Easy Carrot Raisin Salad Recipe

Now here is a healthy, delicious, carrot side dish that checks all the right boxes, courtesy of chef and recipe developer Susan Olayinka of The Flexible Fridge. What are those said boxes, you may ask? First and foremost, a dish needs to be delicious. You can check that one here pretty easily. Second, ideally, that same dish will be nutritious — check. Third, it's always a plus when your dish looks great, and this one is ready to impress guests or to really shine on your photo feed. And finally, when your dish is quick and easy, that's one more checkmark, as this easy carrot and raisin salad takes all of 10 minutes from start to finish.

This is also a surprisingly versatile dish that can be enjoyed as a side or even a tasty snack in its own right. "This will do really well as a side," says Olayinka, and it can be a perfect choice to pair with all sorts of foods, from roast chicken to pan-fried tofu to fish to BBQ, and so on. It can even act as a stand in for rice or some other starch if you are trying to eat light. 

Oh, and if you are looking for a way to make the prep work even easier, you can use a food processor a stand mixer with a dedicated attachment to shred the carrots for you. Now you're looking at more like 5 minutes. Checkmate, food prep!

This healthy, tasty, easy salad calls for 4 medium carrots, ¼ cup of parsley, 2 tablespoons of sugar, ½ cup of mayonnaise, and ¼ cup of raisins. If you don't already have most or all of those ingredients at the ready in your home kitchen, you'll only need to make a quick and straightforward trip to the grocery store for these ingredients.

The first time you make this carrot raisin salad, you should stick to the above exact ingredient list to get a taste for things. But then you can go right ahead and broaden your horizons, customizing the salad as you wish. For instance, you could add some freshly cracked black pepper and reduce the sugar for more heat with less sweet. You can also swap the raisins for dried cherries or cranberries, or perhaps add in some shredded radishes or even parsnips for a more nuanced flavor and additional crunch.

You know carrots are healthy, sure, but do you know just how healthy they are for you, exactly? According to Healthline, carrots are loaded with beta carotene, an antioxidant that the body processes into vitamin A (that compound is also the source of that classic orange color in many carrot varieties, by the way). Carrots are also low in calories, high in fiber, and almost totally fat-free. In addition to vitamin A, carrots also boast decent reserves of vitamin K1, vitamin B6, potassium, and lycopene in the red and purple carrot varieties (which can help fight cancer and heart disease). 

That's really just scratching the surface, to be honest, but we think we've made our point. Oh, and yes, they are good for your eye health, too. That's not just an old wive's tale. So, why not make this recipe and add a good dose of carrots to your daily intake?

To start off, get the carrots and begin peeling them so that the outer layer is removed, getting rid of any soil that might still be clinging to the root vegetables. If you prefer, you can also scrub them well under cool water without peeling them..

Next, over a large mixing bowl, begin grating all the carrots. Hold them at an angle to the grater to work on as much surface area as possible. If you are using a food processor or a stand mixer attachment, be sure to cut the ends off the carrots. If you are using a traditional flat or box grater, do remember to be careful while you work and save your fingers from an unfortunate encounter with the sharp side of the grater.

Once the carrots are all shredded and in a bowl, get a chopping board and roughly chop the curly parsley. Now, if you have not done so already, measure out your other ingredients. Then add the sugar, mayonnaise, parsley, and raisins to the bowl of grated carrots. Mix everything together until all of the ingredients are evenly incorporated throughout the salad.

Once all of the ingredients are mixed and blended together, transfer the carrot raisin salad to a serving dish or dole out portions of the salad right from the mixing bowl. Of course, you can also cover the bowl with plastic wrap or transfer it to an airtight container, then let it chill in the fridge to be enjoyed later. Just don't let it sit for more than a couple of days, lest you want to lose the crunch texture of the carrots. "I would say that this will store between two to three days," says Olayinka, "but after that, it starts to get a bit soggy."