This pickled carrot salad is inspired by a Korean carrot recipe and is made with warm spices, apple cider vinegar and fresh mint. This is a great paleo and Whole30 friendly side dish or a condiment.

When I lived in Ukraine, I used to love going to our local markets to get a hot dog that was served with an amazing pickled, grated carrot slaw inside the bun. After a while, I started seeing the same carrot salad sold from big wooden barrels and people would buy kilos of it. It’s known as “the Korean carrots.” I doubt it actually comes from Korea, but my guess is that it mimics the process of light fermentation with certain spices and is similar to vegetable sides served in Korean restaurants.
A while back, I found a recipe for Korean carrots online and decided to make my version based on that. The original pickled carrot is made with crushed coriander seeds, garlic, sugar, white vinegar and olive oil. I wanted to give it a more Middle-Eastern/Moroccan spin, so I’ve taken out the garlic and added cumin, chilli and mint. I used apple cider vinegar for its natural sweetness and apple flavour and removed any added sugar.
This dish of lightly pickled and spiced carrot is a great accompaniment to other dishes and I love to roll it in ham or turkey slices with some avocado for a snack.
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Lightly Pickled Carrot Salad with Mint & Coriander Seeds
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- A pinch of pepper
- 1.5 teaspoons coriander seeds see notes for powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin seeds see notes for powder
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 carrots grated
- 1/2 small red chilli seeds out and finely chopped
- 10 fresh mint leaves roughly chopped
Instructions
- Mix the vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl and set aside.
- Heat a frying pan over medium and cook the coriander and cumin seeds with no oil for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning. This toasting process will heat the oils and release all the beautiful aromas and flavours from the spices.
- Grind the toasted coriander and cumin seeds using mortar and pestle or an electric grinder. You can also beat the hell out of them with a wooden pin. Return the spices to the frying pan and add the olive oil. Heat up until hot but not smoking or sizzling, cook together for 30 seconds.
- Mix the carrots with chilli and mint and pour in the vinegar dressing. Now add the hot spiced oil together with the spices and mix thoroughly. I know this sounds strange but adding hot oil to carrots adds magic to the pickling process. Also, I don't know if this is just an old myth but treating raw carrots with hot oil helps to release beta-carotene. I suppose that does happen when you cook carrots, so there you go.
- Garnish with extra mint.
Great to make easy to follow. Looks fab how lo g does it last in the fridge?
4-5 days should be fine
I am making carrot pickles but I want to know the tips of salads to make with them. This will help to sell them.
Yum, I love carrot salad. I often make a simple one dressed with orange juice, balsamic and olive oil but I will have to try your version – it sounds great!
Keep up the amazing work Irena, I’m loving this blog!
Thanks Rynagh. How is NY treating you? You writing about your adventures? Send me a link. Enjoy the carrot salad x