When I first heard the term “carrot fries” I was super skeptical. I mean, I love me some fries. If I want fries, I’m going to make some of my oven-baked fries. However, when my first box of Imperfect Produce came with a bag of carrots, I decided to wing this whole “carrot fries” thing. And, um, my world was officially rocked.
Now as you can see, I’m not the biggest person of calling something that it isn’t. Like, I’m not going to mix together some greek yogurt with some chocolate chips and say it’s “just like” eating chocolate chip ice cream. So I didn’t want to call roasted carrot fries if they really didn’t feel like fries to me. I mean, carrots get really soft, so how could they get crunchy like potatoes do?
Well, apparently they do. When you roast super thin pieces of carrots, they crunch up just like fries. I mean sure, they do have somewhat of a softer consistency than small slices of potato, but they still got crunchy enough for me to say ”yeah, these are carrot fries.”
Since my first attempt was completely a test, I decided to give it another go the following day Yes, not joking, I made them the next day because I loved them so much. And, of course, I documented the entire process so I could share it with you right here!
Typically when you buy a bag of carrots you‘ll get about six of them. So for the purpose of this recipe, I went with making six. However, you can always choose to cut the recipe in half if you feel it’s too much. But since I ate an entire batch of these in one sitting, I say you could make the whole thing for a delicious snack or side dish. Yes, I ate six carrots in a whole sitting. I felt amazing after.
How to make carrot fries
Here’s my step-by-step guide for making carrot fries right at home.
Peel the carrots
You’ll want to peel the carrots as your first step, then chop off the tops. If you can, compost the scraps! Here’s how to compost.
Chop them into small “fry” pieces
If you want really crunchy fries, you’ll want to cut the pieces really small. I would chop the carrot in half both ways, then try to get the little “fry” pieces as small as you can. Without cutting yourself, of course!!
Spread on a baking sheet with oil, salt, and pepper
Mix the carrot fries on a baking sheet with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Typically for roasting vegetables, I’ll use more oil than that. However, I have found with carrot fries the less oil means a crunchier consistency. I promise you, you’re not going to want more than 2 teaspoons.
Bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway
Roast at 400 for 30 minutes, and flip the fries halfway. The bottoms of the vegetable that face down on the pan tend to get crispier, so if you want the fries to be crispy all over, you’ll want to flip.
Enjoy with a side of ranch, or if you’re looking for a little kick, make the Sriracha mayo from my ebook!
Carrot Fries
Ingredients
- 6 carrots peeled
- 2 tsp olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
- Cut the carrots into thin, “fry” size pieces. The thinner they are, the crispier they will be.
- Mix on a baking sheet with olive oil, salt, and pepper. If you want other seasonings (all-purpose, Italian, chili powder, etc.) feel free to add them here.
- Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, mixing the fries halfway so they evenly cook.
- Serve with your favorite dip!
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