French Grated Carrot Salad (Salade de Carottes rapees)

Sweet and tangy, fresh and crisp. This French-style grated carrot salad is one of the true classic dishes of France and can be found in every bistro, deli and in supermarkets too.

The French know a thing or two about food and flavour and this salade de carottes rapees is the perfect example of French food at its simplest and tastiest.

I’ve been lucky enough to have spent a lot of time staying in France and I have to say this simple carrot salad was always a go-to on the menu when we were out for lunch. I’m also guilty of buying my carrot salad in the supermarket too.

What’s to love about this recipe?

• This is real fast food, ready in just a few minutes with very little effort on your part.
• This French carrot salad is super tasty, it wouldn’t be one of the most popular salads in Fannce if it wasn’t totally delicious.
• It’s healthy, grated carrot salad is a super way to eat those veggies and kids will love this too.

Ingredients for grated carrot salad

Carrots – standard orange carrots are always used in this classic French salad. Don’t go for anything fancy like those heirloom coloured carrots, keep it simple!

The only other ingredient in carrot rapee is parsley.

The Dressing;

The dressing for your carrot salad is super simple and it’s important to keep it that way.

The carrot salad dressing contains lemon juice, salt and pepper, Dijon mustard, honey and vegetable oil.

Pro Tips

I’ve used a light vegetable oil for the dressing on my grated carrot salad. I find that olive oil can often have too strong a flavour and you really want to let those carrots sing in this simple salad dish.

Use either curly parsley or flat-leaf parsley for your carrot salad.

How to make French carrot salad

This little salad is just SO easy to make. It’s a 1 – 2 – 3 step recipe.

Firstly grate your carrots. I’ve used my trusty old box grater for this. Yes, it takes a few minutes to grate the carrots but I actually find this task rather relaxing and therapeutic.

Feel free to reach for your food processor and whizz the carrots through the grating disc to shred them.

Pro Tip

Don’t just whiz up the carrots in the bowl of a food processor, salade de carottes rapee is a shredded carrot salad so you want the carrot in little strips, not whizzed up into a mush!

Make the dressing

I always make my salad dressings in a little jar. Simply put in your ingredients, pop on the lid and give that salad dressing a jolly good shake.

Mix everything together in a bowl along with the chopped parsley and your French grated carrot salad is done.

How much salad does this make?

With the measurements I’ve given in the recipe card below there will be enough carrot rapee salad to serve 4 people as a side salad or starter.

How long will it keep?

You can make grated carrot salad ahead of time, like the day before. It will also keep well in the fridge in a covered box for up to 4 days

How to serve this salad

You can serve your French carrot salad just as a simple salad on it’s own. The French love it this way as that sweet and savoury carrot makes a perfect light starter for a meal.

Serve carrot salad as a side dish with everything from cold cuts to a roast.

Carrot rapee is a great addition to a sharing salad platter. Add a bit of French oooh -la-la to the usual cold meats, veggies, pate and the rest of the gang on your party platters. I always add French grated carrot salad to my Antipasto sharing platter.

This makes a great sandwich filling and for wraps too.

Looking for more super salads to try? Then check these out before you go;

Greek watermelon feta and mint salad

Strawberry and salmon salad with spinach and walnuts

Beetroot and orange salad with feta

Greek green salad with smoked pork/pancetta

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.