Air Fryer Carrots

Hello readers!  It’s been a bit, hasn’t it?  Where have I been?  Well, let’s see…

1. Pre-Thanksgiving home remodel
2. Thanksgiving
3. Busy time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  (Or maybe lazy time.)
4. Interior house painting after the New Year.

And there you are.  We are now caught up.

you’ll need an air fryer

One of the things I did while I was not posting new recipes was purchase an electric pressure cooker and air fryer.  I purchased it not so much for the pressure cooking, but for the air fryer.  But it turns out I use it for both quite often

Recently, I used the air fryer for one of my favorite carrot recipes, my sautéed onion paprika baby carrots.  And OH, MY GOONESS was it delicious!  In addition, it was noticeably less greasy.  It was also faster to make, and the texture was SO much better.  I’m talking that nice rustic roasted look, a crispy aspect to the seasonings, and a perfect al dente tooth feel.

I had found the first recipe for my return to the blog, for sure!  And once you get the hang of it, there are countless ways to air fry carrots.  Just find new ways to season it and go to town!

let’s make these air fryer carrots

I love this recipe because it could not be simpler, but the flavors are really present.

Note:  You will need a fairly large air fryer to place the carrots in whole.  Mine is a 6.5 qt fryer.

Try to select a bunch of like-sized baby carrots.  Having them close to the same size means that they will cook at the same rate.  Trim the tops leaving about an inch for a nice rustic look and peel the carrots.

Toss the carrots in the olive oil.  Then sprinkle half of the onion powder and half of the paprika, toss well to distribute the seasoning, then add the second half of the onion powder and paprika.  Toss again, making sure that the carrots are coated from top to tip in seasoning.

Salt and pepper to taste and toss again.

Place in a single layer in the crisper basket in your fryer.  If making double the recipe, you can either add them in layers (they may end up with a different aspect) or use the stacked crisper rack that came with your air fryer.

Set the fryer to 390° F and set the timer for 10 minutes.  At the five-minute mark, open the lid and quickly flip the carrots over.  Close the lid and cook for the remaining 5 minutes.

Keep in mind that cooking times may vary depending on the size of your carrots.  If they are thin, they will cook faster.  If they are thicker, they will take a little more time.  Unfortunately, making air fryer carrots is one of those things where you will have to exercise some judgement and learn with experience.

Look at those guys.  Aren’t they gorgeous?  And the taste is so much more than you would expect from just a handful of seasoning ingredients.

These air fryer carrots make such an elegant side dish.  Pair them with a nice steak or sea food protein and your dish will look restaurant quality.  All in 15 minutes or less.  You just can’t go wrong with air fryer carrots!

and if you are interested in the remodel…

The move into this house in June of 2019 represented a downsizing for Steve and me.  And, like many who have downsized have experienced, that created some storage challenges for us.

This was our family room.  Decorative niches like these are common in AZ, but not very practical and do nothing to help with storage.  I had kitchen gadgets filling up my one and only linen closet.  That meant my linens were exploding out of a small wedge-shaped supply closet in the master bath.

I apologize for the picture quality.  The before pictures were taken with my mobile phone.

Our other challenge was the half bath.

Perhaps in a fit of hyperbole, I christened this the ugliest half bath in the world.  As you can see, the porcelain was brownish, and there was zero storage here as well.

With the help of a neighbor who is a designer, a contractor, and a painter, these are our new rooms.

My kitchen gadgets are in the built-in cabinets in the family room, which freed up my linen closet so I could use it for its intended purpose.  And now, I have a much more attractive half bath, with plenty of storage.  I am now a much happier person.

So, if you stuck with this post long enough for the remodel, thanks for your interest!  Have a good one!