A healthier twist on a classic, this Vegan Carrot Raisin Salad with Tahini-Sriracha Dressing is great for backyard cookouts and easy lunches. Easily adjust the dressing to be more or less spicy and/or sweet. Easy to prepare, this healthy side dish comes together in just 15 minutes and is also oil-free and gluten-free.
*Originally published August 2018; republished with new photos and recipe adjustments June 2021.
At Asheville VeganFest in the summer of 2018, I had the pleasure of attending a cooking demo held by the lovely Lauren Eller Vaught of Edible Musings. Lauren made several delicious, whole-food, plant-based recipes for everyone to sample.
One was a kale salad using a dressing very similar to the one I'm sharing here. The dressing was so good with its balance of salty, sweet, and earthy, and so easy to prepare, of course I started adding it to everything in the weeks that followed.
I was planning to make a curried carrot salad recipe for the blog but couldn't resist trying this tahini-sriracha dressing first. It ended up being a totally delicious combo! The bursts of sweet raisins and mild sweetness of the carrots work really well with tahini and the subtle heat from sriracha.
Tips
If you have a food processor with a grater attachment, that's definitely the way to go. Shredding 1.25 pounds of carrots takes no more than a minute! Shredding by hand using a box grater, will obviously take a bit longer.
The dressing is fairly thick when you first stir it together, and that's okay! Thick dressing clings to the carrots better, while thin dressing will pool in the bottom of your serving bowl. So add no more than 1 tablespoon of water when making the dressing.
Carrot Raisin Salad is best eaten fresh. If you're carrying this to a party, and you're including cilantro or parsley, either sprinkle the herbs on top (don't fold in), or wait and add them just before serving.
Substitutions
As far as substitutions go, there's a lot of room for customizing this recipe to make it your own.
- Sub golden raisins, or get creative with other dried fruits like apricots or dates.
- Add chopped fresh pineapple (be sure to drain it well).
- Substitute nut butter for the tahini. Raw cashew butter would be a milder option, and a peanut version would also be great!
- Transform this into a carrot salad/slaw hybrid by mixing in some shredded green and red cabbage.
- For crunch add toasted cashews or slivered almonds.
- Use more or less sriracha to adjust the level of spiciness.
- For more citrus flavor, add lemon, lime, or orange zest to the dressing.
I hope you enjoy this quick and easy vegan carrot salad!
Comment below and give it a star rating to let everyone know how it turned out!
And if you love oil-free salad dressings, check out this new Oil-Free Italian Vinaigrette!
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Carrot Salad With Tahini Dressing
Equipment
Ingredients
Dressing ingredients:
- ⅓ cup tahini
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 ½ tablespoons tamari
- 1 tablespoon dijon or spicy mustard
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 to 3 teaspoons sriracha hot sauce, optional
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon water, as needed for consistency
For the salad:
- 1 ¼ pounds carrots (20 oz)
- ½ cup raisins
- large handful of cilantro or parsley leaves, roughly chopped, optional - Add just before serving.
- 2 to 3 tablespoons sesame seeds or hemp hearts, optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the dressing ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Wash and peel the carrots. Shred them using the grater attachment of a food processor or with a box grater.
- In a large bowl combine the shredded carrots, raisins, and dressing. Stir to combine. *See Notes below if making in advance. Sprinkle cilantro/parsley and seeds on top, if using. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.
Notes
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific products and ingredients used. We calculate this information using the online calculator cronometer.com.
Nancy W.
We ate carrot/raisin salad often growing up, but it always used mayo (which I don't eat anymore.) Your tahini dressing is absolutely amazing - wow!! I'm not a huge sriracha fan, so I opted instead to include Tangerine Balsamic (from The Olive Tap) and added very little water. Didn't include cilantro/parsley (maybe next time!), but I did use hemp hearts. Thank you SO much for sharing this yummy WFPB recipe - will definitely be on frequent rotation at our home! 🙂
Plantbasedtwy
This is a delicious recipe. Thank you so much.
Instead of the Sriracha sauce, I added 2 teaspoons of
red onion balsamic vinegar.
Ellen
Please consider giving specific amount for lemon juice. Lemons vary so much or subbing different citrus would need to know how much juice to use. Otherwise great recipe.
Lori
Hi Ellen,
Thanks for pointing that out. I always include exact amounts for citrus when writing recipes these days. This was an old post from when the blog was new, and I guess I missed updating that part. Will add that now! ?
Annemarie
I made this for our Plant Based Nutrition Support Group (PBNSG) meeting this week and it was a huge hit. I made a test batch and found the 1/2 cup of tahini too much. It seized up and needed a fair amount of water to thin. So for our meeting I went with the 1/3 cup of tahini like you also suggested and it was perfect. People raved about the flavour and the bowl was empty in no time! I will definitely be making this again. I'm looking forward to using the dressing with cole slaw next.
Lori
So glad your plant-based potluck friends enjoyed it! Thank you for the feedback, Annemarie (and now I want some of that coleslaw)!