This simple carrot salad recipe comes together in just 15 minutes! Tossed in a lightly sweet, cumin-spiced dressing, it's bright, aromatic, and refreshing.
This carrot salad recipe is one of my new favorites. I love it because it’s so simple (really, you can make it in 15 minutes or less), so vibrant, and so delicious. Crisp carrot matchsticks mingle with nutty pistachios, fresh cilantro, and mint. Medjool dates add sweetness, and a cumin-spiced dressing ties it all together.
This carrot salad recipe would be a stunning side dish for a special occasion brunch or dinner, and it packs up nicely for lunch or a picnic too. Most often, though, I eat it at the counter, scooping forkful after forkful straight from the bowl. It’s light, bright, aromatic, and refreshing. You all know I’m obsessed with veggies, but even I can’t believe that a simple carrot salad can taste this good.
Carrot Salad Recipe Ingredients
You only need 10 ingredients to make this carrot salad recipe:
- Carrots, of course! Use the best ones you can find. Bonus points if they’re multicolored!
- Medjool dates – I love their sweet flavor with the aromatic dressing and earthy carrots.
- Pistachios – For crunch! I recommend toasting them to bring out their nutty flavor. Add them to a small dry skillet over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until they’re fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Fresh cilantro and mint – If you make this salad ahead of time, wait to add the herbs until the last minute. That way, they’ll stay nice and fresh, and they won’t wilt before you eat.
- The dressing – This easy homemade vinaigrette comes together in no time! Just whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, honey, garlic, cumin, and salt in a small bowl, and season to taste.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Traditional French and American carrot salad recipes call for shredded carrots, but I like to julienne mine instead. Julienned carrots have a crisper, more delicate texture than grated ones, which makes this salad fun to eat. They also look gorgeous here.
I recommend julienning carrots in one of two ways: with a julienne peeler or with a knife. I have step-by-step instructions in this post. Whatever you do, don’t use a bag of pre-cut carrots from the store. This salad shines when you make it with really sweet, crunchy carrots. Bagged ones just won’t be as good.
Carrot Salad Serving Suggestions
This carrot salad recipe is incredibly versatile, so it’s a great one to have in your back pocket. As-written, it’s a stellar side dish for a dinner or brunch. For dinner, pair it with brothy white beans, veggie burgers or black bean burgers, crispy falafel, or a protein of your choice. If you’re serving it for brunch, try pairing it with any of these savory recipes:
Round out the meal with something sweet! My chocolate chip muffins, blueberry scones, cinnamon rolls, or French toast would be excellent. For more brunch ideas, check out this post.
Otherwise, I like to eat this carrot salad for lunch. I often pair it with an egg salad or Caprese sandwich, or I top it with crispy roasted chickpeas and enjoy it on its own.
More Favorite Salad Recipes
If you love this carrot salad, try one of these fresh salad recipes next:
- Avocado Salad
- Green Bean Salad
- Kale Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing
- Zucchini Salad
- Strawberry Salad with Balsamic
- Italian Chopped Salad
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
- Or any of these 37 Best Salad Recipes!
Carrot Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound carrots, julienned
- 3 Medjool dates, pitted and diced
- ¼ cup chopped pistachios
- â…“ cup finely chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup mint leaves, optional
Dressing
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 small garlic clove, grated
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Place the julienned carrots in a large bowl and sprinkle the dates on top.
- Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, honey, garlic, cumin, and salt.
- Drizzle the dressing over the carrots and toss to coat. Sprinkle on the pistachios and cilantro and toss again. Sprinkle the mint leaves and serve.
The toasty tahini plays nicely against the acidity of the lemon. I used raisins in lieu of dates. I forgot the honey, but it was still very tasty. I may opt to leave it out in future. I will be adding this to my ‘make again list’!
I made this as written. I did leave the dressing off to add to each individual dish. I wanted to keep the carrots crunchy. It was delicious and I will make it again.
I’m the first person to laugh out loud when someone completely disregards a recipe and then comments!!! I did not have all of the ingredients and needed a fast colorful side right before dinner! My low supply dinner panic combo today was: carrots, dates, pistachios (same ratios) 2 T EVOO, 2 T fresh cara cara OJ and a few swipes of the skin for zest, added a pinch of salt and chiffonade of mint. Since I like sweet, I did add 1 t of real maple syrup-since I was out of honey.
It was good without the syrup too. Vegan option is nice! I will try this as written, but I do like the basic concept and ratios for when I’m scavenging.. Thanks for the inspiration. My fancy fine and dangerous julienne peeler made this a beautiful and special looking dish!!!
Hi Karen, ha ha, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This is fantastic! This is going in my recipe book. I made this for brunch as a side for a frittata
This was my first recipe from this site, and it was amazing. I served it at Easter brunch and it was my favorite of the whole spread! I used almond butter instead of tahini like another review did, and wow!!
Hi Michelle, I’m so glad you loved the salad!
Loved it used almond butter instead of tahini …. So delicious
Hi, I’m so glad you loved it! The almond butter sounds great!
What a winner, made this for Xmas and the Carnivores cleaned out the bowl! Had to adjust the recipe slightly due to product availability but it turned out great.
The pistachios definately gave it a Billionare’s flair xoxo
This was Delicious!! My family all loved it!
What would you substitute for the cilantro (I’ve got none tonight!)?
It’s my all time favorite recipe that I bring everywhere and that myself and my family love, love, love!
sorry for my slow reply! Parsley or just more mint. I’m so glad your family has loved it!
This salad is delicious!!!!!!!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Wow! This salad was very delicious and super satisfying. I didn’t have fresh coriander or mint. Used toasted walnuts. First day had it with only carrots and nuts. Delicious! Today, I added shredded cabbage, daikon and celery. Also delicious. Tomorrow I’m adding cooked lentils.
The dressing is amazing – and I’m not even that big on tahini dressings. Definitely will make again. Thank you!!
Hi Rose, I’m so glad you enjoyed it and I love your versatile ideas!
How does this recipe do without the cilantro? Everyone in my family hates the taste of it- makes me so sad! Is it worth making without, or better to skip?
Hi Amy, you can skip it – the dressing itself is so flavorful, the cilantro is more for pretty garnish in this case.
I love this dressing on asparagus too
I made this for Easter and everyone loved it! Went easy on the dates but was pleasantly surprised by how well the flavors all melt together. Will keep this in rotation for parties/groups!
Oops, I mixed everything together before adding the dressing. Is that going to be a problem? Also, how long before serving should it be dressed?
It’ll be fine! You can dress it up to a few hours before or a few minutes before – the carrots are sturdy, it’ll be great either way.
Wow! Delicious!! We loved it so much I made it again today. The mix of the cumin and the slight sweetness is so good. I can’t eat garlic and left out the mint (my son isn’t a fan) but this is one of our favorite recipes! Made such a pretty, festive Easter salad with a vegan frittata! Thanks!
I made this today for Easter. This is a very refreshing dish! I also planned ahead and purchased the julienne peeler that was linked. This was a great purchase as it saved time and my knife skills aren’t that great!
I’m so glad you loved it!
When o read the description it sounded yummy – it did not disappoint!
We loved this so much, the cilantro and topping it off with the mint was excellent
Thank you for sharing
I’m so glad you loved it!