Baked Carrot Fries Recipe For International Carrot Day

April 4, 2025 at 8:49 am · Filed under Food Fun, Food Holidays, Recipes, Vegetables-Salads-Herbs

What’s up, Doc? It’s International Carrot Day and we’re making carrot fries for dinner. They’re baked carrot fries, so much easier than deep frying these days. Not to mention, they’re a healthier alternative (less fat and calories).

We’re making ours in the air fryer, coating them with Parmesan, and doing a flavored ketchup tasting: bacon, smokey, spicy, and truffle.

> The history of carrots.

> More carrot recipes.

> A year of carrot holidays.

RECIPE: CARROT FRIES

You can serve this recipe with a more elegant dip than ketchup—aïoli, hot honey, peanut sauce, spicy mayo, even hummus or Greek yogurt flavored with herbs and garlic.

You can peel the carrots or not. See the discussion below.

This recipe uses standard American seasonings, garlic and onion powders. But you can use anything in your spice cabinet, from cumin and garam masala, or za’atar, to the heat of Cajun seasoning, chipotle, or other ground chile.

Minced parsley adds brightness to the layers of flavor.

Ingredients

1 pound carrots, peeled (or not) and cut 3/8″ to 1/2″ thick

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese*

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and pepper

Garnish: minced fresh parsley

Optional dip: parsley for garnish sauce of choice for dipping

Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (we use air fryer liners).

2. COMBINE the olive oil, Parmesan, cornstarch, and seasonings in a bowl and mix well. Add the carrots and toss to coat well.

3. SPREAD the carrots evenly on the baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 25-30 minutes until desired crispiness is reached, flipping the carrots halfway with a spatula.

4. GARNISH with fresh parsley and serve with dipping sauce. Eat ‘em while they’re hot!

FOR CRISPIER CARROT FRIES

Carrots don’t have the starch content potatoes do, which is why we prefer the air fryers to the oven (but either is fine).

For crispier carrot fries, toss the carrot sticks in olive oil and then in corn starch or arrowroot powder.

TO PEEL, OR NOT TO PEEL?

If you choose not to peel the carrots, the benefits are extra nutrients like vitamin C, beta-carotene, and niacin. You also reduce food waste, and can use the peels for carrot peel chips, pesto, candied carrot peels, or in smoothies, soup, or stock.

The argument for peeling is that baked peel has a slightly earthy taste and texture of the skin. Some people find them more aesthetic.

But we enjoy fries with the peel on, so we often keep it on other vegetable fries.

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*For a dairy/free vegan substitute, use a blend of nutritional yeast and cornstarch or tapioca starch.