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This delicious Carrot Salad recipe is packed with colour, crunch and flavour. The zesty, herb dressing and toasted hazelnuts, will make this your new favourite side dish for all seasons.
Do you ever go to the fridge to try and make a salad or side dish and realise, oops, nothing salad-ish available? Yes, hands up, that is me.
Introducing Carrot Salad! As we all know, carrots last for ages in the fridge, so this is so handy for when there’s none of my usual fresh ingredients available.
PLUS the sweetness of carrots and the crunchy nut topping, mean my kids love this.
Throw this together in about 10-15 minutes for something a little different. It’s perfect any time of the year!
Why you’ll love this Easy Carrot Salad recipe
⭐️ Perfect as a packed lunch, side dish or main course
⭐️ Ideal for using up leftover carrots
⭐️ Use our trick to cut the carrots like this, making it look super impressive
How to slice the carrots
I like to make carrot ribbons for this salad. You don’t need any fancy machinery. I just use a regular peeler down the length of the carrot, rotating the vegetable as necessary, until it’s too thin to peel any more.
Voila! Raw carrot ribbons that are substantial enough for sticking your fork into.
Carrot Salad Ingredients
- Raw carrots – Any kind you like.
- Parsley – Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped up.
- Lemon – We’re using the zest and juice for the dressing.
- Garlic – Just one clove, crushed for extra flavour.
- Oil – A little olive oil is best here.
- Honey – Runny honey to add a little sweetness.
- Hazelnuts – Take a few minutes to toast and roughly chop them up – it honestly makes such a difference to the flavour!
How to make Carrot Salad
1. Toast the hazelnuts in a pan.
2. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a bowl.
3. Peel the carrots into ribbons.
4. Mix all of the ingredients together and serve.
Storing
This Carrot Salad is the perfect make-ahead recipe.
You can make the dressing up beforehand and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. (In fact, it’s always good to let the flavours develop a little.)
I would shred the carrots and toast the hazelnuts just before serving for maximum bite.
You can keep this in the fridge for up to 3 days, although it won’t be at its crunchy best if not fresh.
I wouldn’t recommend freezing this dish.
How to toast hazelnuts
It takes about 5 minutes to toast hazelnuts over a low heat. You just need to keep stirring them or shaking the pan to stop them from sticking.
More Salad Recipes…
Side Dishes
Greek Salad
Under 15 minutes
Mexican Style Salad
Side Dishes
Crunchy Cabbage Salad {with Peanut Dressing}
Side Dishes
Cucumber Salad {with Yoghurt Dressing}
FAQs
You could add grilled chicken or halloumi to this salad to make this a more substantial main meal.
Or, you could serve it as a barbecue side dish, or alongside something like Slow Cooker Ham, Mackerel Pate or Air Fryer Chicken Breast.
Yes! Try out my Honey Roasted Carrots & Parsnips for a roast or Carrot & Lentil Soup for a warming light meal. And, of course, not forgetting a classic Carrot Cake!
Yes, all the ingredients should be gluten free naturally, but always check the labels.
Some would say a classic Carrot Salad would have raisins and apple in, sometimes pineapple, so go for it if you fancy any of these additions.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Carrot Salad {with Zesty Dressing}
Ingredients
- 400 g (14 oz) Carrots
- 15 g (1 oz) Fresh flat leaf parsley, Finely chopped
- 1 (1 oz) Lemon, Zest and juice
- 1 (1 oz) Garlic clove, Crushed
- 3 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tsp Honey
- 50 g Hazelnuts
Instructions
- Toast the hazelnuts in a small frying pan, for around 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Once toasted, chop them roughly and set aside.
- Finely chop the parsley and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Add in the lemon zest and juice, the crushed garlic clove, oil and honey. Season with salt and pepper then whisk everything together.
- Peel your carrots as normal and then use your peeler to peel the carrots into ribbons.
- Put the carrots into a bowl with your dressing and mix until well coated then stir through most of the hazelnuts.
- Serve and top with the remaining hazelnuts.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutritional values are per portion unless otherwise stated.
This post was originally published on November 29, 2018 and updated later to make improvements.
This looks lovely and a nice change from the usual – quick question though, if hazelnuts aren’t up your street, could pine nuts work instead? Or what else would you suggest if wanting to be but free? Thanks x