This Moroccan lentil carrot salad with mint, raisins, nuts, and warmly spiced dressing is the perfect side salad or light lunch paired with pita and hummus.
I love a filling, colourful, and flavourful salad- something that can stand alone as a meal if need be, but works equally well as a side dish when served alongside a protein. This Moroccan Lentil Carrot Salad is a perennial favourite. I hope you love it as much as we do!
In this recipe, shredded carrots are combined with lentils, red onion, celery, mint, raisins, and walnuts or sunflower seeds. Then, everything is tossed in a dressing spiced with turmeric, cinnamon, smoked paprika, and cumin. All in all, this salad makes a satisfying lunch with a side of pita and hummus. It would also be a great side salad to serve at dinner next to, say, baked or pan-fried tofu or tempeh, scrambled eggs, or even fancy avocado toast!
If you’re looking for more carrot recipes, check out Carrot Cake Protein Bars, Carrot Oatmeal Breakfast Bars, and Smoky Roasted Carrot White Bean Hummus as well.
INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED
- FOR THE SALAD: Cooked lentils, grated carrots, red onion, celery, fresh mint, raisins or currants, and walnuts or sunflower seeds.
- FOR THE DRESSING: Extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, turmeric, cinnamon, smoked paprika, cumin, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, dijon mustard, maple syrup, and garlic.
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine the cooked lentils, grated carrots, red onion, celery, mint, raisins, and nuts or seeds in a large bowl.
- Combine the dressing ingredients in a bowl or jar and whisk or secure the lid and shake to combine.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat.
- Serve! Salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for several days.
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Moroccan Lentil Carrot Salad (Vegan)
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Moroccan lentil carrot salad with mint, raisins, nuts, and warmly spiced dressing is the perfect side salad or light lunch paired with pita and hummus.
Ingredients
SALAD
- 3 cups cooked French green lentils (from 1 cup dry lentils)*
- 4 cups peeled and grated carrots (from 8 medium carrots, OR use 2 cups grated carrots and 2 cups shredded kale)**
- 3 celery ribs, diced
- ½ a medium red onion, finely chopped
- ½ cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped***
- ½ cup raisins or currants
- ½ cup toasted walnuts, pepitas, or sunflower seeds****
- ⅓ cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced (optional, but highly recommended for a salty punch)
- A large handful of chopped kale (optional)
DRESSING
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp chili flakes (optional)
- ¾ tsp fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp pure maple syrup
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
Instructions
- Combine the cooked lentils, shredded carrots, red onion, celery, mint, raisins, nuts or seeds, olives, and kale (if using) in a large bowl.
- Combine the dressing ingredients in a bowl or jar and whisk or secure the lid and shake to combine.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Taste and add more lemon juice, if desired. I usually add a tablespoon more.
- Serve! I love serving pita and hummus on the side. Leftover salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for several days. The flavour of the salad tends to mellow quite a bit the longer the dressing is on it, so I always add a bit more lemon juice right before enjoying the leftovers to enliven the flavours again.
Notes
*To cook lentils, rinse lentils through a fine mesh sieve and drain. Place in a pot and add a few inches of water to cover. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally and adding more water as needed, until lentils are tender but not falling apart, about 25 minutes. If you can’t find French green lentils, brown lentils or regular green lentils will work, but they fall apart more easily.
**If you have a food processor, the grater attachment makes short work of grating carrots.
***If you don’t like mint, use parsley, cilantro, or basil instead.
****Freshly toasted nuts and seeds are tastiest and healthiest. To toast walnuts or sunflower seeds, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place nuts or seeds on a baking sheet and toast for 8-10 minutes, or until fragrant and lightly browned.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Lunch, Salad, Side Dish
- Cuisine: Moroccan
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 567
- Sugar: 25.1 g
- Sodium: 710 mg
- Fat: 26.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 71.8 g
- Fiber: 20.7 g
- Protein: 19.4 g
Jackie says
This is soooooo good!!! I’ll definitely be making this often.
Hazel Peters says
This salad is great. Of course I had to add my own spin with chopped red chilli peppers. I used dry mint because that was what I had.
Nancy says
Might make this at Easter and was wondering if I can use canned lentils if not that is no problem I was just curious about that. Thanks.
Allison says
Hi Nancy! Yes, you can use canned lentils. Hope you enjoy!
Nicole K says
Love this recipe! It’s one of my favorites and make it regularly.
Allison says
Hi Nicole! I’m happy to hear that this salad is a hit and that you make it regularly! I’ll have to make it again soon as well!
Julie says
I can’t even with how good this is! Fantastic recipe that I’ll definitely make again.
Allison says
Hi Julie! What a nice comment! Thank you so much for taking the time to share!
Cas says
Ok- I was major skeptical about this recipe. Raisins AND olives AND mint together??? But my oh my- this is one of my new favorites! Thank you so much! I did omit the olives (I really was convinced it would be awful), but I am going to try to them the next go around.
Barbara Rowles says
I love this recipe and so all who have eaten it at my house. Thanks for haring it!
Marie Beauchamp says
AWESOME RECIPE!!! Delicious, and very healthy???
Daniela says
Well this is day 3 of making your recipes and leaving reviews – which I very rarely do unless something is absolutely fantastic or unbelievable bad lol
You have now surpassed Angela from Oh she glows who has been my long time favorite!
PLEASE PLEASE consider doing a cookbook in the VERY near future 🙂
Mary says
Wow! The calories and carbs per serving are quite high.
Di says
LOVE this recipe! I switched things up a little and used craisins instead of raisins, and pistachios for my nut of choice ’cause I had some that needed using up.
Paige says
Hi! I was wondering about the nutritional info, is it 566 calories for 1/4 of the recipe (for the 1x scale) or for the whole recipe?
Joan Stirlen says
Loved this recipe!!! Made with the olives and added thin slide dinosaur kale. I doubled the dressing ABC glad I did! Perfect with hummus!
W making again for a ladies dinner coming up! Wonderful!
Marta says
Oh wow, I was not expecting it to be this good!
Laura says
This is the best lentil recipe I have ever made! So good and addictive! Will you less salt next time.
Joan S says
WOWZA!!! Love Love Love this recipe!!!! Made it for a friends lunch and it was loved by all! I halved the 1x recipe and it makes quite a bit. I kept the dressing the full amount and so glad I did! It is a wonderful dressing!!! Don’t leave out the olives or the kale! Keep the kale thinly chopped. A wonderful recipe that will be made many times again and again! I’ve shared the recipe already 3 times today and I just made it today!!!! Thank you for making my look like a great cook!
Allison says
Thank you so much, Joan! I’m glad that this salad was enjoyed!
Josh says
Delicious recipe. Not a fan of raisins so I used dried cranberries instead. Is one of my go to salad recipes now.
Allison says
Wonderful, Josh! Thanks so much for coming back to comment!
Erin says
Delicious salad ! I made extra dressing and used it on other salads throughout the week . I used apple cider vinegar instead I of balsamic . My 12 year old daughter loves this salad too !
Allison says
Hi Erin, I loved reading this! I’m so glad that you and your daughter enjoy this salad.
Lenard says
Fabulous!
Nicole says
Wow—this salad is amazing!!! One of my favorites of all time. I am sensitive to lemons and celery so I used lime and kale instead. I accidentally left out the raisins but it was still delish. Toasted walnuts really added a nice touch. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Allison says
Hi Nicole, that’s great to hear! Thanks so much for making it and taking the time to leave a review.