Learn how to make a healthy vegan Asian Cucumber Carrot Salad, perfect for a summer potluck.
Our quick & easy Asian Carrot and Cucumber Salad is tossed in a flavourful dressing featuring rice wine vinegar, lime juice, sesame oil, honey, soy sauce and cilantro.
We like to serve the salad with julienned carrots and thinly sliced cucumber. It’s an addictive crunchy and refreshing salad to serve at your next Asian themed lunch or dinner.
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What Is Asian Carrot and Cucumber Salad?
This healthy vegan salad is the perfect side dish to serve to cucumber and carrot lovers.
Our easy carrot and cucumber salad recipe features Asian flavours, tossed in a zesty dressing whisked together with rice wine vinegar, lime juice, sesame oil, honey, and soy sauce.
We like to prepare the salad with julienned carrots and thinly sliced cucumber but you can also use a spiralizer.
Travel to Asia by Cooking A Cucumber Carrot Salad at Home
I love traveling to Asia.
My first visit on the continent had me living in South Korea for a year as a teacher and it’s where I was first introduced to fermented vegetables like kimchi.
After my contract ended in Seoul I travelled throughout Asia for 6 months, visiting the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, The Maldives, India and Malaysia.
This Asian Carrot and Cucumber Salad features ingredients and flavours that are enjoyed from China to Thailand, Korea to Myanmar.
The versatile salad recipe can be tweaked and adjusted to suit your needs. You might like to add minced garlic or ginger to the dressing for additional zing. If you like spicy food you can add a scoop of Chinese chili crisp, a few dashes of hot sauce or finely chopped chilies to the salad bowl before tossing together.
Other vegetables you might like to add include thinly sliced shallots, chives, or pickled daikon radish.
If you’ve traveled to Asia and fallen in love with Cucumber Carrot Salad it’s easy to recreate the dish at home by making our simple recipe.
My Family Loves Cucumber Carrot Salad
My family is always looking for new ways to incorporate fresh vegetables into our diets.
My parents love eating fresh salads so after returning home from my first trip to Asia I knew I wanted to share my love for crunchy carrot and cucumber salad.
I knew my parents would enjoy this healthy vegan recipe because they enjoy refreshing cucumbers, crunchy carrots and zesty Asian salad dressings.
I tossed this salad on a hot summer day and we enjoyed it as a healthy lunch with grilled chicken satay skewers.
We often make this salad when carrot and cucumber are on sale at the grocery store. Especially in the summer months when both vegetables are fresh and in season at our local farmers market.
Health Benefits
Our Asian Carrot and Cucumber Salad recipe is packed full of healthy ingredients!
Cucumbers are low in calories and high in water content so are great at hydrating the body. To maximize their nutrient content, cucumbers should be eaten unpeeled. Peeling them reduces the amount of fibre, as well as certain vitamins and minerals.
An excellent source of vitamin A and the phytochemical beta-carotene, carrots help keep your eyes and bones healthy, and may help protect against several types of cancer.
A rich source of phytochemicals and vitamin C, limes help boost your immune system and neutralize free radicals that cause disease and skin aging. Lemons also protect against heart disease and help improve blood flow to the brain.
A useful source of copper, calcium, manganese, and phosphorus, sesame seeds help support circulatory, digestive and skeletal health.
A good source of bone-strengthening vitamin K, cilantro is also rich in antioxidants that help protect the eyes from damage by free radicals.
Asian Carrot and Cucumber Salad Recipe Cooking Tips
This Carrot and Cucumber Salad recipe is quick and easy to make at home. Here are some tips and tricks to get you started.
- We like to julienne the carrots and thinly slice the cucumbers so the salad has a distinct eye appeal. The contrasting shapes also make it easy to eat with chopsticks or a fork.
- You can also prepare the carrot and cucumber with a spiralizer, which is fun to eat for kids as they look like noodles.
- We suggest using an English cucumber in this recipe but you can also use smaller Persian cucumbers if you prefer. Do not use the waxy skin variety, or if you must, make sure to peel off the skins.
- We’ve used canola oil in the salad dressing but you can substitue with another flavourless oil like avocado oil.
- We’ve used rice wine vinegar in this recipe but in a pinch you can use a combination of white wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar.
- We’ve used fresh lime juice in the salad dressing but you can substitute with lemon juice if you prefer.
- We’ve used honey to sweeten the dressing but can substitute with agave, maple syrup or ginger syrup.
- If you want to add spicy heat to the salad feel free to add a scoop of Chinese chili crip or a few shakes of your favourite hot sauce.
- If you want to add additional vegetables to the salad we recommend pickled daikon radish and crunchy beansprouts.
- You can add protein to the salad by adding cubes of crispy fried tofu.
- We’ve garnished the salad with toasted sesame seeds and chopped cilantro but you can substitute with scallions or crispy fried shallots if you prefer.
What To Serve with Cucumber Carrot Salad
This crunchy salad is best served as a side dish at an Asian themed lunch or dinner.
You can serve it with your favourite vegan and vegetarian recipes or as part of a salad bar buffet.
The crunchy Carrot and Cucumber tossed in an Asian salad dressing also pair nicely with grilled seafood and meat dishes.
If you’re hosting an Asian themed feast you might like to pair this salad recipe with other popular dishes like:
- Bo Luc Lac Shaking Vietnamese Beef Stir Fry
- Cha Trung Vietnamese Meatloaf
- Sweet & Spicy Thit Ram Vietnamese Caramel Pork
- Korean Beef Bulgogi Noodles
- Oven Roasted Korean Gochujang Pulled Pork Shoulder
- Chinese Pan Fried Pork Buns Sheng Jian Bao
- Kanom Jeeb Thai Steamed Dumplings
- Moo Ping BBQ Grilled Thai Pork Skewers
- Gaeng Hung Lay Burmese Pork Belly Curry
- Japanese Miso Ground Pork Stir Fry
- Filipino Pineapple Chicken Adobo
- Chicken Yuk Sung Chinese Lettuce Wraps
Storing Salad
If you have leftovers you can store the salad in the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
The salad will keep its crunchy texture for around 24 hours and the following day the ingredients will have absorbed more of the flavourful dressing.
You May Also Enjoy These Salad Recipes...
- Balila Healthy Vegan Lebanese Chickpea Salad
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- Jajik Middle Eastern Cucumber Yogurt Mint Sauce Salad Dip
- Ensalada de Gambas Spanish Grapefruit Fennel Shrimp Salad
- Indian Fruit Chaat Masala Salad
- Erdapfelsalat Viennese Warm Austrian Potato Salad
- Arugula Fig Burrata and Prosciutto Salad
- Indian Paneer Tikka Salad
- Mexican Vegan Cucumber Radish Salad with Chipotle Peanuts
- Scallion Dill Beetroot Salad with Yogurt
- Sangchu Geotjeori Sweet and Sour Korean Lettuce Salad
- Yum Woon Sen Thai Glass Noodle Salad
How To Make Easy Asian Cucumber Carrot Salad
Healthy Vegan Asian Carrot and Cucumber Salad
Equipment
- French knife
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Mixing bowls
- whisk
Ingredients
- 1 lb Cucumbers thinly sliced
- 1 Large Carrot julienned
- 1 tbsp Canola Oil
- 2 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Lime Juice
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
- 2 tbsp Honey
- 2 tsp Light Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Toasted Sesame Seeds
- Kosher Salt + Black Pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp Cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Combine the cucumbers and carrots in a bowl. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the canola oil, rice vinegar, lime juice, sesame seed oil, honey, and soy sauce. Taste for seasoning like salt and pepper.
- Toss the cucumbers and carrots with the dressing. Fold in the sesame seeds. Chill for 20 minutes or up to overnight and then serve garnished with cilantro.
Nutrition
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