This Spiralized Carrot Zucchini Salad with Feta and toasted sunflower seeds is tossed in a light and flavorful Lemon Garlic Dressing. This salad is quick and easy to make, vegetarian, delicious, and a great alternative to leafy salads.
A few days ago I posted a similar Spiralized Zucchini Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing, so I wanted to post another variation of this spiralized zucchini carrot salad that is perfect for a healthy side dish in the summer.
This salad is made with feta cheese, toasted sunflower seeds, and a simple, light, flavorful lemon garlic dressing. It's super easy to make and it tastes delicious, as far as salads go. The creamy salty feta cheese is perfect with the garlicky lemony dressing. The dressing is made in just a few minutes in a small bowl. It really couldn't be easier.
This carrot zucchini salad is a great way to eat lots of fresh raw veggies but without having to eat boring leafy salads. It makes a great side dish or appetizer for chicken and pasta recipes, such as these:
If you like spiralizing vegetables, you must also check out this same salad with the Sesame Ginger Dressing. You can also prepare both salad dressings and have a little salad bar type of situation - let your family or guests pick their toppings and dressing:
Related recipe: Zucchini Fritters
Spiralizing Vegetables
If you want to read alllll about spiralizing, julienning, or shaving vegetables into ribbons, click on over to the other spiralized salad recipe: Zucchini Carrot Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing. I talk all about the differences between these different cutting techniques. Did you know that "julienned" vegetables have very specific length, width, and thickness dimensions?? Yea, I didn't either.
The only thing I'll mention here are my favorite tools for spiralizing and julienning vegetables, so you can easily make delicious noodly crunchy salads:
This julienne peeler from Oxo is my favorite little tool to make spiralized / julienned vegetables when I am not making a huge amount (such as for this recipe). This peeler comes with a vegetable peeler, which is great for making shaved vegetable ribbons:
A few tips to make the best spiralized zucchini salad:
- You can use a combination of zucchini and yellow squash, or just use one of them. Don't skip the carrots, they add a nice crunch.
- You can spiralize the vegetables and prepare the dressings a day in advance. But don't mix the two together until you are ready to serve! The vegetables release a lot of juice when combined with the dressing, and they lose their crispness.
- Take a minute to toast the sunflower seeds to really bring out their flavor!
- Use fresh ingredients for the dressings! Fresh lemon juice has more flavor compared to the bottled stuff. Freshly minced garlic and gives the dressing a nice kick and tastes so much better than dried powdered garlic. It's super easy to squeeze fresh lemon juice and spend a minute to press the garlic if you've got a few simple tools, such as this citrus squeezer and this garlic press.
Looking for other fun vegetable salads?
- Shaved carrot daikon radish salad
- Spiralized carrot zucchini salad with sesame ginger dressing
- Chickpea and pea shoot salad
Did you enjoy this recipe? Let me know with a comment and a star rating below!
And don't forget to save it for later on Pinterest:
Spiralized Carrot Zucchini Salad with Feta
Ingredients
- 1 yellow squash - (small, about 6-7 inches)
- 1 zucchini - (small, about 6-7 inches)
- 1 carrot - (medium)
- 2 oz feta cheese - (about 1/4 cup)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves - , finely diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice - (from 1/2 lemon)
- 1 garlic clove - , minced
- 1 teaspoon sugar or honey - (optional, skip for a low carb version)
- Salt & pepper - , to taste (about 1/8 teaspoon each)
- 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds - , toasted (optional)
Instructions
- Spiralize or julienne all the vegetables. Or cut them into ribbons with a vegetable peeler.
- Combine all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and stir with a fork. Pour the dressing over the salad. Add the feta cheese and fresh parsley, and mix well. Serve immediately.
Notes
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Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.
CJ Winick
Thursday 1st of July 2021
The recipe = all the vegetables?? There is only 1 vegetable a Carrot and 2 fruit (yellow squash and zucchini).
What do you do with the Fruit??
Kate
Friday 2nd of July 2021
Had to google this one... I guess zucchini and squash are technically fruits! I'm sure people will know what to do... Make sure to spiralize the fruit too, CJ ;)
Matt @ Total Feasts
Wednesday 3rd of July 2019
Ik, honestly I didn’t know there was a specific requirement for julienned vegetables either. I just assumed the it was the setting on my mandolin! I love the salad Kate, colourful and clearly good flavour. Would be perfect at a summer BBQ. Can’t wait to try!