Cucumber and Carrot Salad

Crisp, and deliciously refreshing, this easy to prepare cucumber and carrot salad is tossed in a tasty soy and sesame dressing. A great light side dish with amazing Asian-inspired flavors.

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Why You'll love this recipe

• Crunchy, refreshing and light, this cucumber and carrot salad is a delicious side dish.The dressing made with soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, Dijon mustard and rice vinegar is very satisfying and gives a delicious Asian-inspired flavor.
• It's very easy to prepare. This recipe only has a few ingredients but offers a ton of flavor without having to do a lot. The chopping part if the biggest labor.
• This salad is nutritious, low-calorie and low-fat. A great lighter option recipe. Toasted sesame oil adds so much flavor, like in this chicken and shrimp fried rice, egg roll in a bowl or chicken stir fry.

Key Ingredients and variations

• English cucumber or Persian cucumber. Regular cucumber are a little more watery but you can still use them. I would peel the skin which can be a little tough and scoop the seeds out with a spoon before slicing. You want a large English one or you can do two if they're smaller. I like to cut it first in half-moons, then set them on paper towels with a sprinkle of salt to release some extra moisture while preparing the rest of the recipe.
• Carrots: depending on their size use 4 or 5. Peel them, then cut them in matchsticks or julienne cut. To do so, peel the carrot, then cut 1- 1 ½-inch chunks, then cut the chunks lengthwise into about 3 parts (or 2 or 4 depending on the thickness of the carrot), then cut matchsticks. Or you can use one of my favorite gadget, a julienne peeler. Using pre-shredded carrots work as well, they're not as crunchy cause they're often thinner but it works!
• Green onions: their delicious mild flavor complements this salad really well. If you'd rather use red onion, you absolutely can, just slice it thin.
• The dressing: a mixture of soy-sauce, toasted sesame oil, avocado oil, Dijon mustard, honey, rice vinegar and garlic. It's so delicious! You can replace the fresh garlic with garlic powder, but if you can use fresh, do so. The rice vinegar could be replaced with apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar.
• Sesame seeds: they just add that little extra to this recipe.

How to make cucumber and carrot salad

• This recipe is very easy and only requires some chopping.

More Salad Recipes to try

• Tuna And Bean Salad With Corn and Avocado
• Beet And Cucumber Salad With Goat Cheese
• Hearts Of Palm Salad With Shallot Vinaigrette
• Quinoa Arugula Salad With Goat Cheese
• Mediterranean Cucumber Salad

Tips

• I recommend chilling your cucumber and carrots before starting the salad so it's nice and cold. Use fresh veggies as they're the stars of this dish.
• This salad is best eaten right away. The cucumber will release liquid and the salad will get watery. But honestly it's still delicious and gives you more dressing to dip some bread in. But it's only good stored 1 to 2 days maximum in the fridge.
• Don't cut the carrots too thick, they'll be crunchy and require a lot of chewing.
• Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

frequently asked questions