Turnips are inexpensive, easy to cook and store, and very nutritious. They are available almost all year round and are wonderful during the colder months of the year when not so many fruits and veggies are in season. But unfortunately, this vegetable is not very popular. You are not going to see many Instagram celebrities posting pictures of their turnip salad.
What is turnip?
Turnip or white turnip is a root vegetable that belongs to the cruciferous family together with cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, and a few others.
Turnips are usually round and heavy for their size. They have smooth skin that is white at the bottom and light purple or greenish in the top part.
In texture, the turnip flesh is similar to radishes but has a very mild taste. Fresh turnips are frequently sold with their greens still attached. Turnips without the greens are either packaged in plastic bags or sold loose.
What to do with turnips?
There are quite a few ways you can cook turnips. You can boil, steam, braise, or roast them.
But the easiest way to enjoy turnips is to eat them raw. Raw turnips have a pleasant mild taste and can be eaten just as a snack the way you would eat a carrot. They also work great served as a part of a veggie tray or in a salad.
Raw turnips nutritional facts
Turnips are very nutritious. They contain vitamin B6, folate, calcium, potassium, and copper, and are a very good source of fiber, vitamin C, and manganese. I couldn’t find the exact glycemic index of turnips. Some websites say that they are medium glycemic. However, according to this database, one medium-size raw turnip has a low glycemic load of 2.
About this turnip salad
This raw turnip recipe is an example of how you can combine turnips with other raw veggies to prepare a quick and very healthy salad. All you need to do is grate the turnips and carrots, quickly chop some parsley, add pumpkin seeds, olive oil, and lemon juice and mix everything to combine.
This salad keeps well in the fridge for up to 48 hours. Keep in mind that once it’s grated, turnips will change their color from pure white to slightly yellowish and translucent. So, if you want to serve this salad for a dinner party and the appearance of the turnip salad is important to you, make sure to prepare it just before serving.
Enjoy!
If you are looking for more raw vegetable salad recipes, check out this Healthy Cabbage Salad, this Red and Green Cabbage Salad, this German Cucumber Salad, and this Mediterranean Tomato Salad.
Raw Turnip Salad Recipe
A very easy to prepare Raw Turnip Salad Recipe. Just grate the vegetables, add the dressing and combine everything in a salad bowl. Full of fiber and healthy nutrients.
Ingredients
- 3 medium turnips, peeled and grated
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and grated
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Place the turnips, carrots, parsley and pumpkin seeds into a salad bowl. Add the lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and toss to combine.
Notes
1. This salad keeps well in the fridge for up to 48 hours. Keep in mind that once grated, turnip will change the color from pure white to slightly yellowish and translucent. So, if you want to serve this salad for a dinner party and the appearance of the salad is important to you, make sure to prepare the salad just before serving.
2. Nutrition information is a rough estimate for 1 of 4 servings.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
5Serving Size
1/4 of recipeAmount Per ServingCalories 278 Total Fat 21.5g Saturated Fat 3.5g Trans Fat 0g Unsaturated Fat 18g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 104.6mg Carbohydrates 15.8g Fiber 5.3g Sugar 6.3g Protein 10.4g
Loved this salad! Flavorful and crunchy and especially love the contrasting colors of this salad. I wonder if rutabaga in place of turnips would taste much different..
Rutabaga would be wonderful in this salad! I think it would taste very similar to a turnip.
I love turnips fixed all different ways but I had a friend who loved slaw but was on coumadin blood thinner for years and was told not to eat cabbage slaw so I made turnip slaw and she could eat that and it is so good!
I eat a lot of roasted veggies and raw veggies and over the last 2 years lost 100 lbs limit my intake of anything fried and count my carbs! I was a type 2 diabetic and no longer take meds to control diabetes! I will soon be 73 am very active and love to cook healthy foods for my friends?! Thanks for your recipes!
Hi Mary! This is the best comment ever! Good for you for eating healthy and staying active. Your friends are so lucky to have you cook for them 🙂
Turnips!? Who knew. I bought a couple today to add to my big pot of Scotch broth but had never used them before. I had to try some of the diced pieces raw and was surprised, happily, to discover they taste wonderful raw. I immediately came online to check for raw-turnip salad recipes and found yours. Both of today’s purchase went into the pot but next time I get groceries, I’ll buy some more and make salad. They remind me of very mild radishes and I’ve made radish salad to use up some I only put a few into potato salad. I do recall my mother giving our milk cow a turnip sometimes as a treat. If I’d appreciated how good they were, I’d have dipped into the cow’s supply.
Hi Naomi! You are right, they taste like mild radishes. I just love it that your Mom gave them to the cow. I am sure the cow enjoyed them 🙂
What type of grater did you use to get that texture?
I have an old mandoline slicer and one of the attachments grates into these long thin strips.
Thank you for a simple fast and delicious salad! I got wonderful fresh organic locally grown turnips and didn’t want to cook them. My husband and me really enjoyed eating them raw in this salad.
Thank you so much for letting me know, Yana! I am so glad you enjoyed the salad 🙂