Air Fryer Carrots

Perfectly seasoned and with a hint of heat, these air fryer carrots are incredibly delicious, quick, and serves elegantly as a side dish for your special dinner, or a simple weeknight dinner at home. 

Carrots are one of the leading vegetables around in the world today.

It is a root vegetable, and the taproot is usually the part that most people eat, although the stems and leaves are also edible. 

Carrots are usually orange in color, but carrots exist in other colors such as black, red, purple, and yellow. 

Carrots are used as ingredients in other foods and are also eaten alone. We will discuss one of the ways through which you can prepare and enjoy carrots. Air-frying carrots.

Air fryer carrots or air fried carrots, as the name suggests, are made by heating carrots in an air-fryer. 

To infuse more fun into the dish, you could make the carrots multicolored, as we have done in this recipe, and serve them with sour lime cream after air-frying, more information below.

How Do They Get Their Color & Quick Background Info

While there is no tangible history of air-fried carrots, we can take a little trip down memory lane about carrots. 

Carrots originated from central Asia in ancient Persia which is today known as Iran and Afghanistan. 

At the start of its propagation, the carrots that grew were wild as they had a bitter taste and also a woody core. 

As the years go on, a naturally occurring subspecies of the wild carrot was bred selectively and it gave rise to the species of carrots that we now eat today.

It may be surprising to know that carrot was first grown for its seeds and leaves, not its root. 

There were lots of carrot seeds in circulation as far back as 2000 to 3000BC in Southern Germany and Switzerland.

The mention of the roots was first recorded in the 1st century AD. 

The records showed that the Romans ate a root vegetable known as Pastinaca which translates to either carrot or a closely related vegetable, parsnips.

The circulation of the vegetable into the west started in the 8th century when it was introduced to Spain by the Moors. 

The purple cultivars of the plant made their way into India, Europe, and West Asia in the 10th century. By the 12th century, it already made its way to China and Japan in the 16th or 17th century.

It is important to state that the orange cultivar of carrot was not the original color that the vegetable had. 

There were arguments that the orange species of carrot was grown by Dutch agriculturalists to honor William of Orange and also the Dutch flag at the time.

Let’s Talk A Bit About Air Frying 

Aside from roasting in the oven, these multi-colored carrots are also great when air fried. 

Air fryers came into the market in 2010 when Philips, the popular electronics company, debuted the first commercial air fryer in the market. 

This appliance was invented by Fred van der Weij who reached out to Philip after inventing the appliance in 2007. 

However, the principle upon which air frying works was already in existence as far back as 1904 as seen in an article published in the Technical World Magazine.

The article spoke about an electric air-pressure cooker that reduces the shrinkage of meat in cooking and also retains the most valuable food flavors. 

There was also an invention that mimics the working principle of the air fryer in 1945. This invention was made by William L Maxson when he patented the Maxson Whirlwind Oven. 

Unfortunately, Maxson died in 1947 and his invention didn’t see the light of the day after his death.

Ingredients

Apart from the multicolored carrots that you will need for this dish, you will also need the following ingredients:

Sour Lemon Cream

The sour cream adds a sour acidic flavor to the dish, and this makes the air-fried carrots taste and smell nice. The sour lime cream is made by mixing cream with a lemon culture. 

You may need to add stabilizers such as gelatin or rennin, which help with the thickening of the cream. Its total fat content is about 20 percent and it is best to use it cold or at room temperature.

Lemon Dressing

Lemon dressing is a simple dressing that gives your plate of salad or vegetables a brightening look and complimentary taste.

It can either be homemade or store-bought, but the homemade dressing tastes better if you know your way around it.

To make a homemade lemon dressing, you will need fresh lemons, Dijon mustard, garlic, and honey, as well as olive oil.

However, to keep it simple, you can simply use the following ingredients listed below: 

• Sour Cream
• Lemon Juice
• Chives

The full recipe measurement is listed below in the recipe card. 

Tips for Air Frying Multi-Colored Carrots

Keep the following tips and suggestions in mind while making your air fried carrots;

• Ensure that you don’t overcrowd the air fryer with the carrots. Just put the appropriate amount of carrots in the air fryer at once.
• You should also air fry the carrots in batches if you want to allow the carrots to cook evenly. This is important especially when air frying more than two layers of carrots.
• Depending on the size or length of your carrot, you may need to cut the carrots before air frying. Cut the carrots halfway if the carrots are very thick. You can leave normal-sized carrots as they were. However, you need to recall that air frying will make the carrots shrink so you can make the carrot pieces bigger.
• You should opt for large carrots over baby carrots. However, baby carrots get cooked faster but do not taste as good as large carrots.
• You may need to preheat the air fryer before cooking the carrot.
• If you want the natural sugar in the carrots to come to the fore, you should allow the carrots brown a bit before stopping the cooking. The browning is equal to the caramelization of the carrot.

What You Can Eat Air Fryer Carrots With

• Air Fryer Turkey Breasts
• Aioli, is a sauce that you dip the carrot in
• Shepherd’s Pie: This is a classic that goes well with veggies, a spot that air fried carrots comfortably fill.
• German Schnitzel
• Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

How To Store

The best method for storing and preserving the shelf life of these air fryer carrots is by refrigerating or freezing the carrots. 

You need to store the carrots in airtight bags before refrigerating and this will keep them fresh for about 3 to 5 days.

MORE AIR FRYER RECIPES TO TRY 

If you love this recipe, we recommend trying one of these air fryer recipes next:

AIR FRYER LEMON PEPPER WINGS

AIR FRIED PORGY FISH

AIR FRYER POTATO WEDGES

AIR FRYER SEA BASS

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