It’s incredible how simply tweaking the preparation or presentation of an ingredient can cause a recipe to take over the internet. Bake a block of feta and it becomes a viral baked feta pasta, or whip a bit of instant coffee with cream and say hello to the infamous Dalgona coffee. So what happens when you shave carrots into long, thin tendrils? You get a stunning carrot ribbon salad that, quite frankly, we cannot get enough of.

This healthy salad is the latest recipe to take social media by storm. What makes it special is how the carrots are sliced into strands (similar to lemony zucchini ribbons). Not only does this create a unique and attractive presentation that’s super fun to eat, but it also creates more surface area for the sweet and vibrant citrus vinaigrette to cling to.

While many carrot ribbon salads tend to favor dressings made with soy, ginger and chili crisp for an Asian-inspired take, our version transports your taste buds to the Mediterranean and the Middle East, featuring spices such as coriander and cayenne, along with cilantro, orange, lemon and balsamic vinegar. The mashup of fresh, tangy and spicy flavors balances the sweet taste of the veggies in this carrot recipe.

How to Cut Ribbons for Carrot Salad

The elegant ribbons of carrots in this summer salad recipe may look tricky to perfect, but they’re really super easy to create if you have the right tools. To shave carrots for a ribbon salad, you’ll want to use a cheap and affordable vegetable peeler. You could use a mandoline slicer, too, if you have one.

After you wash the carrots, lay one carrot flat on a cutting board and run the vegetable peeler from the fat end of the carrot all the way down to its point, using even pressure. Repeat and rotate the carrot 90 degrees. Then continue to slice ribbons, rotating the carrot as needed to create ribbons of uniform width and length.

You’ll likely have a bit of irregularly shaped carrot leftover. You can either munch on these as you cook, save them for another dish (like a chopped salad) or use them to make a healthy homemade vegetable broth.

Carrot Ribbon Salad Ingredients

• Carrots: Add this to your roster of go-to healthy carrot recipes. Its quick and easy preparation and flavorful dressing are a hit with kids and adults alike. Because it’s full of carrots, this recipe has a generous dose of vitamin C and antioxidants that support the immune system and promote healthy skin, hair and eyes.
• Rice vinegar: Rice vinegar is a key ingredient in Japanese cooking. It’s a special type of vinegar made from fermented rice grain, and the flavor can’t be replicated by anything else.
• White balsamic vinegar: White balsamic is similar to regular balsamic vinegar but offers a milder flavor that’s more crisp and less sweet than darker balsamic varieties.
• Brown sugar: The dressing for this carrot ribbon salad is fairly acidic thanks to the vinegar and citrus ingredients. Brown sugar brings balance to the dish by offering a touch of sweetness.
• Spices: A blend of white pepper, coriander, celery salt, ginger, chili powder and cayenne infuses the salad with a warm and spicy kick of flavor.
• Cilantro: Cilantro pairs great with the spices and citrus flavors in the dressing and peppers the salad with a festive flourish of contrasting color.
• Almonds: A bit of nutty crunch adds a pleasing texture to this colorful salad.
• Citrus: The juice and zest of a few oranges and limes brighten the salad and complement the other flavors in the recipe.
• Salt: A few pinches of salt work wonders on this salad to balance and enhance the flavors of this carrot ribbon salad.

Taste of Home