Slightly sweet but earthy, the humble carrot is the delicious root vegetable we all know and love. These flavorful dishes showcase the colorful veggie in many different ways, including baked with maple syrup and spices, blended with fruit into smoothies and more. Plus, each recipe has been rated with four and five stars by EatingWell readers, so you're sure to love every bite. Recipes like our Carrot Cake Overnight Oats and Sheet-Pan Carrots & Chickpeas with Tahini can be happily enjoyed any day or night of the week.
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Sheet-Pan Carrots & Chickpeas with Tahini
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Roasted carrots and crispy chickpeas pack on the fiber in this vegan main dish. The tahini sauce strikes the perfect balance of nuttiness and sweetness. Tahini, made from ground sesame seeds, is a great pantry staple to have on hand. Use it to make dressings, simple sauces or any of these other healthy tahini recipes.
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Carrot Soup
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This easy carrot soup recipe is a great way to use up a bag of carrots that were forgotten in your produce drawer. The carrots cook together with aromatics like onions, garlic and fresh herbs before being pureed into a silky smooth soup that's delicious for dinner or packed up for lunch.
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Carrot Cake Overnight Oats Taste Like Dessert for Breakfast
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Carrot cake for breakfast? We say yes! These carrot cake overnight oats taste just like the classic dessert—complete with a frosting-like layer—but with far less added sugar. We like layering some of the frosting in between layers of oats, but you can just dollop it all on top if you prefer.
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Roasted Carrot Tart with Carrot-Green Pesto
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In this vegetarian main-dish recipe, you use the entire carrot from root to greens, so there's less waste. Roasted carrots are layered on top of a creamy ricotta base with pesto made using the green tops from carrots. Untrimmed carrots can be tough to find, but when you do, cut off the tops and store them separately or they'll draw moisture from the carrots. If you don't have carrot greens, use 1 cup of parsley instead.
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Maple Roasted Carrots
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Roasting brings out the inherent sweetness in carrots—but add a little maple syrup and butter and you have a caramelized vegetable your kids (and you!) will actually want to eat seconds of.
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Carrot Cake
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Carrots give carrot cake a health-halo effect--people think it's health food, but it's usually very high in fat and calories. But our version has about 40 percent less calories and 50 percent less fat than most. First, we use less oil in our batter. Then we skip the butter in the frosting (don't worry, it's still light and smooth). To ensure the cake is moist, we add nonfat buttermilk and crushed pineapple.
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Carrot-Apple Smoothie
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This carrot and apple smoothie is creamy and has a light tropical flavor thanks to coconut milk. It's naturally sweetened from the carrots and apple, and the combination of ginger and lemon juice adds just a bit of spice and helps balance the flavor. The turmeric, fresh or dried, gives the smoothie a vibrant bright orange color.
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Balsamic Oven-Roasted Carrots
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Roasting carrots in the oven brings out their sweetness, which is enhanced further with a tangy balsamic and maple glaze. Serve these balsamic roasted carrots as an easy weeknight side dish.
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Chicago-Style Carrot Dogs
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Whether you're vegan, vegetarian or none of the above, these plant-based "dogs" are magically delicious--period. This recipe makes these vegan hot dogs Chicago-style, but feel free to doctor them up any way you like. Break with convention and add shredded cabbage, sprouts and cilantro, for example.
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Carrot & Banana Muffins
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Packed with flavorful and wholesome ingredients, these carrot-banana muffins make a good snack or breakfast.
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Carrot Dog Pigs in a Blanket
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Carrots replace co*cktail wieners in this healthy update of pigs in a blanket. Soaking the carrot "dogs" in a smoky marinade is the key to giving them that hot dog flavor, for a vegan app meat-eaters will love too. Serve with dipping sauces like honey mustard or ranch dressing to take these to the next level.
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Breakfast Carrot-Cake Oatmeal Cakes
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Enjoy all the classic flavors of carrot cake in these healthy oatmeal cakes. Shredded carrot, raisins and walnuts are packed into each bite. Chopping the raisins helps distribute them throughout the batter. These oatmeal cakes are perfect for a grab-and-go breakfast, but also make for a great snack.
Honey & Orange Glazed Carrots
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Bright and fresh, these candied carrots have just a hint of sweetness from the honey and citrus. This one-pan dish is quick and easy to make, but also has such a pretty presentation that it works both as an entertaining-worthy or weeknight side dish. Look for carrots that are similar in size so they cook evenly.
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Vegan Carrot Cake
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This vegan carrot cake recipe with almond flour is packed with carrots, raisins and pecans, which add wonderful texture. Vegan butter and vegan cream cheese combine with rice flour to create a creamy, tangy frosting. Letting the frosting chill in the fridge is crucial so it thickens, giving it a more spreadable consistency.
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Instant Pot Cream of Carrot Soup
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This luscious and healthy cream of carrot soup comes together with just 15 minutes of active time, thanks to the Instant Pot (or any other pressure cooker). For an even easier dish, use an immersion blender to puree the soup--you'll only have the Instant Pot insert to clean after cooking. Serve this soup as a starter for a holiday meal or with crusty bread and a salad for dinner any night.
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Carrot Cake Energy Bites
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These no-cook energy bites keep well in the fridge or freezer and are easy to grab on the go for a healthy snack.
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Carrot Smoothie
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This type of drink tends to be pricey in the big city juice bars. Now you can make the recipe at home.
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Glazed Carrots with Green Harissa & Benne Seed Crunch
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At The Anchorage in Greenville, South Carolina, chef Greg McPhee has a waste-free ethos and uses the entire carrot, including the greens, for this spicy, nutty side dish made with benne seeds, a local variety of sesame. To make sure they cook evenly, halve larger carrots lengthwise so they are all about the same size and no wider than 1 inch.
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Carrot Cake Cheesecake
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This orange-scented carrot cake cheesecake has a wonderfully moist and flavorful carrot cake shell which holds the creamy cheesecake portion. The swirl effect of dollops of cheesecake batter is a fun and festive way to round out this rich dessert.
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Roasted Purple Carrots with Black Sesame Dukkah
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We love how the Egyptian nut, seed and spice blend dukkah adds aroma, flavor and texture to this otherwise simple purple carrot recipe.
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Roasted Carrots with Cardamom Butter
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Roasting these carrots with only a bit of butter and some cardamom gives them a rich, nutty flavor that belies how healthy they are. A single serving gives you over 600 percent of the daily recommendation for vitamin A!
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Garlic & Parmesan Roasted Carrots
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Roasting carrots in the oven brings out their inherent sweetness, while Parmesan and garlic give this easy side dish a flavorful savory accent.
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Chili-Roasted Carrots
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Roasted with chili powder and cumin then tossed with cilantro and lime juice, these carrots are bursting with zesty flavor. Serve them with simple roast chicken or pork.
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Spicy Pickled Carrots
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This pickled carrot recipe gets its heat from jalapeños and is a great topping for tacos, tostadas and quesadillas. These spicy carrots are also delicious added to a bowl of soup or tossed with spring greens, feta cheese and just a drizzle of olive oil.
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Curried Carrot Soup
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If you like a bit of heat, use hot Madras curry powder in this recipe. Serve as a light lunch or as an appetizer before supper.
