Easy Carrot Salad

This delicious carrot salad recipe, featuring raisins and pineapple, is packed with antioxidants and flavor. The ingredient list is short, with no unique, hard-to-find, or costly ingredients, making it ideal for a light lunch or side dish.

Grandma’s Carrot Salad

This easy salad is a carrot lover’s dream come true and a pleasant change from the usual fare with just the right amount of sweetness. With the help of a food processor, this dish can be on the table in less than 15 minutes. My family and friends love to rant and rave about this salad. The main courses it pairs well with are endless, but I like serving it with ham steak, grilled pork tenderloin, air fryer salmon, and roasted pork loin.

Carrot Salad Ingredients

• Carrots
• Mayonnaise – I use Duke’s
• Honey
• Lemon Juice
• Pineapple – fresh or canned tidbits
• Raisins
• Kosher salt
• Black Pepper

How to Make Carrot Salad

Start by shredding your carrots in a food processor or with a mandoline or a box grater. Then, whisk together the mayo, honey, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir in the shredded carrots, pineapple, and raisins and toss to coat. Refrigerate for about 1 hour before serving.

Recipe Tips

• I like using fresh pineapple with this recipe, but you can substitute canned pineapple tidbits or crushed pineapple. If you don’t like pineapple, try apples.
• Are you watching your sugar intake? Simply omit the honey. It will still be delicious, as pineapple and raisins are naturally sweet.
• Cut off the ends and peel the carrots before shredding them. This will give this carrot-raisin salad a bright, gorgeous orange color.
• Are you feeling a little sassy? Add 1/2 shredded coconut and 1/2 chopped pecans, walnuts, or sunflower seeds.
• Are you not into mayo dressing? Try swapping it out for a honey Dijon mustard vinaigrette made with olive oil or Greek yogurt. Or try fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, or coriander.
• Dried cranberries can be substituted for raisins.  
• Add nuts for a little extra crunch. Try chopped almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and pecans.
• For best results, chill before serving so all the flavors meld together.

Three Ways to Shred Carrots

• Food processor – trim both ends, and for best results, peel the carrots. Cut the carrots into 3 – 3 1/2-inch sections, and using your shredding blade, send them through the safety shute pulsing to shred them. This will produce a fairly finely shredded carrot.
• Mandoline – trim both ends, and peel the carrots for best results. Cut the carrots in half, especially if they have a bend in them. Use the mandoline blade that produces small matchstick cuts. This cut produces more crunch, and I think it makes for a much prettier presentation for company and perhaps a better overall texture.
• Box grater – trim both ends, and for best results, peel the carrots. Leave the carrots whole and use the large holes on the box cutter. This produces a very similar shred to the food processor, with less cleanup but with more elbow grease.

Storage

This dish can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Stir again before serving. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

More Carrot Recipe

Easy Carrot Salad Recipe

This fresh and flavorful Carrot Salad is lightly sweetened with all-natural honey and freckled with plump raisins and crisp pineapple.  It goes with so many main courses, but it is particularly delicious with ribs and pork steaks. 

5 from 31 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Salad, side

Cuisine: Southern

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 238kcal

Author: Beth Pierce

Ingredients

• 1 lb. carrots peeled and shredded
• ⅔ cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup pineapple tidbits preferably fresh
• 1 cup raisins
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

• In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, honey, and lemon juice.  Gently stir in carrots, pineapple, and raisins.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Chill for 45-60 minutes before serving.

Notes

• I like to use fresh pineapple with this recipe, but you can substitute canned pineapple tidbits or even crushed pineapple. If you don’t like pineapple, try apples.
• Are you watching your sugar?  Simply omit the honey.  It will still be delicious as pineapple, and raisins are naturally sweet.
• Cut off the ends and peel the carrots before shredding them. This will give this carrot-raisin salad a bright, gorgeous orange color.
• Feeling a little sassy!  Add 1/2 shredded coconut and 1/2 chopped pecans, walnuts, or sunflower seeds.
• Are you not into mayo dressing? Try swapping it out for a honey Dijon mustard vinaigrette made with olive oil or Greek yogurt. Or try fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, or coriander.
• Dried cranberries can be substituted for raisins.  
• Add nuts for a little extra crunch. Try chopped almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and pecans.
• For best results, chill before serving so all the flavors meld together.

Nutrition

Calories: 238kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 163mg | Potassium: 376mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 9499IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg

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