Here are the best ways to cook carrots, from boiling and roasting to baking and simmering. Our thirty recipes include everything from carrots steamed in water to sweet desserts and smoothies. Fresh carrots are the perfect ingredient to enhance your meals with sweet flavor and nutritional benefits.
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Why We Love Carrots
There’s something special about fresh carrots. They’re crunchy, sweet, and packed with fiber. In the kitchen, carrots are incredibly versatile and there are endless ways to cook them.
Packed with nutrients and bursting with vibrant color, this orange root vegetable is a must-have in every kitchen. No other vegetable can seamlessly transition from a sweet side dish with steak to a welcome addition to cake batter.
You can shred raw carrots for fresh salads, pickle them for a tangy snack, or blend them into smoothies and soups for a nutritional boost. Whether you're adding them to savory dishes or sweet treats, carrots offer endless culinary possibilities.
The best ways to cook carrots include oven roasting, boiling, steaming, simmering, baking, pickling, and shredding raw carrots for salads, juices, smoothies, and soups, as well as air frying, and baking them into delicious desserts.
Roasting Carrots
Cooking carrots in the oven at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) brings out their natural sweet flavor and enhances their tender texture. Roasting caramelizes the sugars, resulting in a deliciously rich side dish perfect for any meal.
Roasting Carrots and Cauliflower is incredibly simple to prepare and tastes delicious! The best way to roast carrots is by simply chopping the vegetables, adding them to a large bowl, and tossing them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and additional seasoings. Spread the mixture on a sheet pan and roast in a 400-degree oven until tender and golden brown.
Roasted Carrots with Broccoli and Garlic When you're looking for a quick and healthy side dish, roasted broccoli and carrots is a great option. This one-pan side dish is made with fresh carrots, whole garlic cloves, and broccoli.
Roasting Carrots with Cauliflower with Asparagus is a nutrient-packed dish featuring tender cauliflower florets, crisp asparagus spears, and sweet carrot slices. This vegetable medley is seasoned with salt and pepper making it a delicious and healthy side dish.
Honey Roasted Carrots are a simple yet delicious side dish. Roasted with honey, olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, they make the perfect side that's both sweet and savory.
Roasted Carrots and Parsnips is a blend of two root vegetables. Orange carrots and white parsnips, sweetened with honey, create a delicious side dish that's perfect for pairing with chicken and roasted meats.
How To Cook Carrots on The Stove
Steaming Carrots with Broccoli is one of the easiest ways to cook carrots! There's no need to wait for a pot of water to boil. This healthy side dish comes together quickly—just ten minutes from start to finish!
Steaming Carrots in water is an easy and low-calorie way to make carrots, retaining their nutrients and enhancing their natural sweetness.
These Glazed Carrots feature tender carrot coins simmered on the stove in a rich mixture of brown sugar and butter, finished with a sprinkling of parsley.
Brown Sugar Glazed Baby Carrots is a classic, comfort-food side dish that you can make on the stove with a little honey, brown sugar, butter, and allspice.
Bourbon Glazed Carrots can add a touch of Southern flair to your next meal. The carrots are cooked in a buttery bourbon glaze that reduces to perfection.
Raw Carrot Salads
Raw carrots are fantastic in salads, adding vibrant color, crunch, and natural sweetness. They pair wonderfully with leafy greens, nuts, fruits, and cheeses, creating a range of diverse and flavorful combinations.
Ray Peat's Carrot Salad is a recipe that went viral on TikTok earlier this year. A daily shredded carrot, coconut oil, salt, and a little vinegar, could boost your health, according to Dr. Peat.
Italian Carrot Salad is a perfect salad or side dish, with crisp, fresh vegetables. The sweet carrots paired with a tangy dressing strike a perfect balance of flavors.
Juicing Carrots
Carrot Orange Ginger Juice This orange juice is made with carrots, oranges, and fresh ginger. It makes a delicious morning drink to get your days started right.
Carrot Smoothies
This Carrot Banana Smoothie tastes just like a piece of carrot cake! Just 8 ingredients and 5 minutes are all it takes. Vegan and gluten-free!
Baking Carrots
Try these Baked Carrot Fries with Sriracha Mayo as a healthy alternative to French fries. They’re easy to make and a delicious vegetarian side dish.
These Baked Rainbow Carrots are colorful, sweet, savory, and buttery. This multi-colored side dish is sure to be a hit, seasoned with goat cheese and pomegranate arils for an incredible taste.
Air Frying Carrots
Air Fryer Carrot Fries are a delicious and healthy twist on classic French fries with a satisfying crunch similar to their potato counterparts. Pair them with your favorite dipping sauce for a flavorful side dish or fun snack.
Carrot Soup Recipes
Cabbage Tomato Soup is a low-calorie healthy soup to fill you up on low-calorie vegetables. It's made with cabbage, tomatoes, onion, pepper, bone broth, herbs, and spices. The bone broth gives the soup a rich and flavorful base, while the cabbage and tomatoes make it sweet.
Spiced Carrot and Lentil Soup with Za’atar Pita Chips features carrots, red lentils, tahini paste, and warm spices that simmer and blend into a velvety smooth texture.
Thick and creamy Cashew Carrot Ginger Soup is an easy Instant Pot recipe. Made with cashews, carrots, ginger, coconut milk, and a touch of Thai red curry paste for some spice, it’s both vegan and gluten-free!
Carrot and Parsnip Soup is a creamy soup perfect for chilly days. This carrot soup combines the natural sweetness of carrots and parsnips, creating a beautifully smooth and creamy texture.
Roasted Butternut Squash Carrot Soup is a quintessential fall and winter dish. By roasting the squash and carrots, their natural sweetness intensifies, infusing the soup with a rich depth of flavor that warms from the inside out.
Pickling Carrots
Pickling carrots is a simple way to add a tangy crunch to your meals. The process infuses the carrots with flavorful brine, creating a deliciously crisp and zesty snack or condiment.
Pickled Carrots and Daikon, Đồ chua or "sour stuff", is a pickled carrot and daikon condiment from Vietnam. The veggies are marinated in a sweet brine infused with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Just mix it all, store it in mason jars, and overnight the flavors meld into a delicious dish.
These Easy Pickled Carrots are safe for canning or can be used as a quick refrigerator pickle. Pickled carrots are great alongside sandwiches or burgers and are a fun addition to a relish tray or charcuterie board.
Sweet Carrot Recipes
Vegan Carrot Orange Muffins are nut-free and super moist vegan muffins with toasted coconut and a hint of spice. Quick, easy, and topped with cream cheese glaze.
Carrot Pound Cake is a moist carrot cake with a pineapple and brown butter cream cheese glaze.
This Keto Carrot Cake Recipe uses simple ingredients to create a classic carrot cake with a sugar-free cream cheese frosting.
These Carrot Cake Cupcakes are super moist, perfectly spiced, and filled with freshly shredded carrots!
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is a moist carrot cake with a rich cream cheese frosting. It includes crushed pineapple, raisins, and nuts for extra flavor and texture. When you want a dessert that everyone will love, make this cake!
Steamed Carrot Pudding with vanilla sauce tastes like moist carrot cake. It's topped with creamy vanilla sauce. Yum!
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