How to cook carrots

What are your favourite carrot recipes?

I've posed this question recently in my Facebook group and on instagram with some great results.

Roasted carrots featured a lot. Most people roasted them with honey, others chose maple syrup.

Have you tried roasted carrots before?

Other ideas for how to cook carrots included:

• Vichy carrots, cooked with sugar, butter and thyme
• cutting into ribbons for salads or sandwiches
• adding to smoothies
• grating into a quesadilla
• putting into oat bars. 

Simple steamed or boiled carrots featured as well.

And lots of people said that both they and their kids love crunchy raw carrots. 

How to cook carrots

If you're not following one of the recipes below but just want a simple method for cooking carrots try one of the following ideas.

How to steam carrots

• Half fill the bottom of your steamer pan with water and bring to the boil.
• Peel the carrots and cut off the ends. Very young carrots won't need peeling but be sure to wash them before cooking. Cut into thin rounds or half moons. Try to keep them a similar size.
• Once the water has come to the boil place the carrots in the steamer basket, place on top of the pan and cover with a lid. Turn the heat down so the water doesn't boil over or burn dry.
• It will take around 10-15 minutes to steam your carrots. Carefully remove the lid (watch out for hot steam) and check that they are tender with a fork. The exact cooking time will depend on the size of your carrots.

How to boil carrots

Steaming vegetables is generally a better option because this method helps to keep the nutrients in. However if you need to boil them instead it's very simple.

• Bring a pan of water to the boil.
• Meanwhile prepare the carrots as above (see how to steam carrots).
• Carefully add the prepared carrots to the boiling water and boil for 10-12 minutes or until tender. Check with a fork. Remember that the cooking time will vary depending on the size of your carrot.

How to roast carrots

Roasted carrots is absolutely delicious and many of my readers have told me that this is their favourite way to eat carrots.

I have a recipe here for maple balsamic roasted baby carrots and parsnips (pictured above) if you'd like to check it out.

To roast carrots you'll need to:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan)/200°C/gas mark 6.
• Peel the carrots, cut off both ends and slice into rounds, half moons or batons. Very young carrots won't need to be peeled but you should always wash them first.
• Place in an ovenproof roasting dish and drizzle with olive oil. Mix well. Other delicious additions could include honey, maple syrup, sesame oil (instead of olive oil), turmeric, ginger or balsamic vinegar.
• Roast for 20 minutes then remove from the oven and stir well. If you're roasting as half moons they may be done now, larger pieces will need to be returned to the oven to cook through.

How else can carrots be cooked?

Carrots can also be:

• sautéed
• added to stir fries
• eaten raw
• baked into cakes, bars or cookies.

Need more inspiration? Check out my recipes below.

Roasted carrot pasta sauce