How to roast Dutch carrots

Roasted Dutch carrots are one of my favourite accompaniments to a Sunday roast dinner, a succulent eye fillet steak or even with slow cooked beef cheeks and creamy, buttery mashed potato.

They are super simple to cook and taste absolutely delicious. Plus, there are many ways you can eat and cook with them. Gone are the days of just boiling chopped carrots and serving them with a meal (no wonder so many of us don’t like them!). In fact, my husband used to hate carrots, but loves Dutch carrots because they are sweeter, appealing to his sweet tooth! Today, popular cooking methods include steaming, roasting, baking and juicing carrots. You can of course eat them raw as a healthy snack. However, my favourite way to cook Dutch carrots is in the oven, but you can cook Dutch carrots on the BBQ or in a steamer.

What are Dutch carrots?

Dutch carrots also known as baby carrots are small, long, thin carrots that have a sweeter taste compared to the ordinary carrot. They are typically bought with the green leaves still attached.

Dutch carrots vs carrots

Both Dutch carrots and regular carrots have plenty of beneficial nutrients, but there are some taste and shape differences. Firstly, Dutch (baby) carrots typically are smaller, thinner and taste sweeter than regular carrots, a popular reason why children (and adults) tend to prefer them more for their sweeter taste. Dutch carrots however do contain more folate, lutein and selenium, whilst regular carrots contain more vitamin C and beta-carotene and are an important source of vitamin A. Keep in mind that Dutch carrots have a shorter life compared to regular carrots, so it’s important to either use them straight away or store them in a sealed bag in the refrigerator to keep them firm.

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Where to buy Dutch carrots?

In Australia, you can buy Dutch carrots from your local supermarket like Coles, Woolworths or Aldi as well as from your local greengrocer or at a farmer’s market. When buying Dutch carrots, be sure to choose carrots that are firm and a bright orange colour, with leaves that are still green and fresh.

How to store Dutch carrots?

If you’re not using your Dutch carrots straight away, I recommend storing them in the crisper section of your refrigerator in a sealed plastic bag or sealed food bag. This will help prolong the life of the carrots allowing them to stay fresh for approximately three weeks. Left outside of the refrigerator, they will go soft and limp. You can either store with the carrot tops and green leaves left on or remove them. Removing the carrot tops will make them last longer.

How to clean Dutch carrots?

If your carrots still have their tops on, chop the green leaves off first, leaving about a centimetre of the green stalk. Wash your carrots thoroughly under cold water in a colander to remove the outside dirt. You can use your fingers to rub off any of the visible dirt before using a vegetable brush to scrub the carrots clean under lukewarm warm. If you don’t have a vegetable brush, you can also use a new toothbrush.

How to prepare Dutch carrots?

Once your carrots have been thoroughly washed and cleaned, pat them dry and thinly peel the carrots with a vegetable peeler. You can tidy up the green ends to make them neat and remove any hairs. You Don’t have to peel your carrots though; this is personal preference. I like to peel them as they taste sweeter, but be mindful that some Dutch carrots are quite small so peeling these might not leave much carrot left over.

When to serve Dutch carrots?

Dutch carrots make a great post workout snack and can be eaten raw either on their own or with a healthy dip. However Dutch carrots can be paired with a variety of meals including:

• Roast dinners including chicken, beef, pork
• Slow cooked beef cheeks, beef short ribs
• Chicken casserole or stew
• Lasagne
• Fillet of steak
• Roasted traybakes
• Pan fried salmon
• Christmas dinners
• And much more!

How to roast Dutch carrots?

I have tried a variety of recipes over the years for Dutch carrots including cooking them in honey or orange juice. However, I always find that they end up too sweet or become too crispy because of the honey or balsamic vinegar glaze that has caramelized. Alternatively, roasting them as they are with just a few ingredients in my opinion is all they need to taste absolutely delicious.

Follow my quick and easy recipe below for the perfect roasted Dutch carrots.

Roasted Dutch Carrots | Serves 2 | Easy | 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of Dutch carrots
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Chop off the green leaves, leaving about 1 cm of the green stalk and thoroughly wash and clean your carrots in a colander under cold water. Peel your carrots thinly if you prefer. If your carrots are bigger, slice them lengthways to cook them evenly.
3. Place the carrots onto the baking tray and drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil, garlic cloves, salt and paper. Spread evenly.
4. Place the Dutch carrots into the centre of the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the carrots over to cook evenly and sprinkle over three quarters of the chopped rosemary and drizzle over extra oil.
5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with sea salt and the remaining fresh rosemary. The carrots should be slightly brown and caramelized on the edges.  Serve immediately.

Dutch carrot alternatives

• If you don’t have enough Dutch carrots, you can use regular carrots instead. Just peel and slice them lengthways so they are roughly the same size as the Dutch carrots for even cooking.
• Try Dutch carrots with prosciutto. Cook your carrots as normal, but halfway through wrap the carrots in the sliced prosciutto and top with rosemary. You only need a small amount of prosciutto.
• Serve your carrots with feta cheese.