These easy Baked Carrot Fries make the perfect healthy side for any meal! They’re crispy, full of flavour and served with a delicious Paprika Garlic Aioli.
These Baked Carrot Fries are one of those side dishes that you make for the people in your life that say they don’t like vegetables. Yes, they are that good!
Now I’m not claiming these taste like regular French fries, but they are absolutely delicious, and slightly addictive in their own way. Roasting carrots brings out their natural sweetness and completely transforms them! We’re also using a combination of oil, spices and arrowroot flour to complement their flavour and give them a crispy finish.
Although you could enjoy these fries on their own, I really love pairing it with a Paprika Garlic Aioli. It’s super easy to make and works so well with the sweetness from the carrots.
Ingredients you'll need
Carrot Fries:
- Carrots: if using organic carrots, there’s no need to peel them. Wash well, dry and cut into uniform fry shapes.
- Avocado oil: oil is needed to cook the carrots and help crisp them up.
- Paprika and garlic powder: feel free to used smoked paprika if you want your carrot fries to have more of a smoky flavour.
- Thyme: fresh thyme leaves help to season the fries. I also like to use them to garnish the fries once cooked.
- Arrowroot powder: gives the fries that crispy texture! You can omit this, but the carrot fries will turn out less crispy. You can also use tapioca flour.
- Sea salt: an essential component! I also recommend finishing the carrot fries with flakey sea salt if you have it.
Paprika Garlic Aioli:
- Avocado oil mayo: to make this aioli easy and quick to put together, we’re using mayo as the base. I recommend using an avocado oil based mayo like the ones from Chosen Foods or Primal Kitchen.
- Lemon: fresh lemon juice adds some acidity and helps balance all the flavours. Feel free to add more to taste (depending on the brand of mayo used).
- Dijon mustard: adds a little more tang to the aioli.
- Garlic: fresh garlic cloves will give you the best flavour here! Use 1-2 cloves depending on how big they are and garlicky you want the aioli to be.
- Paprika: we’re using regular and smoked paprika for flavour and a touch of smokiness, which pairs great with the sweetness from the carrots.
- Sea salt: a little salt helps to balance the other flavours.
Tips for making carrot fries
- Cut carrots into even pieces. This is important for even cooking. Cut them in half crosswise, then cut both pieces in half lengthwise. Since the top portion of the carrot is typically thicker, I usually cut it in half lengthwise again. They don’t need to be perfect, just as similar in size as you can get them! Keep in mind that they will shrink as they cook.
- Use arrowroot powder. This ingredient is really important in helping you achieve crispy carrot fries.
- Spread carrots out in an even layer and don’t over crowd. Leaving some space between the carrots helps them crisp up more.
Are carrot fries healthy?
Carrot fries make the perfect healthy side dish. Carrots are a great source of fibre, as well as vitamin A, C, K, B6 and potassium.
The beta-carotene (a form of Vitamin A) found in carrots act as powerful antioxidants, which help promote health and can help reduce your risk for chronic diseases. It also helps to protect eye health and vision, especially as we get older!
More veggie side dish recipes to try
Baked Carrot Fries with Paprika Garlic Aioli
Ingredients
Carrot fries
- 1 lb carrots washed, dried and cut into uniform fry shape
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves chopped
- 2 tbsp arrowroot powder
- Fresh thyme leaves and flakey sea salt for garnish
Paprika Garlic Aioli
- 1/2 cup avocado oil mayo
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1-2 cloves garlic grated
- 1/4 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- Dash or two of cayenne powder optional
- Sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine carrots, oil, paprika, garlic powder, salt, thyme and arrowroot. Toss well to evenly coat the carrots.
- Divide the carrots between the baking sheets and spread into an even layer. Make sure you leave some room between them to allow them to get crispy.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes and then flip. Return to the oven for 5-10 minutes or until carrots are fork tender and crispy on the outside.
- While the carrots bake, make the aioli. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or wide jar and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning to taste.
- To serve, sprinkle carrot fries with fresh thyme leaves and flakey sea salt. Serve with the paprika garlic aioli or your favourite dip!
