Asian Carrot Salad with Parsnips

This crunchy Asian carrot salad with parsnips recipe is fresh and tasty and you can make it in minutes. Lots of crunch from fresh veggies with the addition of seeds and nuts. Then it’s tossed in an easy and delicious Asian dressing. Full of healthy ingredients and easy to make this fresh carrot salad makes for a light and flavorful lunch.

You might also like these healthy veggie parmesan fries.

I’ve been revisiting some old recipes when I came upon this delicious Asian carrot salad with parsnips recipe and decided to make it for a healthy lunch. I wanted to make some veggie noodles but julienne peeler died but I made do with so so knife skills.

It was so very tasty and a great way to get more veggies in your diet. Plus for me it was a nice change from lettuce. I have a salad almost everyday because I just love them and this was really a nice change for me.

It was really crunchy with the veggies, nuts and seeds and the Asian dressing was flavorful and brought everything together. Fresh and delicious this would be a deliciously healthy summer lunch. Plus it’s very satisfyingly crunchy and filling so if you want to add more veggies to your diet, give this carrot salad a try.

Recipe ingredients I used and substitutions.

The simple ingredients I used in this raw carrot salad was parsnips, carrots, green onions, raw pumpkin seeds, peanuts and fresh cilantro. For the dressing I used soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, fresh garlic and honey, ginger.

I didn’t think it needed any salt because of the soy sauce and peanuts. However if you want you can add a bit more salt and black pepper if you want.Or even a few hot pepper flakes for added heat and spice.

Carrots and Parsnips
I used raw fresh carrots and parsnips but if you want you can just use carrots. The parsnips add another layer of flavor but if you want to make this with what you have on hand you can eliminate them.

Green Onions
I like to use green onions in Asian salads for both color and flavor. You can substitute with white or red onions but the green onion has a milder flavor.

Pepitas, Peanuts and Cilantro
Originally I used cashews instead of peanuts but I had them on hand and liked the flavor. But any nut would be good. You can try walnuts, pecans, almond slices, cashews, etc.

And the raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas) and another layer of crunch. If you don’t have any you can substitute with sunflower seeds or just add a few more nuts. If you don’t like fresh cilantro you can substitute with other fresh herbs like fresh parsley or even basil.

Asian Dressing Ingredients
You can find most of these ingredients in the Asian aisle in the grocery store. You can substitute apple cider vinegar for the rice wine vinegar and add more olive oil for the sesame oil. However the sesame oil has so much flavor I would try to use it if you can.

How to make Asian carrot salad with parsnips.

Step 1: Get a small bowl and add the dressing ingredient. Whisk well to combine and set aside.

Step 2: Using a julienne peeler make the carrots and parsnips into veggie noodles. You can also just use a sharp knife of mandoline and cut them into thin long strips. And the julienned carrots and parsnips to a large salad or mixing bowl.

Step 3: Chop green onions and add to the bowl. Then pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix well.

Step 4: Add in the chopped cilantro, pepita seeds and chopped peanuts to garnish or you can mix them through. Refrigerate until ready to eat. This will soften the veggies a bit too.

Store leftovers in an airtight container. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

Suggestions: If you want to add a bit of heat you can add some hot pepper flakes to the dressing. And to make this raw carrot salad more of a complete meal you can add cooked chicken, shrimp or even pork. It would make a great side dish with this glazed salmon, shredded beef, pork bites or chicken kebabs which all have Asian flavors.

Other delicious and healthy salads without lettuce.

As I mentioned above I love a good salad and have TONs of recipes on this blog but here are few that don’t use lettuce.

• cucumber and cabbage slaw with margarita dressing
• rainbow corn and Mexican street corn salads
• beetroot and goat cheese
• Greek raw zucchini noodles
• creamy cauliflower, broccoli and bacon

And there you have the world’s crunchiest Asian salad know to man. The unique combination of carrots and parsnips work great together to give this salad it’s crunch and zing.

Also it tastes even better the next day. It does not get soggy at all. And I ate it one day with pieces of leftover chicken and it made a delicious meal. So I hope you like this crunchy salad. I think it will be something new to try for the summer. Enjoy!