French Grated Carrot Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette
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Prepare a French classic—carrotes râpées—the iconic carrot salad cherished in every corner of France, from bustling markets to cozy home kitchens.
I first discovered this grated carrot salad when I was 20 years old and living as a college student in France, and it’s been a staple in my kitchen ever since. I’m always puzzled why it’s not more popular in the States, but one bite of these parsley-specked carrots doused with lemon and olive oil and you’ll know why it’s standard fare in every French bistro, market, and home kitchen.
The salad is not only a cinch to make, but it also keeps well and is good for you. If you have time, let it sit for a few hours before serving—the flavors really come together that way. It’s perfect for picnics or as a light side with egg salad sandwiches, or grilled chicken.
Table of Contents
“I have looked for a similar recipe for over 25 years, since I first had the salad in France. It is as good as I remember!”
What You’ll Need to Make French Carrot Salad
- Carrots: The sweet, crunchy base of the salad.
- Dijon mustard: Adds a tangy flavor and helps emulsify the dressing.
- Lemon juice: Provides acidity and brightness to the dressing.
- Vegetable oil and Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: Form the base of the dressing. A combination is used for a balanced flavor, as as olive oil alone can be overpowering in the salad.
- Honey: Adds sweetness to balance the acidity of the lemon juice.
- Fresh parsley: Adds freshness and a vibrant green color to the salad.
- Scallions: Adds a mild onion flavor and a bit of crunch to the salad.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Shred the carrots in a food processor. Set aside.
In a salad bowl, combine the dijon mustard, lemon juice, honey, vegetable oil, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Whisk to combine.
Add the carrots, fresh parsley and scallions.
Toss well, then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
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French Grated Carrot Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette
Prepare a French classic—carrotes râpées—the iconic carrot salad cherished in every corner of France, from bustling markets to cozy home kitchens.
Ingredients
- 1 pound carrots, peeled
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, from one lemon
- 1½ tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 teaspoons honey, to taste
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 finely sliced scallions (or 1tablespoon finely chopped shallots)
Instructions
- Shred the carrots in a food processor. Set aside.
- In a salad bowl, combine the dijon mustard, lemon juice, honey, vegetable oil, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the carrots, fresh parsley and scallions (or shallots) and toss well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Notes: Depending on the sweetness of the carrots, you may want to add more or less honey. Also, if you make this salad ahead of time, be sure to check the seasoning again before serving as the flavors tend to mellow.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: about 3/4 cup
- Calories: 150
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 14 g
- Sugar: 8 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Sodium: 253 mg
- Cholesterol: 0
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Yum! I liked that I could eyeball all the dressing ingredients – didn’t have to measure perfectly, and it was delicious! My husband said to keep the recipe…and he usually doesn’t even like vegetables.
I was in France about 16 years ago and they made this for us. I have been thinking about it recently. I was so pleased to have been able to find a recipe for it! Thank you!!
Lovely salad! I’ll double the amount next time. I can eat the whole serving myself!!
I am using the 3 bags of carrots in the fridge during “stay at home Easter” and found this recipe which is delicious! I actually cheated and made the dressing in my Bellini first, then added the carrots etc and chopped/wizzed the whole lot up together.
I love, love, LOVE this carrot salad! It is so light, fresh, and refreshing. I’ve made this about 4 times recently including another batch a few minutes ago to replenish the batch just finished. I make it exactly to the recipe with an addition of about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
I could eat this salad every day all day and probably never get tired of it lol.
Thank you so much Jenn for your wonderful website and recipes!
Delicious, healthy and easy! What more could you ask for? I’ll will be using this recipe frequently and it will replace any coleslaw recipes.
Great! Now a favourite.
All the recipes I’ve tried so far have been very tasty.
Thank you Jenn,
Nicola
yummmm I added shredded beets, arugula, and some fennel. thank you!!
This salad is delicious and costs almost nothing to make. Perfect to take to work in a jar to have for lunch during the week along w/a sandwich or soup. Thanks!
Delicious!
Going on a camping trip for 2 days ,plain on making it in advance will it hold up ???
Sure, Denise, this should stay good for a few days if kept cold. Have fun camping!
Loved this salad – did not change a thing!. I made the night before and served at Sunday dinner for nephew and his family, including a 3 year old and a 6 year old. The 6 year old ate it without complaints – parents loved it and asked for the recipe. Served with boiled corn, chicken kabobs and broccoli – so nice color combo with red peppers on the kabobs. Easy to keep carrots on hand.
I love this salad and make it frequently. Easy and so tasty. Thank you.
Just delicious and light and fresh. HH loved it too! Will definitely make again. Thanks for the recipe!
Love this salad! I got so tired of the too sweet carrot salad with pineapple and raisins. I find this more to my taste with half the amount of Dijon mustard. Also, it’s good with fresh dill if you don’t have parsley.
Thank you so much for this! I had carrot salad at a french restaurant years ago and ever since have been trying to find a vinaigrette to use, with no luck. This one is perfect!
I usually use the pre-grated carrots and in this case it definitely helps to dress the salad a few hours before. I usually dump the dressing on in the morning and have the salad at work with lunch or for a snack. I often use all olive oil (3 Tbsp) instead of a mix of olive and vegetable oils.
If you grate the carrots small enough it is also really delicious spread on top of a piece of lightly toasted sourdough bread.
It is so funny how French cousin influenced a lot of cousins around the world. This is exactly the salad that I used to eat as a child with an addition of raisins. Since I don’t like raisins I added some craisins to it. Wonderful flavor!
Thank you for this recipe. I grated some carrots to make a carrot cake and had enough left for a carrot salad. I did a quick google search and found this recipe. Delicious, easy, ingredients always on hand.
My husband is Austrian so we often have carrot salad as part of a salad plate when we visit family there and he grew up with a mother who didn’t like vinegar so her salad dressings always included lemon juice. He loved it! I loved it!
My favorite! This is the recipe that made me love your blog. Everyone I’ve made it for loves it. I’m a lazy cook, so I use the grated bagged carrots from the store, which makes it even easier.
I made this tonight and will make again for sure! It was super simple to put together so is perfect for a weeknight vegetable side dish.
Made this and loved it!
Tasted it and decided to add some more lemon juice – and then just before serving, I added a tin of sweetcorn! It looked so pretty – sunny yellow and orange. And it tasted fabulous!
Will definitely be making this again!
This is a really great salad. I actually serve it on Thanksgiving. The acidity is a nice contrast to the traditional Thanksgiving flavors and it’s a great make ahead vegetable. Even picky kids and adults like it.
Also fits in well at an Easter brunch.
This salad was so refreshing and delicious! I remember carrot salads with raisins from when I was a kid- but this an entirely different taste. Definitely will make it again.
I made this to go with my lunches this week and I’m very happy with it!!! I used mostly organic ingredients and added a touch more dijon. I did made a few modifications including using old fashioned dijon, substituting garlic chili flax oil (Omega Nutrition) for the vegetable oil and I added a touch of smoked paprika. I will definitely be making this again!!!
Am I missing something, see vegetable oil and olive oil in this recipe but nowhere do I see any vinegar listed?
Hi Becki, no, you’re not missing anything – while vinaigrette often contains vinegar of some kind, sometimes it is made with something else acidic (in this case lemon juice). Hope that clarifies and you enjoy the salad if you make it!
Can you use grated carrots from the store? Or will the consistency be off? Love your website!
You can, Angela – it will just be a bit crunchier. Enjoy!
Delicious! And my kids loved it too!
I too searched for a good French carrot salad and I agree that this is the closest in taste to the real deal. I always get compliments when I make this. Easy to make so I always make extra for leftovers. I do add a small amount more of the mustard to give it a bit more punch. It is a great salad and it’s lively color livens up any plate. So glad I found this recipe!
was not expecting this to be so good!!!!
Delicious!! Now my favorite carrot salad recipe! I added extra lemon and used a shallot clove. Added way less salt. Used organic carrots, the big ones, not the “baby” carrots. Loved it!!!! Thanks!
Loved!!!
Love it
i made it. Don’t know what i did wrong but it was awful really nasty tasting i had to through it out
Confession: I strongly dislike raw carrots. BUT I love this salad. I made it for a crowd and so many people went back for seconds that we ran out. As suggested, I let is sit for several hours and the flavors truly did improve.The only change I made was swapped the scallions for chives simply because our chives were growing wild in our herb garden. Definitely recommend this recipe, particularly for parties, crowds, and make ahead dishes.
I forgot to mention that I served this with smoked paprika pork tenderloin and stewed green beans. Great meal!
I’ve tried this twice now, once with grocery store carrots (awful and mushy) and once with homegrown rainbow carrots (more carrot-y, less mushy). My palate must be too Americanized. It was sort of ok with the homegrown carrots and the addition of raisins, but my kids (who normally devour brussel sprouts and eat carrots any way they can have them) wouldn’t eat it. Not one I’ll make again.
This is so delicious!! I had to add a second tablespoon of lemon juice to balance the vinaigrette. My carrots were firm organic and the honey was organic, too- perhaps they were unusually sweet.
So easy, so pretty. Made as a side for French dip sandwiches.
Vinaigrette was way too strong. Followed the recipe exactly. The only things i could taste were the parsley, onions and vinaigrette… for a carrot salad, everything but the carrots. Really disappointed.
Perhaps the market’s carrots were not as fresh as they could have been and lost flavor and sweetness. Bummer.
I loved this recipe! It was fresh, easy and delicious – The trifecta 🙂
When I first saw this dish at a French restaurant I thought, what’s the big deal about a boring carrot salad? Oh my goodness I could not have been more wrong. This salad is delicious!!! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
I will try this recipe next time my CSA farmer has carrots, which should be soon, I think. Note: carrot leaves are a great substitute for parsley, so if you get fresh carrots from the market, no need to buy parsley… made a great tabouleh salad with fresh carrot leaves last year!
This was such a great recipe, and I will be making this more frequently from now on. I added some chopped walnuts for my own taste and thought it definitely enhanced it. I also used it as a “slaw” in a taco with corn tortillas and seared chicken breast. The salad is so flavorful you don’t need any condiments.
This salad is easy to make and super refreshing. Another great addition to my list of salads i can make when doing a potluck lunch with my friends.
It’s hard to find a good recipe for salads made with firmer vegetables that does not use mayo, but this one quickly became a favorite of my entire family and everyone else who has tasted it. Thanks!
I made this to have with your Grilled Chicken Kebabs and Basmati Rice Pilaf for a party of 7…I made 1.5 the amount and was enough for some leftovers. It all turned out great and this tastes so refreshing and I could grate the carrots about 6-7 hours before and then mix it together a couple hours before. I hand grated some of it as my food processor grater wasn’t working as well and it didn’t take too long. Thanks!
This is delicious! I used grapeseed oil instead of vegetable. Also added a bit of dill.
Can’t wait to see how it tastes with the pulled pork I made for dinner 🙂
Loved this, very delicious. I did a little twist second time l made it, used a little mayo. But either way it’s lovely. Thanks for a wonderful salad. It’s a keeper
Made this wonderful carrot salad for Sunday dinner. I used colored carrots (red, yellow, white and orange) and it made for a very pretty presentation! The dressing is superb. Served with grilled salmon and for dessert we had Jenn’s recipe for Warm Lemon Pudding Cake! Another Once Upon a Chef winner dinner!!
It was simple, easy and wonderful. What else can someone expect from carrots?
I had never being a carrot lover but I solidly believe that after trying this recipe I will eat them more often. My boys were so happy with this salad, that during lunch all what they were saying was how awesome it was ( and they are not even veggie lovers!)
I’m delighted to find this recipe! I, too, dont understand why this dish, along with many French cruditees (celeriac salad, string beet dijon salad, red radishes & butter, etc) are not available in U.S. I’m American & lived in France between the ages of 5 & 15, & cruditees were beloved standard fare in our lives. Because cruditees seemed so foreign to Americans when I returned to U.S. at 23 in 1973 (lived in Germany 8 yrs), i stopped making them. However, your recipe has become the one missing, colorful, refreshing, veggie dish that i will use to balance out the heavy side dishes planned for Christmas 2016 dinner! Do you have a good grated celeriac salad with mayo/Dijon/lemon dressing? MERCI!
So glad you like the salad and that it helps you to get your French “fix!” Unfortunately, I don’t have a proven celeriac salad recipe. I will keep you in mind, though, if I come across one. Happy holidays!
This was easy and delicious. My teenager who doesn’t particularly like carrots had seconds. Will definitely make again. I used 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and 1 Tablespoon of avocado oil. My carrots were fresh and local so I only used 1/2 tsp of honey. Thank you for this recipe. Will be trying others on your site soon!
No food processor here…do you think I can grate the carrots the day before to save time or will they dry out? I’ll dress the salad the day of. Thanks so much!
Sure Rebecca, that should work; just cover them tightly with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out. Enjoy!
Yummy salad. Our 9 and 10 year old grandsons had 3 servings. I am glad I found your blog.
Do you think that adding pineapple would be good? If yes, how much?
Sure Barbie, I think that would be nice. I’d go with about 1/2 cup (and would dice it into smaller chunks). I’d love to hear how it turns out with this addition!
Excellent with addition of pineapple, following your suggestion. Thank you ?
Glad you liked it Barbie!
I made this expecting a bland salad. How wrong I was – it was juicy, tasty and superb. I have added crushed coriander and that adds a different twist. I served a vegan meal with swiss chard salad and a bean salad. Great recipe! Dan. Guernsey. UK