Holiday Carrot Salad! Perfect for holiday gatherings, potlucks, or a refreshing side to your winter menu, this carrot-forward dish delivers a punch of nutrients, a pop of sweetness, and a touch of tang that lingers on the palate.

Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.

Hi there, Ameera here!

We absolutely love carrot ribbon salads—the delicate ribbons create a light crunch, making every bite feel playful and festive. They’re not only tasty and fun to eat, but they’re also incredibly versatile, pairing beautifully with a wide range of toppings and dressings. Yasmeen especially adores this style of salad, often asking for seconds because the flavors stay bright and the textures stay lively.

You’ve gotta give this recipe a try: the vivid ribbons, the crunch of pepitas, the tart pop of dried cranberries, and a tangy vinaigrette come together in a light, crowd-pleasing dish that shines on holiday tables and everyday dinners alike.

Tips for Success:

• Flavor Profile: This tasty Holiday Carrot Salad is packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Freshly ribboned carrots, green onions, pepitas, and dried cranberries are mixed with a delightfully zingy vinaigrette-flavored dressing that is both beautiful and delicious!
• Fresh Carrots: This recipe is all about very thinly sliced fresh carrot ribbons. If you are not a fan of the flavor of fresh raw carrots, then perhaps consider skipping this recipe. Thinly slicing the carrots does make for a fantastic mouth feel and more smooth, lighter, slighter, more palatable crunch. If you were never a fan of crunching on raw carrots, here is a great way to eat them as the experience is different. It is more like a noodle experience. While the carrots still have a little bit of crunch, they are so much more palatable.
• Amount of Carrots: The amount of carrots is really dependent upon the size of the carrots. The measurement of 1 lb. 6 oz. if after the carrots have been cleaned, peeled, and thinly stripped. We did not strip the entire carrot with vegetable peeler. We peeled the carrots down to the xylem. Carrots have an inner core called the xylem or the heart of the carrot. It is usually lighter in color. See below on how we peeled the carrots into strips.
• Peeling the Carrots into Strips: We found the best way to peel the carrots into long thin strips was to clean and peel the outter skin of the carrots, then lay the carrot down onto a cutting board, hold the end of the carrot tightly, then run the vegetable peeler firmly along the surface with slight pressure. This makes for just a slightly thicker strip of carrot. Make several passes with the vegetable peeler, then rotate the carrot and make several passes with the vegetable peeler on the next side. Continue until you have made several passes on each side. Then flip the carrot over to hold the other end of the carrot. In other words, switch up the end of the carrot you are holding in your hand to get a solid grip on the end of the carrot and repeat. Be careful, vegetable peelers are very sharp. Slicing carrots this way leaves the xylem (heart of the carrot) which we later cut up and ate as snacks for a different day. We also diced up the xylem and used them in soups.
• Key to the Perfect Carrot Thickness: Peeling the carrots into very thin strips makes for a perfect salad. However, as we mentioned in the section above, laying the carrots onto a cutting board, applying slight pressure makes for the perfect carrot strip thickness. If you hold the carrot in your hand while peeling into strips, you will end up with very thin flimsy, ultra-thin strips of carrots which is not the look we are going for. You want thin strips that are flimsy, but they still have some substance and character to them.
• How to Peel the Carrots Faster: If you are not overly concerned about long thin strips. You still want thin strips, but you can cut them quicker by using half strips instead of the full length of the carrot. Simply grab the carrot firmly by the end and run the peel over half the carrot repeatedly, rotating the carrot every 4 strokes or so. Then flip the carrot over to the other end and grip the carrot by the end that you just peeled and repeat the process. In other words, the carrot strips will be shorter but still thin. We like to create a mix of long thin strips and shorter thin strips.
• Carrots Sitting in the Vinaigrette Dressing: Once the carrot salad is dressed, the carrot strips will start to become slightly flimsier, if you are going for the ultimate carrot salad appearance, see the Make Ahead section below.
• Serving after Refrigerating: When serving after refrigeration, remove from the refrigerator at least 10 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to wake up and allowing the tahini to thin out again. Tahini tends to thicken during refrigeration.
• Make Ahead: This salad can be made ahead and travels well. Mix really well right before serving to ensure all the carrots are coated with the dressing. If you wish to have maximum presentation, keep some carrot strips aside (in a separate contain – not mixed in the salad dressing) and add those carrot strips right before serving to allow the newly added carrot strips to hold the carrot strips up as some will be slightly flimsy. The mix of flimsy and less flimsy makes for a great presentation.
• Raw Carrot Benefits: Raw carrots are an excellent source of Vitamins A, C, and K, while also loaded with potassium, fiber, and antioxidants. Carrots are a great source of prebiotics and promote excellent gut health.
• Pepita Benefits: Pepitas are rich in healthy fats, omega-3 and omega-6. They are high in fiber and contain magnesium which helps regulate blood pressure. They contain zinc and are rich in antioxidants. They are a great source of Vitamin E and are an excellent source of plant-based complete protein. They also contain iron. Pumpkin seeds (pepitas) have been shown to improve prostrate and bladder health as well.
• Raw Green Onions Benefits: Raw green onions are rich in Vitamins A, C, and K, full of antioxidants, fiber, folate, potassium and calcium. Raw green onions have many antibacterial and antiviral properties.
• Red Wine Vinegar Benefits: Red wine vinegar promotes gut health and boosts immunities.
• Almond Butter Substitutions: The almond butter can be substituted with your favorite nut or seed butter with the understanding that the flavor and texture may be impacted accordingly.
• Dried Cranberry Substitutions: Feel free to substitute the dried cranberries with golden raisins, regular raisins, dried cherries, dried apricots, or chopped Medjool dates. We have not tested any substitutions. Please note that the flavor and texture will be impacted accordingly.
• Capers: Capers add the perfect zing to the dressing. Use a measuring tablespoon and pull out a full tablespoon of capers from the jar, including the caper brine, Squeeze the capers over the dressing bowl, and drain the brine into the dressing. Then place the capers onto a cutting board and finely minced them, then place the minced capers into the dressing and whisk well.

Leftovers and Freezing:

Leftovers will generally keep 5 days in the refrigerator.  Store in a covered air-tight container.

This salad does not freeze well.

Pantry Products:

• Almond Butter: We used Artisana Organics Raw Vegan Almond Butter.  Feel free to use your favorite raw almond butter in this recipe.  Read the label, make sure the only ingredient is raw almonds.  Do not use a salted or sweetened almond butter.
• Dijon Mustard: We used Koops Dijon Mustard.  Feel free to use your favorite Dijon mustard.
• Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

Kitchen Equipment:

• Vegetable peeler

If you try this festive salad, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.

Holiday Carrot Salad

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• Author: Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures
• Prep Time: 25 Minutes
• Total Time: 25 Minutes
• Yield: 8 Cups 1x
• Category: Salad
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

This Holiday Carrot Salad is a vibrant, vitamin-packed star on any table, bursting with color and antioxidant goodness.

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Ingredients

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Base Ingredients:

• 8 cups peeled, thinly stripped carrots * (1 lb. 6 oz. peeled and ribboned)
• 6 to 12 green onions, thinly sliced (1 to 1 ½ cups) *
• ¾ cup dried cranberries *
• ½ cup [raw] pepitas

Dressing Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened almond butter *
• ¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar (+/-)
• 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup (+/-)
• ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard *
• 1 Tablespoon capers (with brine), minced *
• 1 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ to 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *

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Instructions

1. Prepare the dressing by placing all the Dressing Ingredients into a bowl, whisking well until emulsified, refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Clean, peel, and thinly slice the carrots into long, very thin strips using a vegetable peeler and place into a bowl. Add the green onions, dried cranberries, and pepitas into the bowl along with the thinly sliced carrots. Mix thoroughly, set aside.
3. Pour the dressing over the carrot mixture, toss well to thoroughly coat all the ingredients. Cover and allow the carrot salad to sit in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or overnight. Serve and enjoy!

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Notes

Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.

Sea Salt:  Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

Servings:  6 (makes 8 cups)

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