrot salad is the perfect snack or side dish to use up any extra carrots or boost the amount of fiber you eat in a day. The carrots and healthy fats give you a nice afternoon burst of energy. The lemon and orange also brighten it up because we could all use a little extra sunshine in our lives.
The beta carotene found in carrots makes them orange and is great for eye health. They are naturally sweet yet low in natural sugar. The nutrients in carrots may help protect the body from several kinds of cancer.
Carrot Salad Tips
I created this salad for my Plant-Based Cleanse as a nourishing snack recipe. It’s not really main event material yet it works perfectly as a snack.
- If you decide to buy whole carrots, you can grate them yourself. This adds more carrot flavor to the dish (store-bought shredded carrots save time, but you’ll lose out on some of the flavor).
- Up the protein in this salad by adding chickpeas or extra sunflower seeds.
- Toast the sunflower seeds for a richer flavor
- Top with fresh fruit if you want more of a classic French carrot salad.
QUick Tip
Make multiple servings of this Carrot Salad and store in small snack-size containers to grab and go all week when you’re feeling hungry in between meals.
More Healthy 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:
Don’t forget to rate + review this recipe once you’ve made it. I can’t wait to read how yours turned out!
Crunchy Carrot Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- ¼ cup cilantro stems removed and chopped
- ¼ cup raw sunflower seeds
- dash ground black pepper
- dash sea salt
Dressing
- 2 tbsp orange juiced
- 2 tbsp lemon juiced
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin 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 use whole carrots and grate them for stronger flavor.
- 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 Plant-Based Cleanse, I used rainbow carrots because they’re fun!
Nutrition
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 few days and have as a quick snack.
This was a very good salad. I used parsley because cilantro taste like soap to me. It s in a person’s genes if it taste like soap or if it tasted very good to them. Getting back to the salad. The mixture of lemon and orange juice was a delightful surprise. It was a very refreshing salad.
Simple but tasty. I grated carrots that I picked up from the farmers market. The cilantro was subtle and the dressing wasn’t overly citrus. I enjoyed it overall.
i made this recipe as written except i halved the cilantro as i wasn’t sure i’d want that much cilantro. i’ve never been a fan of traditional carrot salad, but this was fresh and bright. i think i will add some raisins…
Nice side salad. I liked the carrot cilantro combo.
This was a great crunch and delicious salad. It is definitely a good branch away from always thinking of the basic greens only:) I’ve gotten so many ideas from trying these recipes. Thanks!
I really enjoyed this crunchy carrot salad. It’s really light and a perfect little side dish. So easy to make and even easier to enjoy!
Love the crunch, not crazy about the cilantro in the dressing.
Very simple and tasty salad.
Carrot salad. Who knew of such deliciousness.
I enjoyed this crunchy salad! Using a bag of pre-shredded carrots made it super quick to assemble but freshly shredded carrots would have definitely upped the flavor. If I had a food processor that would have made this salad fast AND flavorful! The cilantro and the dressing still made it quite tasty. If you don’t like cilantro and have fresh carrots I think the green tops would work really well as a replacement.
The carrot salad is different. I wouldn’t eat carrots raw plus use in a salad. I got variety
The orange and lemon juice was a bit tartness for me
OK – I think something I used gave it far too earthy a taste. I used lime juice rather than orange & lemon, left out the cilantro which I HATE HATE! used less olive oil & less sunflower seeds. I added 2 grapes. It needed sweetness badly.
This was so satisfying. I really love the simplicity of the dressing.
Carrot Salad
I really like this carrot salad though it does take quite a bit of grating time— muscle work!
I put it on top of mixed greens and added some tomatoes, fennel and cucumbers and chopped some dates.
Very good!
This is one of my favorite snacks. It takes a little while to shred the carrots but it’s worth it to make this tasty, satisfying salad. The dressing is amazing I would have never thought to put this together on my own and I totally appreciate all these different snack ideas so I can get myself out of my veggie and hummus rut.
Okay. Not my favorite. Dressing is good but as much as I like carrots it seemed a little one note.