This spiralized daikon salad is light, crisp, and full of bright flavor. Unlike many daikon salads that focus on spice or fermentation, this version balances mild, crunchy daikon with tart green apple, toasted pepitas, and a simple citrusy rice vinegar dressing. It’s a refreshing, easy side dish that pairs perfectly with sushi, seafood, or grilled chicken, and it comes together in just minutes, whether you use a spiralizer or not.
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Have you seen Japanese daikon radishes in your grocery store or farmer’s market?
This daikon radish salad recipe started with a silly mistake. I was hunting for carrots, and the store I like to shop at for produce had daikon with complete green tops attached next to the carrots. I grabbed a bunch in a hurry, thinking they were heirloom white carrots.
Once I got home, I realized these were not even remotely close to a carrot. I am sure I am not the only one to be fooled. Daikon radishes look like long white carrots, but they are Chinese radishes!
If you love salads as we do, check out all of my delicious salad recipes for some more yummy ideas. You may also love this homemade Kale and Apple Salad. Even my picky eater loves this salad recipe!
Ingredient Notes:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- Japanese Daikon – Most grocery stores carry this root vegetable. Look for firm daikon with fresh tops if possible.
- Pepitas – Pepitas add crunch and some protein. Be sure to remove the white shell.
- Rice Vinegar – I love rice vinegar, but apple vinegar is also good. Be sure to verify it is gluten-free. Some vinegar has malt.
- Orange Juice – Fresh or bottled orange juice is fine.
- Green Apples – Tart apples are best in this recipe. I loved using Granny Smith.
My daikon salad recipe combines fun flavors that all play nicely together. (*If you love apples as much as we do, here are our favorite gluten-free apple recipes.
Sandi’s Testing Notes:
I tested this salad with both Fuji and Granny Smith apples to see which flavors worked best together, and the tartness of the Granny Smith helped balance the flavors of the daikon.
How to Make a Daikon Radish Salad (Step-By-Step)
This daikon radish recipe is so easy to make! It is delicious with sushi and seafood recipes!
- Wash the daikon and remove the leafy top and bottom.
- If you plan to spiralize the daikon, insert it into your spiralizer and spiralize the whole thing. Repeat until you spiralize all of the daikon. (If you don’t have a spiralizer, use a large grater to grate the daikon. Grated daikon is also very good!!
- Add it to a large salad bowl with the pepitas, chopped parsley, and chopped green apples.
- In a small bowl, add the dressing ingredients and whisk to blend.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. I find letting the daikon sit with the dressing for 15 minutes helps the flavors build up nicely.
How to Store Daikon Salad:
Store the salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator. With dressing, the salad will keep fresh for up to 2 days in the fridge. If you don’t dress the salad, the daikon will keep fresh for up to 4 days.
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Frequently Asked Questions:
Daikon has a very mild, sweet, slightly peppery flavor. You wouldn’t even suspect it was in the radish family!
Yes! You can use a julienne peeler, mandoline, or even a large box grater on the large-hole side to create thin strips or shreds of daikon.
This will depend on the size of your daikon and the thickness of the peel. I did not peel the daikon because mine were smaller. Larger daikon radishes have a thicker peel, and it can have a bitter flavor.
More Delicious Salad Recipes to Try:
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Daikon and Green Apple Salad with Pepitas
Ingredients
Method
- In a bowl, add oil, vinegar, juices, and parsley. Whisk to blend.
- Spiralize the daikon and green apple. If you don’t have a spiralizer, feel free to chop it.
- Toss the daikon and green apple with the dressing. Allow to sit for 5 minutes so the flavors blend.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
I’ve tried a lot of different vegetables, but daikon never came in my farm share so haven’t tried it yet. Will have to pick them up and try this recipe, it looks good!
Let me know what you come up with 🙂