Carrot Salad

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 Salad with Pineapple

Perfect make-ahead side dish – When spring starts to peak its head around winter’s corner, my mind zooms to all the summer picnics and backyard BBQs I’ve yet to enjoy.

Whether for a light summery barbecue or a picnic with friends, Carrot Raisin Salad is my go-to choice for a healthy carrot side dish recipe all summer long. This simple carrot salad with pre-shredded carrots is a popular side dish to make ahead. 

Perfect Flavor – 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.

Regarding stand-out carrot recipes, this adaptable salad can have more flavors than just sweet. French carrot salad, for example, uses fresh mint leaves, olive oil, and chickpeas. 

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 Raisin Salad

1. Mix raw matchstick carrots, drained pineapple chunks, raisins, and pecan pieces together in a bowl and mix well.
2. Sprinkle with sugar, season with salt, and mix the salad all together until covered.
3. Add mayonnaise and lemon juice into a mixing bowl and mix well to make the dressing.

5. Now dump creamy dressing onto crunchy carrot mixture and mix well until all carrots are completely covered.
6. 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. 

Carrot Salad Ingredient Variations & Substitutions

This raisin salad recipe is all about the sweetness, but 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.

Related Summer Salad Recipes

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 Memorial Day or July 4th holiday meal is complete without an old-fashioned macaroni salad recipe, and this one is the one you should choose. Another great patriotic recipe is flag fruit pizza.

Fluffy dessert salads always make the dish spread, and we recommend a sweet Snickers Salad Recipe or traditional classic ambrosia salad recipe 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.