This Moroccan Carrot Salad recipe proves that you don't always have to work hard to make something great. You can throw this Carrot Salad together in minutes, it goes with practically everything, and it's absolutely delicious! This is one of my all time favorite side dish recipes.
Why I Love This Carrot Salad
Many of us associate Moroccan food with rich, aromatic, earthy soups, stews and tagines, but simple, fresh salads are also a staple of Moroccan cuisine.
Unlike Western carrot salads that often rely on heavy mayonnaise or sugar, this Moroccan carrot salad uses a light, fresh dressing of lemon juice, olive oil and spices - a simple, healthy recipe that lets the natural sweetness of the carrots shine through.
The dressing is very simple and yet add delicious complex flavor to this dish. Extensive use of spices in Moroccan cooking is not about adding heat to a recipe, but rather to add a delicious complexity and depth of flavor. You'll find that wonderful flavor in this simple salad!
Carrot Salad Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make this:
- Carrots: Shredded
- Parsley: Just a few tablespoon, chopped, for fresh color and flavor
- Olive oil: Use good extra virgin olive oil for the dressing. I like California Olive Ranch
- Lemon juice: Fresh-squeezed for bright fresh flavor.
- Fresh garlic: love a little garlic in a dressing
- Spices: cumin, salt and cayenne, just the perfect combo for the carrots.
How To Make It
Shred the carrots and put them in a big bowl with the chopped parsley. Whisk up the simple dressing and toss everything together. And there you have it - a beautiful, delicious, healthy Moroccan raw carrot salad.
Time Saving Tip: How To Get Perfectly Shredded Carrots...Fast!
You can shred carrots on a box grater by hand, but if you want to make this carrot salad in just minutes, I recommend that you use a food processor.
To do this, set up your food processor with the shredding blade attachment. Feed the carrots in through the feeder tube. They will shred quickly and beautifully.
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What To Serve with Moroccan Carrot Salad
I love how versatile this salad is. It works in any season. I serve this with roast pork, brisket, lamb, beef, grilled chicken, roast chicken, fish tacos, and the list goes on...
This salad keeps well for several day in the fridge and it's great for lunch. Scoop it onto a bed of lightly-dressed greens with crumbled Feta or enjoy it as a healthy side, with a sandwich.
Don't miss out on these other delicious Moroccan Recipes
• Moroccan Lentil Soup
• Ras El Hanout Grilled Chicken Thighs
• Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Chickpeas
• Moroccan Carrot Soup with Lemon Honey Yogurt
• Moroccan Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Apricots
Be sure to follow Panning The Globe on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for daily cooking inspiration.
If you make this Carrot Salad, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
Print
Moroccan Raw Carrot Salad
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Bright in color and flavor: a fresh salad of shredded carrots, dressed with olive oil, lemon juice and Moroccan spices. A healthy side dish that goes with everything.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carrots, peeled and shredded in a food processor.
- 3 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley plus a few sprigs for garnishing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 ½ lemons)
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or pressed (1 teaspoon)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Parsley sprigs to garnish
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Instructions
- Put shredded carrots and chopped parsley in a large bowl
- In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice, garlic and spices. Slowly pour in the olive oil, while whisking, to emulsify.
- Toss shredded carrots and parsley with the dressing. Chill for an hour in the fridge and let flavors meld.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Storage: This salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for several days.
- Nutrition Information: We do our best to provide accurate nutrition information using an online nutrition calculator however our nutrition information should only be used as an approximation.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: no cook
- Category: quick healthy side dish
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Morrocan
This recipe was first shared on November 25, 2012. It has been updated with clearer instruction in the recipe card and helpful details added to the written post. The same delicious recipe!
This salad has become my winter time go-to. It is economical, healthy and delicious. I sometimes add sultanas or chopped dried apricots for a bit of variety; toasted pine nuts are nice too. It sits in my fridge as a healthy snack food. Great recipe. Thanks!
Hi Méla - thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment and star rating, I'm glad to hear the carrot salad recipe worked out well for you. I love your addition of sultanas and dried apricots - must try that myself!
I’ve been trying to replicate the Russian carrot salad I buy at a Russian supermarket called NetCost. This recipe nails it! My favorite breakfast is a thin slice of toasted rye spread with creamed cottage cheese and then a hefty spoon of this salad on top. The smoothness of the cheese and the crunchy spicy of the salad is the perfect way to start my day.
Love this recipe so much, tried it once and fell in love, it's become a regular in my home 🙂
Hi Debra, I'm so glad you're enjoying the carrot salad! I'm a big fan too 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment.
so simple and so delicious!!
This is soooo delicious!! Super quick and easy. I served it as a side to slow cooked Moroccan lamb.
Making this recipe again tonight. I've made it many many times over. Love the dressing alone too for other salads. Nice thing about this recipe too is it lasts a couple of days in the fridge for great leftovers.
Yum! Had this with chicken and dukkah, so easy and delicious.
I keep coming back to this recipe - sometimes just for the dressing. It's become my go-to salad dressing. Also really good on chopped celery.
I'm making your carrot salad for the third time this week. Addictive! Kids just asked me to make it tonight for their lunch tomorrow. Yumm
I have made a similar version with slivered almonds and sultanas - but instead of garlic and cumin it had honey and white pepper in the dressing. Once youve put honey in the dressing it's way nicer I reckon. Great go to salad though.
Lisa...a must try...I'm always looking for nice side dishes instead of the same old, same old I've been making for years...loving the recipes and your photograpy is beautiful!
Lisa, I made your goat cheese, fig and onion spread as an appetizer over the weekend.
It was perfectly delicious.
Thanks
Margie
That's great to know Margie. Glad you enjoyed!!
Hi, I made your goat cheese, onion and fig appetizer for guests last week. Everyone
was wowed-- including me. Thanks.
Margie
Yummy, I love shredded carrot salads...so fresh and tasty.
I love moroccan spices, and this sound sooooo good. Gonna have to give it a try soon. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Lisa, I made your eggplant parmigian for my son and his new fiancee! over Thanksgiving visit and it was a hit. Delicious, thanks, Rob
Lisa, this sounds fantastic. I'm definitely going to try it this week.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.
Di