Carrot Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
This Carrot Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing is fresh, full of flavour and easy to throw together in just a few minutes. Shredded carrots are tossed in a creamy honey mustard dressing and topped with crunchy sunflower seeds, shallots and parsley.
This is the perfect salad for summer, it’s fresh tasting, fuss free and goes with everything! Grated carrots are tossed with crunchy sunflower seeds, chopped parsley and finely diced shallots which are all coated in a honey mustard dressing. The dressing has a mayo base, but isn’t overly thick and creamy like some mayo based carrot salads can be. The mayonnaise is combined with a touch of honey for sweetness and dijon mustard to give it a nice kick of spice. You can prepare the salad and dressing in advance and store them separately, or toss them all together, either way it will last for a few days in the fridge.
Why you are going to love this Carrot Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing:
- It’s fast and easy to make: this entire salad can be prepared in less than 15 minutes! It really couldn’t be anymore foolproof and easy to make.
- You can easy adapt the recipe depending on your diet: for Vegans, use vegan mayonnaise and maple syrup in place of honey. For Whole30 replace the honey with 2 medjool dates soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes and blend them with the mustard and mayonnaise in a blender until smooth.
- It really is so tasty: I love the combination of crunchy carrots, diced shallots, sunflowers seeds and the creamy honey mustard dressing that is the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. This salad is so simple but has a lot of great flavour and texture.
- It will last 2-3 days in the fridge: unlike lettuce based salads, leftovers (even when tossed in dressing) doesn’t get mushy and will still taste delicious up to 3 days after being prepared.
- You can prepare it in advance: this is a great salad to prepare a few hours or up to a day in advance to serve at a BBQ or potluck.
The different methods to shred carrots:
- Food Processor: A food processor fitted with a shredding disc is by far the quickest way to shred carrots (although clean up is a takes a bit of time).
- Box Grater: Most people have a box grater (aka a cheese grater) in their kitchen. This creates a finely grated consistency that I find to be quite “wet”
- Julienne Peeler: This is by far the most space efficient grating tool. It creates matchstick sized pieces of carrot that are slightly chunky. This is what I used to make the salad in the photos.
- Mandolin: This gives you the most options for shredded carrot size. Just be careful of your fingers, it’s easy to cut them with this sharp kitchen tool.
Here are a few other easy make ahead salads that you will love:
- Asian Broccoli Salad
- Creamy Cauliflower “Faux-Tato” Salad
- Green Bean & Roasted Fennel Salad
- Fennel, Pickled Onion & Apple Salad
- Grilled Zucchini & Asparagus Salad
- “Couscous” Greek Salad
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
Carrot Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs carrots (5 cups shredded)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp honey (or maple syrup for vegan)
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/3 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup finely diced shallots
Instructions
- Using a box grater, mandolin or food processor with a grate attachment, grate the carrots. Transfer the grated carrot into a bowl.
- In a small bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, dijon mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.
- Add to the bowl with the carrots the chopped parsley, sunflower seeds and diced shallots and then toss everything in the dressing. Serve.
Is there a vegan version of this? It’s listed under vegan salads but unfortunately it uses egg based mayonnaise.
Thank you
This recipe was amazing. Quick, easy, and with ingredients I almost always have on hand. Our daughter who doesn’t usually care for the taste of carrots, tried this and loved it. It will be a go-to side dish in our SCD household for sure!
We really enjoyed this and it was super easy. I used a food processor and followed the recipe exactly. Thanks