Sweet & Spicy Sesame Carrot Salad

This carrot salad is a little sweet and a little spicy. It’s a colorful and crunchy addition to your lunch box or as a topping for tacos. 

If you have leftover carrots or just came home with a fresh batch, shred a bunch for this easy carrot salad. I shared this recipe a few years ago but came back to update it since the previous picture just didn’t do it justice.

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I came up with the recipe a few years ago after I planted my first raised garden bed. I ended up with a bunch of carrots and needed some new ways to eat them. I’d completely forgotten about this one until I started pulling together spring produce recipes this year. 

I’m pairing my carrots with sesame seeds for a crunchy, savory and flavorful Toasted Sesame Carrot Salad.  It’s the perfect addition to your lunch box or a delicious side to fish or Asian-style main dishes. And bonus… it doesn’t require any cooking! I kid you not, this was one of the easiest salads I’ve ever made. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

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Sweet & Spicy Sesame Carrot Salad

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh carrots, coarsely shredded
• ¼ cup rice vinegar (not seasoned)
• 1 T toasted sesame oil
• 1 T fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1 t brown sugar
• ½ t crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
• Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Toast sesame seeds in a skillet over medium-high heat until they are lightly browned. Remove from the heat and let cool.

2. Shred the carrots. This is an ideal time to whip out the food processor or you can use a box grater - that's what I used.

3. Make the dressing: whisk the sesame oil, rice vinegar, brown sugar, ginger and red pepper flakes.

4. Toss the carrots with the dressing, add the salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle the finished salad with sesame seeds.

Recipe Notes

All images and content are copyright Marisa Moore Nutrition. Please do not copy or republish anything without prior consent. If you want to share this recipe please do so via social media or use your own words and photos and link back to this post for proper credit. Please contact me with any questions regarding this.