Juicy on the inside and crispy edges on the outside, these air fryer carrots will be your new favorite side dish in no time! If you're looking to spice up your carrot eating routine, this air fryer recipe is perfect! It's quick and easy and tastes fantastic! You can whip up a batch in less than 15 minutes with only five ingredients. This makes it the perfect side dish for any night of the week!
Carrots are one of the most popular vegetables in the world, but sometimes we need to mix things up, so our taste buds don't get bored.
This delicious recipe will provide you with a low-calorie and healthy dish without sacrificing taste.
Pair these yummy air fryer roasted carrots with Smoked Chicken Thighs, Bacon-Wrapped Boneless Chicken Breasts in Air Fryer, Frozen Shrimp in Air Fryer, Air Fryer Chicken Thighs, or Instant Pot Chicken Breasts for a quick and healthy meal everyone will love!
⭐ More air fryer recipes
Jump to:
- ⭐ More air fryer recipes
- ❔ What is an air fryer?
- 💗 Why you will love air fryer carrots
- 🥕 Ingredients for air fryer roasted carrots
- ⏲️ How to make roasted carrots in air fryer
- 🧂 Variations
- 🍽 Equipment
- 🌡️ Storage
- Top tips
- 📋 FAQs
- 🥕 Health benefits of carrots
- ⭐ MORE SIDE DISHES
- 📋 Recipe
- Food safety
- More recipes
- 💬 Comments
❔ What is an air fryer?
An air fryer is a cooking appliance that uses air to circulate heat around the food. This heat is then absorbed by the food, cooking it evenly with little or no oil.
Air fryers are an excellent substitute for other cooking appliances. They have a lot of health benefits, and they can be a great time-saver.
The air fryer is very easy to use, which makes this appliance very user-friendly.
Air fryers are ideal for frying up crispy sweet potato fries, flavorful teriyaki salmon, and extra crispy chicken wings. They also work well for making bacon, frozen foods like frozen waffle fries, frozen tilapia, french fries, and even cinnamon rolls!
💗 Why you will love air fryer carrots
QUICK: These carrots cook in about 12 minutes! That is far less time than roasting in the oven or boiling them on the stove.
EASY: This is a very easy way to cook carrots. Just chop up carrots, place them in a bowl, mix in some olive oil and seasonings, and cook in the air fryer!
DELICIOUS: These flavorful carrots are crispy on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside. Your whole family will love this perfect quick side dish.
PERFECTLY COOKED: Carrots cooked in the air fryer are always evenly cooked and crisp on the outside without compromising taste and texture on the inside.
LOW-CALORIE: The air fryer cooks by injecting hot air at a high velocity to cook the food quickly without frying, making this side dish healthy!
🥕 Ingredients for air fryer roasted carrots
Air-fried carrots make a great side dish that is perfect for lunch or dinner. They're easy to make and only require a few ingredients!
- Carrots. I used our own garden carrots. You can use rainbow carrots for a great splash of color, regular carrots, or baby carrots. For baby carrots, place whole carrots in the air fryer; no need to cut them.
- Olive oil. Olive oil is a healthy type of fat. It's also been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke and other types of chronic illnesses. You can also use avocado oil as well.
- Garlic powder. Adds a little extra flavor to the carrots.
- Paprika. Adds a bit of depth to the flavor of the carrots.
- Onion powder. Adds a delicious flavor to the carrots without being too overpowering.
- Sea salt, optional, to taste.
See the recipe card for quantities.
⏲️ How to make roasted carrots in air fryer
To get started, wash the carrots, and cut off the tops and bottoms. Peel the carrots with a vegetable peeler if desired.
Next, slice them into sections so they are about ½ inch in diameter. Place them into a large bowl.
Drizzle olive oil over the carrots and sprinkle on the spices. Mix everything until the carrots are well coated with oil and seasoning.
Preheat the air fryer to 380 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place carrot pieces into the air-fryer basket, and arrange the carrots into an even layer. Close the basket and air fry carrots for 12 minutes. Shake the basket halfway through the cooking time to ensure that the carrots cook evenly and do not burn.
At the end of cook time, the carrots should be fork tender and lightly browned.
And that's it! I told you this was a simple recipe. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper if desired.
Enjoy your perfectly cooked roasted air fryer carrots!
🧂 Variations
The nice thing about this recipe is that there are so many different ways you can change up this recipe! For example, you can add different seasonings or fresh herbs to these carrots before cooking them, or you could add cinnamon or honey after! There are so many variations to try!
- Spicy - add chili powder, cayenne pepper, or cajun seasoning if you want to spice things up
- Other seasonings: Italian seasoning, rosemary, cinnamon, fresh thyme.
- Cheese: Add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese for extra flavor.
- Sweet Glaze: Add a drizzle of maple syrup, honey, or brown sugar to your carrots for a sweet treat.
You can also add other root vegetables to your air-fried carrots:
- Add diced potatoes to the carrots for air fryer carrots and potatoes.
- Slice up some parsnips that are equal in size to the carrots for air fryer carrots and parsnips.
- Add diced squash to the carrots for air fryer carrots and squash.
🍽 Equipment
To make air fryer carrots, you need an air fryer. This recipe was prepared using an Instant Pot Vortex Air Fryer. It was priced reasonably and has a large 6 qt basket, perfect for cooking a lot of food at once.
I also have a Ninja Foodi Air Fryer. It has an 8 qt capacity with two baskets, making it easy to cook enough food to feed my family or make 2 different foods simultaneously.
Depending on your type of air fryer, the cook times may need to be adjusted. For example, the Ninja air fryer cooks a bit slower than the Instant Pot air fryer.
These carrots have not been tested in an air fryer oven.
🌡️ Storage
FRIDGE: Store leftover carrots for up to 3 days by placing them in the refrigerator with a tight-fitting lid.
FREEZER: To store your cooked carrots for later, you can also freeze them so they'll be ready to go when you're ready to eat them! To do this, just put the cooked carrots in a freezer bag, squeeze out any excess air and seal it tightly. Next, place the sealed bag into a large Ziploc freezer bag and place that in the freezer.
Top tips
- Cut the carrots into even-sized pieces so they cook evenly.
- Don't forget to use the oil!
- For best results, preheat the air fryer to your desired temperature. If your air fryer does not have a preheat setting, it takes about 3 minutes for the air fryer to preheat.
- Add the carrots to the basket in a single layer so they don't overlap each other.
- Shake the basket halfway through cooking.
- Do not overcook. The carrots are done when they start to turn brown on the edges and they can be pierced easily with a fork.
📋 FAQs
For me, it took 12 minutes in the air fryer before the carrots were perfectly cooked. If you like your carrots softer, leave them in for an extra minute or two.
If you use organic carrots, you do not need to peel them as long as you wash and scrub the carrots well. However, if you are using carrots that are not organic, I would peel them to remove any residual pesticide.
Carrot skins contain vitamin C and niacin, but the rest of the carrot includes most of the vitamins, so a peeled carrot is not much different from an unpeeled one.
Commercially grown carrots that are not organic may have pesticide residue on the surface. To remove any residue, peel the carrot first.
Yes, you can develop an orange/yellowish appearance. This happened to us when we made homemade carrot juice and drank it every day, plus carrots for snacks. Sadly, we had to stop drinking so much carrot juice. The yellowish/orange discoloration is called carotenemia, which is most noticeable on the soles of your feet and the palms of your hands.
🥕 Health benefits of carrots
- Anti-ageing: Carrots, like other orange coloured vegetables and fruits, contain high levels of beta-carotene, which helps to slow down the ageing process.
- Prevent heart disease and stroke: The beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and lutein in carrots lowers your risk of heart dease and also reduces cholesterol levels. Carrots can also lower blood pressure levels and reduce your risk of having a stroke.
- Vision: Beta carotene is converted to Vitamin A in the liver. This improves night vision and strengthens the eye muscles, and also helps to protect against macular degeneration.
- Hair: Vitamin A is important for cell health and growth, which is why it's so good at keeping your locks looking healthy and shiny!
- Immunity: The immune system is often referred to as our body's internal army and it fights off nasty infections and diseases that come our way. A lack of Vitamin A will reduce the efficiency of this army so it's important to get enough.
- Cancer prevention: Carrots may reduce the risk of lung cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer.
- Digestion: Carrots contain lots of fiber which helps to promote healthy digestion.
- Weight loss: Carrots are full of fibre so they keep you fuller for longer and promote a healthy digestive system!
⭐ MORE SIDE DISHES
- Frozen Broccoli in Air Fryer
- Frozen Sweet Potato Fries in Air Fryer
- Carrot Salad
- Coleslaw Recipe - Insanely Good and Creamy
- Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries - Ultra Crispy
The air fryer is a game-changer for carrots. Toss them in seasonings of your choice, put them in the basket, and let the machine do all the work.
Air-fried carrots are a must-try for this fall season or any time of year.
If you've tried this Air Fryer Carrots Recipe, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you!
You can also Follow Me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Would you please tag me in your photos @windingcreek_ranch? I would love to see your pictures!
📋 Recipe
Easy Roasted Air Fryer Carrots
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound carrots diced into ½-inch chunks
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- sea salt optional, to taste
Instructions
- Wash the carrots, and cut off the tops and bottoms. Slice them into sections about ½-inch in diameter, and place them into a medium-sized bowl.
- Drizzle olive oil over the carrots and sprinkle on the spices. Mix everything until the carrots are well-coated with oil and seasoning.
- Preheat the air fryer to 380 degrees F.
- Place carrots into the air fryer basket, and arrange the carrots into a single layer. Close the basket and set the timer for 12 minutes. Shake the basket halfway through the cooking time.
- When the timer is up and the carrots are fork-tender and lightly browned, remove them from the air fryer and sprinkle with sea salt to taste.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Cut the carrots into even-sized pieces so they cook evenly.
- Don't forget to use the oil!
- For best results, preheat the air fryer to your desired temperature. If your air fryer does not have a preheat setting, it takes about 3 minutes for the air fryer to preheat.
- Add the carrots to the basket in a single layer so they don't overlap each other
- Shake the basket halfway through cooking
- Do not overcook. The carrots are done when they start to turn brown on the edges and they can be pierced easily with a fork.
Nutrition
Food safety
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
Dennis
What a delicious and healthy way to make carrots! Everyone really enjoyed them with dinner last night!
Jeri
Thanks, Dennis! I'm so glad you liked them!
Jere Cassidy
These carrots look delicious with perfect crunch on the outside.
Jessica
Love my air fryer and love these carrots!
Jeri
I love my air fryer too! Such an easy recipe!