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Classic French Raw Carrot Salad Recipe

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A simple, easy, and quick raw carrot salad to make, adding beautiful color to your table, giving your family and friends a healthy, delicious side dish.
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French carrot salad with Vinaigrette au Fines Herbes dressing.

Salade De Carottes Râpées

This delicious French classic raw carrot salad recipe is the perfect addition to any meal, as a side salad or a starter. The Vinaigrette Aux Fines Herbes Dressing with tarragon, chives, and other tasty herbs is delightful in this grated carrot salad. The color on the table is amazing, adding so much pleasure to your meal!

If you have an abundance of carrots, serve this bright salad with my Glazed Carrots Recipe or an Easy Artichoke Recipe alongside your main dish!

Bright orange grated carrots with green parsley and green nasturtian leaves and orange blossoms.
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Why You Will Love Raw Carrot Salad Recipe

It can be served as part of your starters or hors d'oeuvres along with a Cucumber Salad, Mesclun Salad, or Refreshing Red Tomato Salad to make an ultimate colorful array of the best salads for your table. Like this salad, they have one main vegetable as the star ingredient.

This beautiful vegetable is in the Apiaceae family along with celery, celeriac, parsley, angelica, caraway, and parsnips.

Try my Celery Soup Recipe; it is surprisingly delicious, and make these tasty Parsnip Recipes. Also, you may be interested in delving into French Herbs.

Your family and friends will delight in the visual beauty and healthy selection of this tasty buffet item.

The Complete Salad Handbook will further explain how to make vegetable salads and more.

Key Ingredients

Labelled ingredient photo with orange carrots, green chives, brown shelled sunflower seeds, white salt, and black pepper.
  • carrots provide the sweet crunch base of this salad.
  • chives add a mild oniony flavor.
  • unsalted shelled sunflower seeds adds nutty taste that blends well with the carrots.
  • chickpeas (optional) add nutty flavor and texture variation.
  • Vinaigrette Aux Fines Herbes Dressing Recipe (recipe below)

Vinaigrette Aux Fines Herbes Dressing

Labelled ingredient photo of vinaigrette au fines herbes.
  • cider or wine vinegar, but not balsamic, brightens the flavor.
  • tasteless oil such as avocado oil adds smooth texture to dressing without unneeded taste.

Fines Herbes

  • tarragon has a slight licorice flavor.
  • chives add a slight onion flavor.
  • fennel also has a mild anise or licorice flavor.
  • chervil again offers a slight licorice taste or a fresh parsley, earthy herbaceous taste.
  • Marjoram has a sweeter but stronger, similar taste to thyme.

Grated Carrot Salad Substitutions & Additions

  • Chickpeas are a tasty substitute or addition to the sunflower seeds.
  • Raisins are also a popular ingredient in a carrot salad adding complimentary sweetness.
  • Nuts like broken pecans or slivered almonds pair nicely with the raisins too, or on their own.

How To Make Vinaigrette

Green herbs mixed into clear vinegar and oil in a clear bowl with a white spatula sitting in a bed of orange grated carrots.
  1. Mix the Vinaigrette Aux Fines Herbes dressing first, as it needs to stand for 10 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld together before serving.
  2. Place the salt and pepper in a bowl, add the vinegar, and stir with a whisk until the salt is dissolved.
  3. Stir in the oil, a little at a time, and whisk briskly until the mixture is cloudy.
  4. Mix in the finely chopped herbs.
  5. Allow to stand for about 10 minutes, then whisk briskly again just before use.

How To Make Raw Carrot Salad Recipe

A silver grater sitting in a clear bowl with orange carrot pieces.
  1. Peel and grate the carrots into slivers, which I like best. Or, if you prefer (and have lots of patience), julienne strips or do what the chefs favor in the World Central Kitchen Cookbook do: use a potato peeler to shave the carrots into ribbons.
    I agree with them; the ribbons create a lovely look.
    You can also use a food processor, mandolin, or coarse grater, or, as the French say, use a "Moulinex Hachoir".
White square bowl with orange grated carrots, sprinkled with black pepper, brown shelled sunflower seeds, and green chopped chives.
  1. Place carrots in a bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
The orange carrots, brown sunflower seeds, and green chives, mixed well with a brown wooden paddle, all in a white square bowl.
  1. Add the chives and shelled sunflower seeds. Mix well.
Drizzling the green herb dressing over the orange carrot salad.
  1. Drizzle vinaigrette dressing over the ingredients and stir in intervals until the carrots are well covered, but not so much that the dressing pools in the bottom of the bowl.
Orange grated carrot salad garnished with green parsley, green nasturtian leaves, and orange and yellow naturtian blooms.
  1. Garnish with a sprig of fresh parsley, or a pretty flower like the two edible orange nasturtium blossoms and their leaves from my garden.

Top Tip For Raw Carrot Salad Recipe

A salad with one main vegetable ingredient like this one is best sliced or cut using a tool that will ensure the pieces are uniformly sized. It would not be as enjoyable to eat if the carrots in this dish contained large hard-to-chew pieces mixed with tiny ones. Use a grater, mandoline, or peeler.

Variations Of Raw Grated Carrot Salad

  • If you were to visit one of the many open markets in France, you would likely find carrot salad is a popular item. One of the main differences to this one is that the carrots would be grated very finely in julienne strings instead of pieces like the way I have done it here. You would find that the dressing used is often a Honey Mustard Dressing or Lemon Vinaigrette.
  • Do you love carrots any old way? Try my Glazed Carrots Recipe Vichy Style made with sweet Chantenay carrots or baby carrots, which are more plentiful in most supermarkets. Then whip up my recipe for Creamy Carrot Soup Recipe, so smooth and scrumptious!

Raw Carrot Salad Recipe FAQ

Is Raw Carrot Salad Recipe good for you?

Yes, ask anyone if raw carrots are good for you and they will say yes. Raw Carrot Salad Recipe with fine herbs dressing is full of minerals, vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants.

Can Raw Carrot Salad Recipe be made ahead?

Yes, Raw Carrot Salad Recipe can be made up to two days ahead when the dressing and grated carrots are combined. If the carrots and dressing are kept separate in airtight containers in the fridge, then it can be made 3 to 5 days ahead.

Can leftover Raw Carrot Salad Recipe be stored in the fridge?

Raw Carrot Salad Recipe will last for a couple of days in a sealed container in the fridge after mixing, but it is at its best the day it is made. The carrots may become slightly soggy if stored with the dressing on. If you do keep it overnight, give it a good stir before serving.

Will Raw Carrot Salad Recipe freeze well?

Raw Carrot Salad Recipe will not be satisfactory as a cold salad. The carrots will loose there delicious crunch. You could use them in a cooked dish such as my Quick Vegetable Stock Recipe.

More Great French Salads

  • A delicious Artichoke Salad is so easy to make and sure to impress your family and friends.
  • Salade Niçoise also called Provençal Salad, Or Salade Nice is a classic French salad.
  • Bacon Salad is a great way to combine fresh salad leaves with delicious crispy bacon, a really tasty meal for all your family and friends.

📖 Recipe

Prep Like a Pro
Before you start cooking, chop, measure, and prep every ingredient, and gather your tools.
This simple habit reduces stress, prevents overcooking, and instantly improves your meals. Mise en Place - "Everything in its place."

French carrot salad with Vinaigrette au Fines Herbes dressing.

Classic French Raw Carrot Salad Recipe

Judith Coates
A simple, easy, and quick raw carrot salad to make, adding beautiful color to your table, giving your family and friends a healthy, delicious side dish.
Print Recipe Pin
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Salad
Cuisine French
Servings 6

Equipment

  • mandoline
  • grater

Ingredients

  • 1 lb carrots approximately 3-31/2 cups
  • 3 tablespoon chives finely chopped
  • ¼ teaspoon salt and ground black pepper
  • ½ cup unsalted shelled sunflower seeds

Vinaigrette Aux Fines Herbes Dressing Recipe

  • 2 tbsps apple cider vinegar or wine vinegar but not balsamic
  • 2 pinches of salt
  • sprinkle of black pepper
  • 3 tbsps of a tasteless oil I always use avocado oil for a bland but healthy choice.
  • The following herbs - 3 tablespoons each finely chopped
  • chives
  • tarragon
  • fennel optional
  • chervil or parsley
  • 4 leaves marjoram Do not use more marjoram as it is rather pungent

Instructions
 

  • Make the dressing first to give the flavors time to meld.

How To Make The Dressing

  • Place the salt and pepper in a bowl, add the vinegar, and stir with a whisk until the salt is dissolved (salt does not dissolve in oil).
  • Stir in the oil, a little at a time and whisk briskly until the mixture is cloudy.
  • Mix in the finely chopped herbs.
  • Allow to stand for about 10 minutes, then whisk briskly again before use.

How To Prepare The Salad

  • Peel and grate the carrots into slivers with a food processor, mandolin, or coarse grater, or as the French say, use a "Moulinex Hachoir".
  • Place in a bowl and stir in the salt and pepper, then add the chives and sunflower seeds and mix well.
  • Drizzle the vinaigrette dressing over the carrot blend and stir in intervals until the carrots are well covered, but don't let the dressing pool in the bottom of the bowl.
  • Garnish with parsley sprigs and edible flowers and leaves like my gorgeous nasturtians in the photos.

Notes

Helpful Tips
Peel and grate the carrots into slivers, make ribbons with a potato peeler, or dice with a mandoline. Or, if you prefer (and have lots of patience), julienne strips. 
 

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Nutrition

Calories: 161kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 3gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gSodium: 54mgPotassium: 332mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 12754IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 49mgIron: 1mg
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Comments

    5 from 1 vote

    Loved it, tweaked it, or not your "cup of tea"... I’d really love to hear how it went for you.

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Judith Coates says

    5 stars
    An easy, quick, and inexpensive but so good for you salad. We live in a time where fresh vegetables are available all year, and only get better as the seasons change. 😉 Be sure to drizzle this delicious carrot salad with Fines Herbes vinaigrette dressing. So tasty! (๑ᵔ⤙ᵔ๑)

    Reply