This Aromatic Cucumber Carrot Salad is where delicious Indian flavours meet cool cucumbers and crunchy carrots to create an unbeatable salad. It's a must-have in any salad-lover's arsenal, with its mouth-watering flavours and crunchy textures, leaving you wanting more!
It is incredible how five simple ingredients can be transformed into such a powerful flavour hit. Lemon, cumin and mint are a classic combination that will make your taste buds delirious with joy!
Looking for more easy salad recipes to try? Why not try our Greek Coleslaw, our Shredded Carrot Salad or even our Italian Cucumber Salad?
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Why Make This Salad?
- Easy - it is an easy salad to make with only a handful of readily available ingredients.
- Nutritious - Carrots are packed with carotene, a nutrient that helps fight anemia and boost your red blood cell count. Cucumbers are also packed with powerful phytonutrients like flavonoids, giving them antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits.
- The Crunch-tastic Texture - the tender crunch of those carrots and cucumbers is unbeatable. And the cumin seeds just take it up a notch - no more boring salads!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Cucumbers - are one of the two key ingredients in this salad; they are cool and refreshing; we have used Lebanese/Persian cucumbers, but English cucumbers are also good. You can also replace them with some romaine/cos lettuce or julienne celery (use 2-3 cups).
- Carrots - add some bright colour and boost the nutrition in this salad. Swap for grated raw sweet potato or raw beets (use 2 cups).
- Fresh Mint Leaves - I love the wonderful aroma that the mint leaves bring to this salad; consider swapping for some coriander/ cilantro levels or dill.
- Homemade Dressing - we have used a simple lemon olive oil dressing with some toasted cumin seeds. You can make a sesame version with 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar and 2 teaspoons of toasted sesame seeds instead.
- Consider Adding - some red onion or green onion or some red pepper flakes for some colour and heat.
You Will Need
Step-by-step Instructions
This crunchy cucumber carrot salad comes together in 3 easy steps: -
Step 1 - Chop the Veg
Start with washing and trimming your carrots and cucumbers.
Next, peel your carrots and cut them into julienne strips using either a julienne peeler or the julienne attachment on your mandoline/v-slicer.
There is no need to peel the cucumbers; cut around the seeds with a y-peeler.
Or scoop out the seeds and cut them into julienne strips with a sharp knife. Discard the seeds from the cucumber.
Then you need to wash the mint, shake and pat dry, strip the mint leaves from the stems and roughly chop.
JULIENNE YOUR CARROTS
JULIENNE YOUR CUCUMBERS
STRIP MINT LEAVES
ROUGHLY CHOP MINT
Step 2 - Shake-Up Vinaigrette
Place your vinaigrette ingredients in a glass jar, season with salt and pepper and shake until emulsified.
ADD DRESSING INGREDIENTS TO JAR
SHAKE WELL TO COMBINE
Step 3 - Assemble Your Carrot and Cucumber Salad
Add your carrot and cucumber julienne to a large bowl along with the chopped fresh mint and cumin seeds.
Pour the dressing over the salad, toss to coat, and so that the mint and cumin seeds are evenly spread throughout the salad.
Arrange in a beautiful salad bowl and garnish with fresh mint leaves for a delicious, fragrant salad. Serve and enjoy!
ADD ALL INGREDIENTS TO BOWL
SEASON AND TOSS WELL TO COMBINE
🍽 Serving Suggestions
This simple carrot and cucumber salad recipe pairs well with barbecued meats and makes the perfect side dish for hot curries to cool the heat of the chillies. Try it with sesame-crusted tuna steaks or with chicken madras fillets.
💭 Tips and Questions
Can I make this recipe ahead of time?
You can julienne the carrots the day before and keep them in a container in the fridge covered with water. This will crisp up the carrots beautifully.
Make up the dressing the day before and keep it in a glass container in the fridge; bring it to room temperature before shaking it up and adding it to your salad.
You can also make up the salad without the dressing and mint an hour or two in advance. Then toss the salad with the mint and dressing just before you plan on serving it.
What are the best cucumbers to use?
As we are removing the seed, any type of cucumber works well in this salad, whether it's Lebanese/Persian cucumbers, English cucumbers, or regular cucumbers.
How do you keep cucumbers crisp in a salad?
For this salad, we removed the seeds, which is where most of the cucumber's water content is.
But for an extra crunch and flavour punch, salt your cucumber slices before tossing them with the dressing.
This will help reduce the water content and keep your cucumbers crisp. It also prevents the dressing from becoming watered-down.
Place the cucumber julienne in a colander over a bowl or sink. Sprinkle generously with salt, toss to ensure they're evenly coated, and let them rest for 30 minutes.
Afterwards, pat them dry with a paper towel, and your cucumber julienne is now ready to use in the recipe.
How long can I keep this salad in the fridge?
This crunchy cucumber carrot salad will stay fresh for up to 2-3 days when stored in an airtight container and refrigerated.
Enjoy it soon for the best crunchy texture, but since we have removed the seeds from the cucumber, the vegetables will gradually develop a pickle-like flavour. However, please note that your mint will discolour over time.
Dietary Information
As there are only a handful of fresh ingredients in this carrot cucumber salad it means that it suits all dietary requirements from keto, low carb, paleo, whole30, vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free.
Each serving contains 162 calories with a net carb count of 7 grams.
Please note that nutritional information is provided as a courtesy using a nutritional
database and should only be considered an estimate.
More Healthy Cucumber and Carrot Salads
Recipe Card
Equipment
- Julienne Peeler or Mandoline V-slicer with julienne attachment
Ingredients
- 3 small carrots (approximately 180 grams / 6.35 ounces)
- 2 large cucumbers (approximately 300 grams / 10.6 ounces)
- ¼ cup mint leaves chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Wash and trim carrots and cucumbers
- Peel your carrots and cut them into julienne strips with the julienne attachment on your mandoline / v-slicer.
- No need to peel the cucumber, but when you're cutting them into julienne strips, cut around the seeds and discard them afterwards.
- Place your vinaigrette ingredients in a glass jar, season and shake until emulsified.
- Put all your ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until everything is well combined.
- Arrange in a salad bowl and serve with some extra mint leaves on top to garnish.
