Air Fryer Roasted Chantenay Carrots are nice twist on regular roasted carrots. They’re cute but also full of flavour and they lend themselves perfectly to being roasted whole.
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Chantenay carrots are becoming more and more common and I often can’t resist grabbing a bag. There is just something about the stubby little cuties that I can’t resist. But it isn’t all for vanities sake, they’re sweet and packed with flavour too.
I am historically more inclined to boil carrots and chantenays are delicious cooked this way too. Especially when given the vichy treatment with butter and sugar.
But I’ve really come around to roasting them now that I’ve discovered that giving them a quick parboil first results in the best of both worlds. The carrots end up with a tasty char on the outside but are still nice and juicy on the inside. I find that purely roasted carrots can become a little shrivelled and dry. No such issue with this recipe and I’m a convert.
How to Serve
I naturally tend to serve carrots with what I’ve come to call “gravy meals”. Meat and two veg in old money if you prefer. You know the kind of thing I’m thinking of – roast dinners mainly but also the kind of smaller midweek traditional meals that I grew up with. Think pork chops with boiled potatoes and veg. Or sausage and mash served in a plate sized yorkshire pudding.
Of course carrots are a must at Christmas and in some way shape or form with pretty much every full roast dinner. I will not be swayed on this point.
Christmas Feast: Menu & Recipes
Here you’ll find all of my recipes for the main Christmas Dinner event. There are air fried, oven cooked and stovetop recipes and everything from main event turkey recipes, to Christmas dinner side dishes with all the trimmings, sauces and classic puddings, plus a few alternative options and of course bonus mince pies.
Don’t miss the pigs in blankets, homemade paxo stuffing or packet stuffing balls with added sausage. It would be a travesty to not include simple sprouts. mashed carrot and swede, the best roast parsnips and crispy roast potatoes amongst lots of other delights. Round the meal off with bread and cranberry sauces then end with a classic sherry trifle or mix things up with my microwave mincemeat sponge and custard.
Ingredients
Carrots
Chantenay carrots are readily available in pretty much every UK supermarket. You can occasionally find multi-coloured ones but more often than not, they are just a standard carrot orange. Chantenays don’t seem to be easily purchased in the US although you may be able to find some at farmers markets and from smaller artisan growers.
It is also possible to but them frozen but they do tend to be pre flavoured with honey, maple or the like. Whilst you can of course air fry these, they don’t lend themselves to my preferred cooking method of parboiling them first. You will simply wash off all the flavouring which is a bit pointless. If you can find unflavoured frozen carrots then you can certainly use those for this recipe.
Oil
A little oil on the carrots really helps the skins to brown and to keep the outside of the carrots from drying and getting too shrivelled. I prefer to use a neutral vegetable oil but you can use any that you prefer. You could even use melted butter if you wished.
Seasoning
I have simply used sea salt to season the carrots – I like to use Maldon sea salt flakes. I also use a cheaper free flowing salt in the carrot boiling water – I feel like it’s a waste to use good sea salt at this point. You can however switch them around as you wish. But bear in mind that you need half as much table salt as sea salt flakes when measured by volume.
You can add other flavourings and seasonings as you wish. Sticky glazes like honey or maple syrup are best added around halfway through the air frying time. This is so they don’t catch and burn but still have enough time to nicely caramelise.
Allergen Information
This recipe is free from egg, dairy, gluten and nuts.
Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.
How Long to Air Fry Roasted Chantenay Carrots
Before air frying, the carrots are boiled in water until just tender. This takes around 10 minutes but can vary slightly depending on the exact size of the carrots.
The air frying stage of the cooking process takes around 20 minutes. This gives the carrots a chance to get a really good roasted flavour and to give the skins a little char and crisp.
How to Air Fry Chantenay Carrots From Frozen
Because of the boiling stage, it is incredibly easy to make this recipe with frozen carrots. As I’ve mentioned, they do often come pre-glazed and I don’t recommend boiling those. But plain frozen carrots can be boiled from frozen.
As I do prefer to trim the ends of the carrots and you can’t really do this when they’re frozen, I would suggest doing this once they are boiled but before oiling and seasoning them.
Leftovers – Storage & Reheating
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for several days. They can also be frozen but I’m honestly not a massive fan of how they reheat so this isn’t my preference.
You can reheat the carrots easily in the microwave. Or if you want them to be slightly crispier again, they can go back in the air fryer. If I’m doing this I do like to add a little more oil, otherwise I find that they can get slightly dried out.
Common Air Fryer Questions – A Brief Guide to Air Frying
- What exactly is an air fryer?
- What are the benefits of using an air fryer?
- Are all air fryers the same?
- Is an air fryer always better to use than an oven?
- Do air fryers need to be pre-heated?
- What is the best temperature to air fry at?
- What setting is best to use? Air fry, bake, dehydrate, etc…
- Can food be cooked from frozen in an air fryer?
- Can I reheat food in an air fryer?
- Are air fryer liners a good idea?
The Air Fried Feast Community
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What Exactly is an Air Fryer?
Very simply, an air fryer is a small convection (fan) oven. The benefit is that the hot air is circulated all around the food being cooked which speeds up the cooking time and cooks the food more evenly.
What are the Benefits of Using an Air Fryer?
Size, time and energy usage. Air fryers are ideal for cooking smaller quantities. Heating up a space that the food just fits into requires less energy and means that the heat source is much closer to the food. Combining these two things can speed up the cooking time.
Are all air fryers the same?
Nope! The term air fryer is now used very broadly. I consider there to be 4 main types:
Basket Air Fryers
These are what I would consider to be the most common, especially in the UK. A boxy type unit has a pull out drawer/basket. Food isn’t usually visible whilst cooking.
Some larger models have two drawers so different items can be cooked at different temperatures or for different times.
This is the type that you’ll see in the images in this recipe. I mostly use a Cosori Lite 3.8L (CAF-LI401S) with a 3.8 litre capacity. The square(ish) shaped basket is 21cm x 21cm and 24cm on the diagonal. It isn’t an overly expensive or fancy model.
I’ve also recommended to several friends and family the model with a slightly larger basket. This is the Cosori 4.7L (CAF-L501) with a 4.7 litre basket. The unit is no larger than the 3.8 litre model on the outside but does have a larger internal basket capacity. I’ve since bought this version to use for some recipes where my smaller model was just too small. I’ll always note this in the recipe.
Rotary Air Fryers
Round air fryers with a paddle in the centre that rotates to move the food. This is the type I used for years – the most common is a Tefal Actifry.
Rotary types are not usually good for recipes where the food is breaded, glazed, likely to break up or in a tray/container. They do however make the best chips and roasted veg.
My 2 in 1 version like the one I’ve linked also has a rotating tray for things that could be broken up by a paddle, but the height clearance with the lid isn’t deep enough to use it to cook some items like sausage rolls. I’ve now actually retired by Actifry in favour of having my two basket type fryers.
Mini Oven Air Fryers
These usually have a glass door, shelves and overall are really quite large. You can cook quite a decent quantity of food in them so are best if regularly cooking for multiple people. They often come with extra features like a rotisserie spit or kebab skewers.
Multicookers with Air Fryer Functions
Some like Ninja 11 in 1 and some of the earlier versions with a few less functions, have an air fryer option. They mostly operate the same as a basket fryer but the basket drops in the top rather than sliding in like a drawer.
Some electric pressure cookers like Instant Pots can also air fry when used with a specific lid.
Is an air fryer always better to use than an oven?
As much as I do love air frying, the honest answer to this is no. And the more detailed answer is that it will always depend on what you’re cooking, how much of it you’re cooking and what type and size of air fryer you have.
Once you need to cook in more than 2 batches, it often makes more sense to use an oven. If you already have the oven on to cook other items, it may make more sense to throw one more item in rather than using an additional appliance.
I don’t think either method is often necessarily better than the other. The important point to note is that there is absolutely no difference in the finished product.
Do Air Fryers Need to Be Pre-Heated?
The answer to this is rather annoying – it depends. It depends entirely on your model and type of air fryer. The best advice I can offer is to check your manual and follow their guidance. My Cosori models have a preheat function. I press a button and it heats at 205c/400f for 4 minutes.
It’s also worth noting that regardless of whether you are supposed to pre-heat or not, if you are cooking in batches, it is quite likely that anything after the first batch will cook a little quicker because of the retained heat. It is best to check on them before the cooking time is completed.
What is the best temperature to Air Fry at?
It will always depend on what you are cooking and from what state. All of my air fryer recipes don’t use temperatures above 200c/390f because many of the most common fryers in the UK don’t go above this. Mine goes to 230c/450f and I use this temperature a lot but it is no help for me to share recipes which many people can’t use.
What setting is best to use? Air fry, bake, dehydrate, etc…
Not all air fryers have different settings like this. When they do it usually relates to the fan speed. The default setting to use will always be “air fry” so unless something else is specifically stated in the recipe, always use the air fry option.
There are other air fryers that have an additional heating element which cooks from underneath rather than just the top. Just as with the other settings, unless you are using a recipe which states to use a second heating element, stick with just using the top down air fry option.
Of course if and when you become more confident with air frying, using recipes and the settings of your air fryer, you can start adapting them to suit.
Can Food Be Cooked From Frozen In An Air Fryer?
Absolutely! To cook from frozen you usually will need to reduce the cooking temperature and increase the time to make sure your food is cooked right through to the middle.
It is best to check my individual recipes for cooking from frozen advice as some items are a little different. And there are occasionally exceptions to the rule.
Can I Reheat Food In An Air Fryer?
Yes. As a general rule I reheat food for roughly 1/3 of the original cooking time at the same temperature. Or at 10 degrees lower for half the time for larger items.
Are Air Fryer Liners a Good Idea?
Unless otherwise stated, I do not use liners when air frying. Basket and rotary type air fryers are designed to be used without liners. Mini oven types will generally require some kind of tray like with a regular large oven although most come with crisper racks to use.
There are many air fryer liners available including quite thick silicone ones. These will affect the cooking times and possibly temperatures of your cooking/baking. I also don’t like how cooking juices are prevented from dripping through the basket rack. This can stop food from crisping all the way around.
When I do want to collect the juices, I mostly use some foil, or occasionally a foil tray which can be washed and reused.
If you do prefer to use them, once you have got a feel for how they affect your cooking and baking, you may need to make adjustments to the recipe accordingly.
More Air Fryer Recipes
All my recipes with instructions for how to cook or bake them in the air fryer can be found in my Air Fryer Recipe Index.
Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?
Still Have Questions?
Simple! Just contact me and I will do my best to help as quickly as I am able. Head over to my Contact Me page, any of my social media channels or post a comment at the bottom of this page and I’ll see what I can do.
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The Recipe
Air Fryer Roasted Chantenay Carrots (Parboiled Recipe)
Ingredients
- 600 g Chantenay Carrots
- 2 tsp Fine Salt
- 2 tsp Vegetable Oil
- ½ tsp Sea Salt Flakes
Instructions
- Put a kettle of water on to boil.
- Wash and dry 600g Chantenay Carrots.
- Use a sharp knife to top and tail the carrots – be minimal in what you cut off or you won't have much carrot left.
- Put the trimmed carrots in a saucepan and cover with boiling water. Add roughly 2 tsp Fine Salt to the water.
- Bring the water to a boil then turn down to a gentle boil and allow to cook for around 10 minutes.
- Once the carrots are just nearly tender all the way through (test my poking them with a little sharp knife), drain the water and return the carrots to the pan.
- If your air fryer has a preheat setting, start this now.
- Allow them to sit and steam dry for a couple of minutes.
- Drizzle over 2 tsp Vegetable Oil and add ½ tsp Sea Salt Flakes. Toss to fully coat the carrots.
- Tip the carrots into the air fryer basket and give them a shake to make sure they're evenly spread.
- Air fry for 20 minutes at 200c/390f. Give the carrots a shake midway through the cooking time to ensure that they cook evenly – especially if they are not quite sitting in a single layer.
Notes
- Portion Size – The portion size given assumes that the carrots are being served as part of a larger meal like a roast dinner with multiple vegetable options. Double the recipe (or consider the portion number halved) if making the carrots the main vegetable on your meal.
- This recipe is tested in a Cosori Lite (CAF-LI401S) with a 3.8 litre capacity. The square(ish) shaped basket is 21cm x 21cm and 24cm on the diagonal.
- Not all models advise preheating is required. Please follow the recommended instructions for your model. Mine has a specific preheat setting which is 4 minutes at 205c.
- For this recipe, I managed to fit in 600g of small carrots. These just sit nicely in a single layer. If you need to pack them in more, just make sure to shake them a few extra times during the cooking process to make sure they all have their turn at the top of the pile.
- As all air fryer models are a little different, you may find that you can fit more or less in at a time. Some models include stacking shelves which will increase capacity.
- Required cooking times and temperatures can also vary between models and brands. If you know that your air fryer runs a little hotter than most recipes suggest, use a lower temperature. And vice versa. Equally if you find that food cooks more quickly in your machine than instructions usually state, reduce the cooking time (or check it earlier) and vice versa.
Louise says
Thanks for this simple recipe. The carrots came out so sweet and delicious.
Lesley says
A great recipe for perfectly cooked carrots, I added some cumin seeds for extra flavour.