Moroccan Carrot Salad
This easy Moroccan carrot salad is a simple side dish that is full of flavor! A great kid friendly make ahead recipe that is perfect for parties and picnics.
This carrot salad is stellar! Carrot slices are cooked until just barely soft and then tossed in a dressing of olive oil, cumin, paprika, garlic, parsley and lemon juice before hanging out in the fridge. You can serve this at room temperature or chilled, and it’s such a refreshing yet flavorful dish.
The soft carrots with the spices and lemon juice and served cold – its just so fun to eat!
I love, love simple yet absolutely flavorful side dishes. I don’t think veggies need to be complicated in order to have lots of flavor, like my Korean zucchini or my Greek lemon potatoes. The more awesome flavor and texture we give veggies, the more kid friendly vegetables are.
This Moroccan carrot salad is a quick recipe that doesn’t take long to make at all. The longest part of it is that it needs about 20 minutes to chill in the fridge before eating. But if you prep this recipe first, and then make your main protein, these carrots will be ready when its time to eat.
Make sure you also try my Moroccan spiced roasted carrots for a similar but different dish! It would be fun to serve these back to back to your family and have them do a taste test to see which they like better. You could even go all out and serve it with my French carrot salad and compare and contrast that, too!
How to make Moroccan carrot salad
This recipe is very simple to make! Here is a brief overview of the recipe to give you an idea of how it works. For the full set of directions and measurements, please make sure you scroll down to the recipe card below!
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the chopped parsley, lemon juice, minced garlic, paprika, cumin, ½ teaspoon of salt and pepper.
- Cut carrots into coins.
- Put the sliced carrots in a small saucepan and cover with water 2” above the top of the carrots. Add in 1 ½ teaspoons of salt.
- Bring the carrots to a simmer and cook until just fork soft, about 5 minutes.
- Drain the carrots and place in a medium sized bow with a lidl.
- Immediately toss the carrots with the marinade.
- Place the lid on the bowl and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, or until ready to serve.
Make marinade
Timing of this recipe
This carrot salad is an easy recipe for any weeknight. It will take you about 30-40 minutes start to finish to make this recipe, including the time it needs to sit in the fridge.
Prepping ahead of time
This salad is even better after it sits for a while, so you can meal prep this recipe up to 3 day in advance of when you need it.
How to serve this to your family
Serve this carrot salad alongside any Moroccan inspired recipe, like my chermoula chicken.
How to make this kid friendly
These carrots can be entirely kid friendly depending on how you approach them. Invite your kids to help you prepare them and have interesting conversations about the carrots to open up more curiosity about the recipe.
Dinner conversations with kids
How we emotionally feel about a food plays a huge role in how we like it. Use dinner conversations as a way to examine a food’s texture, taste, and smells as a way to look at it more analytically instead of emotionally making a decision.
- What other carrot recipes have we tried? How is this one similar or different to those?
- What is your favorite way to eat a carrot? Why?
- Do you think this recipe would be different if we cut the carrots into a different shape? How?
- If we make this again, should we leave the carrots crunchier or cook them more until they are softer?
Read more about how to explore the sense of taste with your kids.
Try more moroccan flavors with your kids with our Moroccan Foodie Family Passport Kit!
Kids in the kitchen: How your kids can help you cook
Inviting kids into the kitchen to cook with us is a great way to help them be more open and curious about trying new foods.
This carrot salad recipe is a great recipe to make with kids. Here are steps that kids can help you with:
- Kids aged 1-3 can help you pull parsley leaves from stems, peel the garlic paper off, measure and mix ingredients together.
- Kids aged 4-6 can do everything above plus help you use a garlic press, and squeeze the lemon juice.
- Kids aged 7-10+ can help you do everything above, plus help you cut the carrots and parsley with an age appropriate knife.
*Please note that these recommendations are generalized, and to please use your personal discretion with your child’s skill level. And always, always supervise! Read more about how to have your children help you in the kitchen.
Other carrot recipes to make with your kids:
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Moroccan Carrot Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup parsley chopped
- 1 lemon juiced
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons salt divided
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 12 ounces baby carrots sliced
Instructions
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the chopped parsley, lemon juice, minced garlic, paprika, cumin, ½ teaspoon of salt and pepper.
- Cut carrots into coins.
- Put the sliced carrots in a small saucepan and cover with water 2” above the top of the carrots.
- Add in 1 ½ teaspoons of salt.
- Bring the carrots to a simmer and cook until just fork soft, about 5 minutes.
- Drain the carrots and place in a medium sized bow with a lid.
- Immediately toss the carrots with the marinade.
- Place the lid on the bowl and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, or until ready to serve.
