Air Fryer Carrots

Name: Air Fryer Carrots
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 6 carrots; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 tsp garlic powder; sea salt and black pepper; 0.5 tsp dried basil; 0.5 tsp dried oregano

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These Air Fryer Carrots have all the crispiness of roasted carrots, but they are quick and easy to make. All done in the air fryer and in just 20 minutes. Deliciously sweet and crispy carrots that make the perfect side dish, and easy to adapt with different seasonings. If you are looking for ways to eat more vegetables, then this is a great place to start.

A plate of cooked carrot battens with a bowl of dip.

If you have some carrots at the back of the fridge that are looking a bit past their best, then throw them in the air fryer with a little oil and seasoning and it will totally transform them. The great thing about these is that you can have them a different way every time by adapting the seasoning.

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Why should I try it?
What you will need
Step by step
What is an air fryer?
Why use an air fryer?
Seasoning
What to serve them with
FAQs
Extra tips
More carrot recipes
Recipe

Why should I try it?

Perfectly crispy carrots
A great way to get kids to eat more vegetables
Ready in just 20 minutes
Minimal ingredients
Delicious as a snack
Budget friendly
Easy to adapt with different seasonings
Lots of different things to serve them with

What you will need

Carrots - We used just standard orange supermarket carrots. This makes this side dish really budget friendly. If you wanted to make these a little more special, you could use yellow or purple carrots.
Oil - We used olive oil, but that is just a preference thing.
Salt and pepper
Garlic - We used dried garlic granules to give this a real burst of garlic flavour. We wouldn't recommend using fresh garlic, as this will burn.
Dried herbs - We used a mixture of dried oregano and basil, but you could add some dried parsley and marjoram too.
Parmesan - Everything is better with cheese, right? We added a sprinkling of parmesan before serving, however you could stir it in when you shake the carrots half way through.
Fresh herbs - A sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley is the perfect way to serve these.

All the ingredients needed for this recipe laid out with text overlay labels.

Step by step

One: Cut the carrots into battens, making sure they are as evenly sized as possible.

A wooden chopping board with carrots cut into battens.

Two: Put the carrots in a mixing bowl with the other ingredients and mix well until all the carrots are coated.

Two shot collage of carrot battens in a bowl with herbs, unmixed and then mixed.

Three: Put the carrots into your air fryer. Cook at 180°C for 20 minutes, shaking halfway through.

An air fryer basket containing uncooked carrot battens.

What is an air fryer?

An air fryer is a kitchen appliance that cooks food by rapidly circulating hot air around. It gives (most foods) a crispy texture with much less oil than frying or roasting.

By cooking this way, the air circulation cooks food evenly and nothing sticks. See below in the FAQs for our recommendation of which air fryer is the best.

Why use an air fryer?

Air fryers are a healthier way to cook food. You can get crispy food, like chips with much less oil than frying or baking.
Air fryers usually cook food in less time than it would take to roast it. These carrots would take around 35-40 minutes in the oven, but they cook in the air fryer in just 20 minutes.
They might take up a fair amount of space on your countertop, but they are so versatile that you will use them over and over again. They are very easy to clean too.
There is nothing worse than using your oven on a hot day, and heating up the whole kitchen. Using the air fryer stops this from happening.
Using an air fryer means more space in the oven. This is especially important if you’re cooking a big meal like Christmas dinner and need your oven space for the meat and potatoes.

Cooked carrot battens topped with chopped herbs and finely grated cheese.

Seasoning

The best thing about these air fryer carrots, apart from how easy they are, is how versatile they are. There are so many different ways you can season them, that you never have to have them the same way twice. You can keep it simple with just oil, salt and pepper, or get a bit creative. Here are some of our favourite seasoning options (apart from the one in the recipe below):

Paprika
Cayenne
Moroccan spice mix
Cumin
Red chilli flakes
Cajun season mix
Fajita season mix
Maple syrup
Mustard

What to serve them with

This is such a versatile side dish, and it goes with almost anything. Chicken, salmon, roast dinner - add some of these air fryer carrots on the side. We also really like them on a big green salad for a vitamin boost. Here are some of our favourite mains and sides to serve these with:

A cooked carrot being dipped into a small bowl of ranch sauce.

FAQs

Are air fryer carrots healthy?

These are a light and delicious side dish. Carrots are a good source of beta carotene, fibre, vitamins A and K1, potassium, and antioxidants.

What is the best air fryer?

We can't rate highly enough the Power Air Fryer XL^(aff). The 5 litre capacity is big enough for cooking for the whole family and it can fry, grill, bake, sauté, roast and steam. There are simple touch screen controls and it heats up quickly and can cook your food up to 70% faster than a conventional oven. Also, it's dishwasher safe.

Can I use baby carrots?

Yes, you can make air fryer baby carrots, however cooking times will vary and they won't have the same flavour as chopping up larger carrots.

Do I need to preheat the air fryer?

No, there is no need to preheat the air fryer for this recipe. If you want super crispy carrots, then you could preheat it for 10 minutes first.

How do I know the carrots are cooked?

When the carrots are ready is really a preference thing. Some people prefer their carrots to still have a bit of bite to them, whereas others like them to be really soft. We think that 20 minutes is the perfect cooking time and they should be fork tender.

How to store air fryer carrots

You can store any leftovers in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. We wouldn't recommend freezing these, as they tend to go a bit soggy after defrosting.

How to reheat air fryer carrots

If you are really short on time, then you can reheat these in the microwave for 45-60 seconds. However we like to put them back in the air fryer for 4-5 minutes so they are heated through.

Extra tips

Make sure that your carrots are evenly cut, so they all cook at the same rate.
Mix everything together in a large bowl before transferring it to the air fryer basket. Make sure every carrot is evenly coated.
Give the air fryer basket a shake half way through cooking. This makes sure that the carrots don't get stuck to the basket and that they are evenly cooked.
We cut ours in to sticks, so they are kind of like carrot fries. But you can cut them in to rounds if you prefer. If you want to get a little fancy, then use a crinkle cutter.
If you really want to save yourself some time, then you can buy a bag of ready cut carrots sticks from the supermarket.
This recipe is based on the air fryer we have used and mentioned above. Using a different air fryer may mean that cooking times vary. It is best to check the carrots after about 15 minutes.
If you halve this recipe, then you will need to reduce the cooking time by about 3-4 minutes.

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