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Quick Carrot & Apple Salad Recipe

A close up of a bowl of carrot and apple salad

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There’s no cooking required with this Quick Carrot & Apple Salad; all raw ingredients! We developed this recipe last minute when we needed something quick for Sunday lunch at Mom’s house. Everyone really enjoyed it. It makes for a very good side dish.

I’ve found that organic carrots tend to be sweeter and take this entire salad up a notch. Costco sells big bags of organic carrots dirt cheap, minus the dirt. 😉 I can’t wait to try this with homegrown carrots. Actually, I can’t wait for homegrown something,… anything! I’ve had it up to ↑here with grey avocados and cardboard tomatoes!

P.S. If you have a food processor with a grater attachment, use it and your salad will be ready in under 10 minutes!

Ingredients for Carrot & Apple Salad:

4 medium carrots, coarsely grated
1 apple, diced
3/4 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
1/4 cup purple, yellow or sweet onion, finely diced

Dressing Ingredients:

1/2 cup real mayonnaise
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp sea salt, or to taste
pinch of black pepper, freshly ground

Carrot Salad-12

 How to Make Carrot & Apple Salad:

1. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup mayo, 2 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 Tbsp sugar, pinch of salt and pepper and stir everything together.

carrot-apple-salad

2. Coarsely grate your carrots (this is super fast using the food processor) and transfer carrots to a large mixing bowl. Dice your apples ( used my Vidalia chop wizard) and finely dice your onion and add them to the bowl along with your craisins.

carrot-apple-salad-1

3. Add the salad dressing to taste when ready to serve and mix the salad together.

carrot-apple-salad-2

carrot-apple-salad-3

Enjoy! This salad is quick, easy and delicious. My family approved ;).

Carrot Apple Salad Recipe

5 from 8 votes
Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
A close up of a bowl of carrot and apple salad
I've found that organic carrots tend to be sweeter and take this entire salad up a notch.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients 

Servings: 6 -8 as a side

For the Salad:

  • 4 medium carrots, coarsely grated
  • 1 apple, diced
  • 3/4 cup craisins, dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup purple or sweet onion, finely diced

For the Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise, real mayo or vegenaise
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1/8 tsp sea salt, or to taste
  • pinch of black pepper, freshly ground

Instructions

  • In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup mayo, 2 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 Tbsp sugar, pinch of salt and pepper and stir everything together.
  • Coarsely grate your carrots (this is super fast using the food processor) and transfer carrots to a large mixing bowl. Dice your apples and finely dice your onion and add them to the bowl along with your craisins.
  • Add the salad dressing to taste when ready to serve and stir the salad together.
  • Enjoy! This salad is quick, easy and delicious. My family approved ;).
Course: Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Carrot Apple Salad
Skill Level: Easy
Cost to Make: $
Natasha's Kitchen Cookbook

Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the creator behind Natasha's Kitchen (established in 2009), and I share family-friendly, authentic recipes. I am a New York Times Best-Selling cookbook author and a trusted video personality in the culinary world. My husband, Vadim, and I run this blog together, ensuring every recipe we share is thoroughly tested and approved. Our mission is to provide you with delicious, reliable recipes you can count on. Thanks for stopping by! I am so happy you are here.

Read more posts by Natasha

5 from 8 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  • Carol Harmon
    March 2, 2024

    I love this site… it’s my 1st go to when I need a recipe. Thanks Natasha!

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      March 2, 2024

      Thank you, Carol! I’m glad you’re enjoying the recipes.

      Reply

  • Alisa
    January 13, 2024

    Made this today and we really enjoyed it! Skipped the onion and used some raisins with the dried cranberries. Was afraid at first that the dressing was too much but once it sat for a few hours, the flavors melded beautifully!

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      January 13, 2024

      That’s wonderful, Alisa! I’m so glad you gave this recipe a try. Thank you for the feedback.

      Reply

  • Joan
    September 17, 2023

    I, too, use Greek yogurt and a few toasted walnuts. Love, love the addition of the lemon. Never tried that before and I love the way it blends in and wakes up all the other ingredients.😇

    Reply

    • Natasha's Kitchen
      September 17, 2023

      I’m glad that you love it!

      Reply

  • noreen
    January 7, 2021

    I love your foods, I wish I was your neinghbour I would be coming for tutorial. A blessed year.

    Reply

    • Natasha's Kitchen
      January 7, 2021

      LOL, thank you for your compliment!

      Reply

  • Wendi B.
    September 13, 2020

    Thank you for this recipe! It’s similar one my mom used to make! Because I had different ingredients on hand, I made the following changes: 2 medium gala apples (cored but unpeeled, sliced into small triangle shapes), 1 super large carrot (grated), a bit more sugar (like 2 1/2 tsp.) and coarsely chopped cashews. Yum!!!

    Reply

    • Natasha's Kitchen
      September 14, 2020

      Love it! So good to know that you were able to make this recipe work using your ingredients on hand. Good job!

      Reply

  • Farida Banu
    April 1, 2019

    Yummy recipe. Will try soon.

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      April 1, 2019

      I hope you love it! We look forward to your feedback!

      Reply

  • MaryAnn Coy
    February 12, 2019

    Hi, why do you peel broccoli stems? If you have the means to grate carrots, you can grate broccoli stems.Or slice thinly. I
    Grew up on a farm my Mom Cut Up the head after a salty soak rinsed cut off the florets then quartered the stem & sliced it. It was nice & tasty, & tender.Truth , I like the stalk more than the flower.
    Just wondering, a crazy American!

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      February 13, 2019

      Hi MaryAnn, I peel the stems if they are very fibrous (organic usually are) and I do chop the stems into the salad also.

      Reply

  • pearl
    September 16, 2018

    Oh this was good. I picked apples from my apple trees and was looking for apple salad- and I have a bag of the Costco baby carrots on hand. Used a purple onion. Perfect! Did not have raisins and didn’t want to go to the store so omitted them. So tasty. So good. Next time I will try the dressing using yogurt, and for sure have raisins. Wonderful on a 90 degree day which today was.

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      September 16, 2018

      Thank you so much for sharing all of the possible changes to the recipe, Pearl!

      Reply

      • pearl
        September 17, 2018

        Still very yummy the next day; am going to try with pineapple next time as others mentioned.

        Reply

        • Natashas Kitchen
          September 17, 2018

          That’s so great!

          Reply

  • Tzivia
    February 6, 2016

    Omg wow this salad is a winner big time, will definitely be making this again. It was really very super delish with the red wine vinegar dressing, yummmm. Served it for fri night Shabbat dinner last night and today for Shabbat lunch. The apple(granny smith work out well) carrots craisins and red onion what a really cool combo sweet and tangy for the tastebuds. Definitely gotta try ur other salads gurl happy food days ahead

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 6, 2016

      Tzivia, thank you for such a nice review on the recipe. Reading your comment is making me hungry for this salad 😁.

      Reply

      • Tzivia
        February 6, 2016

        My pleasure Natasha anytime, omg yo gotta try out ur dessert recipes they look really way good and so super yummm. Glad I can be of help for food gurl happy eating lol woot woot

        Reply

  • Tzivia
    February 4, 2016

    Natasha I made this salad today for Shabbat (the Sabbath). I cut up a granny smith apple (love apples and carrots), and used red onion instead of white. I made a red wine vinegar dressing w/o the mayo and before that squeezed juice of a half a lemon and added craisins. I poured the dressing over the salad, and hopefully it’ll be a big hit . Thanx having a variety darlin I luv salads too. They are very healthy and can be tasty 2 cheers

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 4, 2016

      I love your healthy substitutions! Thank you for sharing that with me 🙂

      Reply

      • Tzivia
        February 5, 2016

        Anytime natasha darlin, looks sooooo yummmm wanna eat it right now lmao, have a gr8 awesome super cool weekend. Stay warm safe and dry cheers

        Reply

  • Ellen K
    May 27, 2015

    Made this salad for my Memorial Day party and it was a hit! Thank you for all the great recipes!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      May 27, 2015

      Ellen, thank you for the great review and you are welcome :).

      Reply

  • Hasan Mahmud
    July 22, 2014

    Printing Option is Good…. . . 🙂

    Reply

  • Vita
    February 4, 2014

    Where can I get the food processor you use? I always notice you use it and I honestly have very little knowledge about them. Seeing how well it works and how easy it is I want one now! I’m sure I can figure out how to use it! Lol

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 4, 2014

      I use the one here by Cuisinart and can’t be more happy with it. You can buy them at Amazon, Costco, Macy’s, Bath Bed & Beyond. Hope this helps :).

      Reply

  • EinnaL
    January 27, 2014

    deliciousness!!! cant wait to try it.. love my carrots from costco (minus the dirt–ha ha) oh and i am so with you.. cant wait for homegrown anything.. especially basil.. i buy the one from the stores and it withers away withing couple days..

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 27, 2014

      That’s so true, my homegrown basil lasts forever, and there’s always new leaves springing up. Now you have me dreaming about basil :).

      Reply

  • Tatiana
    January 26, 2014

    This looks exquisite; my father is a pretty picky eater, especially when it comes to salads. But I know his weaknesses… Carrots, and pineapple! So I’ll mince some pineapple to go along with this, and think that it’ll be something he and mom enjoy! If I don’t eat it all myself, that is.

    I miss fresh fruits and veggies as well. The worst part of winter is the wait to start planting again! 🙂 Still, this recipe looks like it’ll do a wonderful job of making the spring come just a little quicker!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 26, 2014

      I think pineapple would be wonderful in this! Thanks for the tip 🙂

      Reply

      • Tatiana
        January 26, 2014

        Thank you for the recipe – it went over great! 😀

        Reply

  • Lena
    January 26, 2014

    The ingredients work well together in this salad! Amazing! Thank you.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 26, 2014

      Im so glad you liked it! And it’s so easy too 🙂

      Reply

  • Katy B
    January 26, 2014

    Thanks for the recipe 🙂 we can’t wait for homegrown veggies too! You mentioned avocados, do you have an avocado tree?!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 26, 2014

      I wish! They don’t grow in Idaho; too cold! I’m just ready for some in season ones that are US grown.

      Reply

      • Katy B
        January 27, 2014

        oh ok! I thought for a second you had an amazing green thumb (which you do) being able to grow avocados in Idaho 😉

        Reply

  • Liz
    January 26, 2014

    Thank you for the nice recipe, Natasha. Have a Great Sunday”!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 26, 2014

      Thank you Liz! You have a blessed and happy Sunday too 🙂

      Reply

  • R D
    January 26, 2014

    I am curious which hooves would be healthier to use as gelation for holodets. The cow hooves or the pig hooves?
    I ate holodet several times from the cow hooves as gelatin. I will try pig hooves one day. My friend said pig hooves are “fattier.” What is your opinion on the hooves? Thanks! Ronnie

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 26, 2014

      I actually have only experimented with the pork. Have you seen the aspic recipe on my site? Search aspic 🙂

      Reply

    • Yana V
      January 27, 2014

      @ RD: My mom always buys chicken/rooster feet and uses that as a gelation for holodets and it always turns out pretty good. Just thought I would help.

      Reply

  • RG
    January 26, 2014

    I use sweetened Greek vanilla yogurt instead of mayo. It’s awesome~

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 26, 2014

      I bet that would be delicious in this salad and healthier too! Thanks so much for sharing!

      Reply

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