Carrot Salad
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Shredded carrot salad with raisins, crunchy pecans, and sweet pineapple chunks is the perfect addition to your summer menu of classic recipes.
The delicious crunch of the shredded carrots combined with the sweet pineapple and tartness of the lemon gives a holiday-friendly carrot salad recipe a taste worth sharing and reminiscent of what grandma used to make.
Why you will love making Carrot Raisin Salad
Perfect make-ahead side dish – When spring starts to peak its head around winter’s corner, we are all looking for Easter Side Dish Recipes.
Carrot Raisin Salad is my go-to choice for a healthy carrot side dish recipe all spring and summer long. This simple carrot salad with pre-shredded carrots is a popular side dish to make ahead.
Better still, the kids love grated carrot raisin salad because of the sweetness, and I appreciate knowing there is a decent option we can all agree upon as a perfect pot luck-friendly side dish recipe.
Carrot Salad Ingredients
- Fresh Carrots – We recommend buying pre-shredded raw matchstick carrots. If you only have whole carrots and need to manually shred those with a shredding blade, please read on to see recommendations.
- Fresh pineapple chunks – Canned pineapple should be drained of any water or pineapple juice in the can.
- Sweet raisins
- Pecan pieces
- Dressing – Consists of full-fat mayonnaise, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and salt.
How to make Carrot Salad with Pineapples
- Mix raw matchstick carrots, drained pineapple chunks, raisins, and pecan pieces together in a bowl and mix well.
- Sprinkle with sugar, season with salt, and mix the salad all together until covered.
- Add mayonnaise and lemon juice into a mixing bowl and mix well to make the dressing.
- Now dump creamy dressing onto crunchy carrot mixture and mix well until all carrots are completely covered.
- For best flavor, refrigerate carrot salad for 1-2 hours before serving.
How to Shred Carrots for Carrot Salad
Are you looking to keep the kids busy? Have them shred the carrots instead of buying already done.
Per pound, it’s also a ton cheaper to buy raw carrots and shred yourself, so here are the steps if you want to get seriously old-fashioned in the kitchen.
- To begin, peel medium carrots and cut the top off.
- I also like to cut a small part off the bottom (pointed) end so I have something flat to start against the grater.
- If the raw carrot is long or thin, cut it in half crosswise, so you have a stiffer piece to work with.
- The key to protecting your hands is to start slowly until you get the carrot into a groove on the grater, and second, go slowly as you get to the end of each carrot.
Variations & Substitutions
This carrot salad has pineapples and raisins and is all about the sweetness. That being said, sometimes people love a recipe but not *all* the ingredients.
You can get creative if you want; I always suggest that in the kitchen, and here are a few ways to make this recipe your own.
- Don’t love pecans in this side dish? Try walnut pieces, sunflower seeds, or thinly sliced almonds.
- Substitution for sweet pineapple would be drained mandarin oranges or small bits of crunchy green or red apples (peeled and diced small).
- Instead of regular raisins, try golden raisins or dried cherries.
Salad Recipes perfect for Brunch
Fresh cobs of corn and creamy avocado really dial-up this corn salad recipe. It’s an explosion of fantastic flavors and colors alongside a burger.
No Easter, Mothers Day, or or July 4th holiday is complete without an old-fashioned macaroni salad recipe, and this one is the one you should choose.
Fluffy dessert salads always make the dish spread, and we recommend a sweet Snickers Salad Recipe or traditional classic ambrosia salad to serve.
And lastly, everyone loves starchy filling potatoes, and we have a few! This southern potato salad recipe, red-skinned potato salad recipe, or classic Hellmann’s potato salad are all worthy choices.
Carrot Raisin Salad with Pineapple
Ingredients
- 10 oz. matchstick carrots
- 20 oz. pineapple chunks very well drained of excess moisture
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup pecans
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Mix matchstick shredded carrots, drained sweet pineapple chunks, raisins, and pecan pieces together in a bowl and mix well.
- Sprinkle carrot salad with granulated sugar and season with salt. Mix ingredients again well so all carrots are coated.
- Add full fat mayonnaise and lemon juice to a mixing bowl and whisk together
- Add mayo dressing mixture to carrot salad and combine, making sure all salad is covered.
- Refrigerate carrot raisin salad for a min of 1 hour before serving for best results and stir prior to serving to mix up any settled moisture.
Video
Notes
- Don’t love pecans in this side dish? Try walnut pieces or thinly sliced almonds.
- Substitution for sweet pineapple would be drained mandarin oranges or small bits of crunchy green or red apples (peeled).
- Instead of regular raisins, try golden raisins.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer: The nutritional data provided here is auto-calculated and intended for your convenience only. As it’s generated via automation, its accuracy may be compromised. For precise nutritional insight, please compute the values utilizing the actual ingredients in your recipe through your chosen nutrition calculator or application.
Did You Make This Recipe?
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I absolutely love carrot salad! I was so sad when Chick Fil-A took it off their menu.
When I buy fresh pineapple, I look for the heaviness but also I smell it to see if it smells sweet and pineapple-y. If it doesn’t smell sweet, it is not ready to eat. My husband loves it in cottage cheese for a snack.
I had a recipe that was just the shredded carrots, canned pineapple chunks, pecans, and maybe raisins. The lemon juice and salt is a good idea. Mayonnaise, I can’t stand. But the version I had was really good, especially with the pecans added.
My brother is one of those people that hate Mayo too so I get it! Your recipe sounds great too.
I toasted the pecans first and my pineapple was PERFECTLY ripe to make this side uniquely tasty!!!
What a great idea!
How many Fresh carrots (or cups of) equates to 10oz?
Hi barb! This is hard to say depending on your carrot pieces sizes, but typically its around 4 oz to a cup of carrots. I have a kitchen scale so I just weigh things but next time I make this I can go through and measure.
I have just made this, it tastes delicious and now it is resting in the refrigerator. Thank you for the recipe.
Wonderful! I hope it works perfectly for you as a side.
Trisha
Yummmmmmmmy! Made this last week as a side for my meatloaf. Was so delish. Making it again today!
Very good!