Carrot Apple and Walnut Salad
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This Carrot Apple and Walnut Salad is quick and easy; my kind of salad! My husband and I both kept going back to the bowl for refills and nearly finished the entire batch between the two of us, but you know what? It. felt .good!
This salad is loaded with healthy ingredients. The lemony dressing and plump raisins make it irresistible.
There’s something about sunflower oil that gives any salad a Slavic kick. It’s that secret little ingredient that makes salads taste more “authentic” to my Ukrainian taste buds (afterall, Ukraine and Russia are two of the largest producers of sunflower oil).
It’s so aromatic and adds great flavor. If you haven’t tried it, I think you should give it a whirl. P.S. If you have the option, it’s best to buy un-refined sunflower oil – it tastes better and is a little better for you.
Ingredients for Carrot Apple and Walnut Salad:
1 lb (about 5 large) carrots, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
2 apples (we used granny smith), peeled, cored and sliced into matchsticks
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped, lightly toasted
1/2 cup raisins
Juice of 1 medium lemon (3 Tbsp, divided)
3 Tbsp sunflower oil (3 Tbsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper to taste
How to Make Carrot Apple and Walnut Salad:
1. Toast walnuts on a dry skillet until golden then remove from heat to cool (keep an eye on them; they can burn quickly).
2. Soak raisins in 1 cup boiling hot water for about 1 minute to soften them up. Drain well and set aside.
3. Cut carrots into matchsticks and place them in a large mixing bowl. P.S. We recommend this Borner Julienne Grater
4. Cut apples into matchsticks and toss them with 1 Tbsp lemon juice right away to prevent browning. I used a granny smith apples but most apples will work well.
5. Add soaked raisins and toasted walnuts to the bowl.
6. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 3 Tbsp sunflower oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper. Pour the dressing over salad and stir until combined. This salad stores really well in the refrigerator for several hours and the tiny bit that was leftover was still good the next day.
Carrot Apple and Walnut Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb about 5 large carrots, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
- 2 apples, we used granny smith, peeled, cored and sliced into matchsticks
- 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped, lightly toasted
- 1/2 cup raisins
- Juice of 1 medium lemon, 3 Tbsp, divided
- 3 Tbsp sunflower oil, 3 Tbsp
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Toast walnuts on a dry skillet until golden then remove from heat to cool (keep an eye on them; they can burn quickly).
- Soak raisins in 1 cup boiling hot water for about 1 minute to soften them up. Drain well and set aside.
- Cut carrots into matchsticks and place them in a large mixing bowl.
- Cut apples into matchsticks and toss them with 1 Tbsp lemon juice right away to prevent browning (I used a granny smith apples but most apples will work well.
- Add soaked raisins and toasted walnuts to the bowl.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 3 Tbsp sunflower oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper. Pour the dressing over salad and stir until combined.
Notes
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Hi Natasha, I just made this recipe from memory last night. It’s one of my favorites!! I also added 1/2 sliced pineapples with real juice, 1/4 c chopped parsley & 1/2 cup organic coconut. It’s amazing, nutritious & refreshing ~ thank you! My heart is with the Ukrainian people **o**
That sounds wonderful. I’m happy you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Love this salad, Natasha! I tried it as written the first time and liked it quite well. Then I tried it with a bit of added celery per another reviewer, which brought up the walnut flavors – too much so for my taste. Lastly, I tried it with added grated ginger (on the microplaner) and had an “oh-wow-yum!” reaction.
In general, I’m not terribly fond of carrots, but I need to eat them every day. This salad will definitely make that easier for me. Thank you for sharing!
Yum! great idea! Thank you for sharing those tests with us, Loretta! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for the recipe! I made mine with what I had on hand, so shredded rainbow carrots, chopped dried cranberries, and roasted sunflower seeds.
It was perfect!
Perfect and colorful just like fall! We love this salad and I’m so glad you did too!
Lovely, I always add chopped celery to mine as in a waldorf. We all love this salad!
It is so good! Thank you for sharing that with us!
This salad is delicious, carrot, apples and walnut make a perfect match!
Isn’t the flavor amazing! Thank you for sharing that awesome feedback with us Susana!
Don’t waste the lemon zest! My wife and I zest the whole lemon, double everything else, and serve this to our Germans, Slavic, and Syrian Christian friends at fellowship dinners. All love it, and it fits fast and abstinence requirements. Love from Did-Mac-Zedo.
Thank you for sharing your tip! I’m so happy you all love the recipe 🙂
Thanks for the great recipe! I added some grapes and loved it. I will definitely make it again😊
Thank you for the nice review, I”m glad you liked it 😁.
I made this for EASTER and loved it!
Susan, I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Natasha i love all the dishes you post and cook almost exclusively everything from your site! However, this salad was a total dissappointment. It just tasted awful! 🙁 maybe its because i used pecans instead of walnuts? Idk no one will eat it in the fam…
I wonder if it could have been one of the ingredients? Was your oil fresh and what kind of oil did you use? I once had a bottle of sunflower oil that went stale and ruined a recipe with it. Were the pecans stale possibly because just substituting pecans should have been fine.
Yummy! I made this with the apples from my backyard and it just tastes like fall. I dont have a julienner and I am too lazy to matchstick the apple and carrot so I just grated them and it was delicious. My 7 year old daughter actually asked me for salad the next day after we had this! Thanks for sharing!
Vika, thank you for the great review :), enjoy!
What is the substitute for sunflower oil? Thank you.
You can try Olive oil or grapeseed oil
Looks great! I make a slightly different version of the salad. I use carrots, dried apricots (“kuraga”), toasted pecans, garlic, and 1/2 mayo + 1/2 sour cream. So good!!
I’m so printing your comment to try your version! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂 P.S. do you dice the apricots and how much carrots versus apricots?
Natashik- u r the best, what else can I say..simple , but great salad!
I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂
Each time I look at the photo, I want to take a bite. It looks so delicious. Not sure I could cut up the apple and carrot in matchsticks!
Thank you Judee :). You should check out this julienne slicer – it makes the slicing so easy and quick! 🙂
Natasha – I make a slightly different version of this recipe in which I add a Tbs of mayonnaise. I like your idea of adding apples, something I don’t do. Can’t wait to try your version, which seems healthier.
Thanks for sharing that with me and I hope you love this version! I think it would still taste great with a little mayo added.
This sounds so good, but do you have a suggestion for a substitute for the sunflower oil? Im allergic to it.
You can use a mild olive oil instead. It won’t have quite the same flavor, but it will still work well 🙂
I make a similar salad but instead of the oil I add mayonnaise – it’s to die for & we usually pair it with the Easter Ham.
I’m a big fan of mayo salads too. It’s hard not to be if you have Slavic roots 😉
My mom always used sour cream instead of mayo. The tangy flavor is great with the sweetness of the carrot and apple.
Oooh I love that idea! I’ll have to give it a whirl! 🙂
Yes, smetana was always an ingredient in any salad in our house – carrot salad, potato salad, jello molds, you name it! 🙂
This looks so delicious with such bright colors and fresh flavors!
Thanks so much Jeni 🙂
This looks great! I am an American currently living/working in Ukraine with my fiance and I love your website because you have authentic dishes with English instructions! I am always at a loss as to making salads here, especially in wintertime, because most American salads are lettuce based, and I’m from California originally so the idea of vegetables not being available 24/7 is still something I am adjusting to. 🙂 I will definitely try this one though!
Hi Violet; that’s a great point! I hope you love this salad 🙂
Sometimes, I forget about carrots! Carrots make such great salads! Thanks for this colorful salad!
And they’re sweet! It’s one of the few veggies my son will eat raw! Thanks Julia 🙂
U r excellent ♥♥♥
Thank you Geil :). That’s quite a compliment!
This salad sounds amazing, my mouth is watering. I will deff make it this week. Btw, they sell sunflower oil at Trader Joes.
That is so great to know! I’ve only ever purchased it at the European store, but haven’t really looked anywhere else. Thanks girl! 😉
Hello Natasha, thanks for sharing this recipe. It looks great
You’re so very welcome 🙂
This looks simple and delicious! Love all the color from the carrots, and I have been wondering how people cut veggies into matchsticks…mystery revealed! Pinned!
Thanks so much for pinning Lindsey! That grater is wonderful! We’ve been borrowing my Mom’s for years (thankfully she only lives a few minutes away), but we finally bought it on Amazon and it was a great investment. Much much easier than cutting it by hand and the texture is nicer than grating on a box grater.
Hmmm, that is my kind of salad. I will give it a try tomorrow! “Our” classic carrot salad is with garlic, red pepper and chilli. Maybe you know what I mean… I forgot the name.
Regards from Germany,
Nastja
That sounds really really good! Is the red pepper julienned? Is it a spicy salad?