How to Air Fry Baby Carrots — Quick, Healthy, and Delicious!
Can you cook baby carrots in an air fryer? Absolutely! Here is how I make air fryer carrots that are healthy, delicious, and so easy.
Two things I hear all the time: “I have no time” + “I want to eat more veggies.” Luckily, I have lots of solutions for quick vegetable dishes, but my current go-to hack combines my air fryer with pre-prepped vegetables.
Air fryer baby carrots are on heavy, heavy rotation in my kitchen because they literally take no prep time at all. So let me walk you through how to air fry baby carrots…
- Dump a bag of whole baby carrots in the air fryer and cook it at 400F (205C) for about 8 minutes.
- Take your air fryer baby carrots out and toss them with oil and spices. Anything works, but some of my go-tos are chili powder, cumin, curry powder, and paprika — something smoky to balance the sweetness of the carrots. You can get more ideas with our 10 Ways to Season Air Fryer Veggies.
- Chuck the whole baby carrots back in the air fryer for another 8 to 12 minutes.
- Once the carrots are done, toss them with salt when they are hot out of the air fryer.
You can enjoy air fryer baby carrots immediately as a snack or side dish, or you can stash some away to add healthy and sweet deliciousness to any future salad or grain bowl.
Another thing I love to do while I cook baby carrots in an air fryer is whip up an equally quick protein and starch. I’ll broil some fish; toss a pasta dish together; cook fluffy couscous; or bake tofu, chickpeas, or chicken tenders. All of those options will take less than 20 minutes so your air fryer baby carrots will be done at the same time.
And while, yes, the fastest way to enjoy carrots is raw out of the bag, these air fryer carrots are like popping candy into your mouth. My kids can easily finish a full bag, which they would never do if they were raw. Maybe they’ll end up looking like Oompa Loompas, but for how fast, easy, and delicious this is, I’ll take that trade-off!
Since I mentioned adding air fryer baby carrots to a grain bowl, I also want to share a bowl I particularly love. …
Our meal plan members raved about this vegetarian grain bowl that is so easy to make and so healthy to eat. The flavorful, protein-packed bowl features chickpeas, carrots, and cauliflower, and then is drizzled with a creamy miso tahini sauce.
To have this bowl at the ready, use these tips:
- Grains: Make the grain ahead of time (and also make more because grains freeze beautifully!). The recipe lists couscous, but you can use anything. If you’re following our couscous steps and want to make this fully plant-based, sub a dairy-free butter or oil.
- Veggie choices: Use baby carrots and frozen cauliflower for an almost no-prep meal.
- Air fryer: Use your air fryer to roast chickpeas, carrots, and cauliflower to crispy perfection.
This meal is quick to make, but if you use pre-prepped veggies it’ll be made even faster! If you want healthy meals like this to be a regular part of your dinnertime, you can enjoy weekly menus, automatic grocery lists, weekend prep steps, and recipe archives by joining our meal plan service. Get a free 14-day trial here!
You can also learn even more about how to air fry a wide variety of ingredients with our downloadable air fryer cooking chart, our article on cooking frozen vegetables in an air fryer, and our article on the best foods to make in an air fryer.
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