Easy Air Fryer Carrots

These Air Fryer Carrots are seasoned with olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper and air-fried until perfectly tender and golden in under 15 minutes. They make a wonderfully healthy side dish that goes with everything.

Carrots in the air fryer are wonderfully crisp, tender, and packed with so much flavor because, well carrots are just delicious! We love them as carrot fries, carrot cake bites, or roasted with potatoes. This roasted carrots recipe takes less than 15 minutes for perfectly cooked carrots every, single time.

You will love these air fryer carrots because they make the best quick and easy side dish that goes with almost anything like pork, chicken, or fish. Plus, kids love them too since they are naturally sweet, dainty, soft, and wonderfully dippable in ranch dressing. 

The flavorful combination of olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper matched with the natural sweetness of the carrots results in this incredibly savory and satisfying dish that you are going to love!

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Quick and easy – you can make it in about 15 minutes!
• Healthy and flavorful – carrots are loaded with nutrition and packed with so much amazing flavor especially when you cook them. 
• Simple side dish – air fryer carrots make the best side dish that is sure to complement any meal. 

Are carrots healthy?

Yes, they are! Carrots are loaded with nutrition from beta-carotene, Vitamin A, potassium, and antioxidants to name a few. Their natural sweetness comes out when they are cooked, making them a wonderful vegetable to get your kids to eat.

Enjoying carrots often, especially when they are in season boosts immune support, aids in digestion, supports eye health, and aids in weight loss. You can read more about the benefits of eating carrots here. Plus they are very inexpensive with a bag of carrots costing less than $2!

Ingredients you will need

• Carrots – You will need about 1 pound of whole carrots that are peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces. 
• Olive oil – extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil works best in this recipe. This is essential for helping the seasoning stick to the carrots while also helping them to crisp up as they cook. 
• Seasoning – I used dried thyme, salt, and pepper but you can you any seasoning you like to enhance the flavor of the carrots. 

How to make air fryer carrots

1. Prepare the carrots – peel the carrots using a vegetable peeler, then cut them into 1-2 inch pieces. The larger you cut the carrots the longer they will take to cook and vice versa. 
2. Season – place the cut carrots into a medium bowl, drizzle them with olive oil, and season them well with thyme, salt, and pepper. 
3. Cook – place the seasoned carrots into the air fryer in a single layer and cook them at 380 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Check them halfway since smaller carrots will cook faster and you don’t want them to overcook (no mushy carrots). 
4. Serve – enjoy these roasted carrots right away as a healthy side dish. 

Pro tip! Cut the carrots into the same size pieces for even cooking.

Tips for making the best air fryer carrots

These carrots make a wonderful easy side dish that you can make quickly during the week. They are herby with a hint of sweetness and are almost as good as french fries. 

• Carrots – I used large, whole carrots that I peeled and cut into big pieces since we like ours more firm and tender with nice, crispy edges. You could also use baby carrots but they are not as flavorful and are sometimes a bit more expensive. 
• Don’t overcrowd the air fryer – 1 pound of carrots, cut into large chunks or pieces should fit well in most air fryers. It is okay if some are overlapping but they will get crispier around the edges if they are spread out more when you cook them. 
• Use some oil – the olive oil allows the seasoning to stick to the carrots and helps them get nice and golden and crispy as they cook. You could also use olive oil spray if you want to cut down on calories. 

Substitutions and Variations

This air fryer carrots recipe is great as is but here are a few ways you can change it up!

• Use rainbow carrots – rainbow carrots are colored carrots that usually come in a bag like regular carrots. They taste the same and can be found right next to the other carrots in the produce section of most grocery stores. You will usually see them in colors such as purple, white, yellow, red, and orange. 
• Mix up the seasoning – carrots go great with garlic, dill, parmesan, or even ranch seasoning as we did with these ranch carrots. 
• Cut them into different shapes – I cut the carrots into larger size shapes but you could also cut them into 1-inch circles or chip shapes for kids to dip in ketchup or a dill dressing like Trader Joe’s brand (our favorite).

Ways to serve roasted carrots

Carrots make one of the best healthy side dishes since they are sweet, savory and so yummy. Making them in the air fryer just takes them to a whole new level and get’s them perfectly crispy and delicious. Here are a few ways you can serve them!

• Pork Loin
• Chicken thighs
• Meatloaf
• Orange Glazed Ham
• Turkey Burgers

How to store and reheat

These carrots store very well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Easily reheat them right in the air fryer at 350 degrees F until warmed through or in the microwave. 

More Healthy Side Dishes

• Easy Roasted Fennel
• Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus
• Air Fryer Broccoli
• Lemon and Parmesan Roasted Asparagus
• Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts
• Easy Air Fryer Radishes
• Quick and Easy Peas and Carrots

Check out all of my healthy air fryer recipes on PMG!

I hope you try these amazing Air Fryer Carrots. If you do, then please leave a rating and comment below. I would love to hear from you!

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