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You're a Fool If You Don't Grill Carrots

You're a Fool If You Don't Grill Carrots
Credit: Claire Lower

I don’t know if carrots (as a whole) are underrated or overrated, but I do know that grilled carrots are almost criminally overlooked. Yes, it’s hard to compete with grilled corn, but a grilled carrot is a smoky, sweet, and charred miracle and I am here to demand that you pay attention to them.

Carrots have a lot of sugar in them, and charred, almost burnt sugar tastes very good. The dark smokiness imparted by the grill (or grill pan) gives all that sweetness something to play off of, creating a perfectly balanced, extremely summery, friendly-to-every-diet side dish. Besides carrots, all you need here is olive oil and salt. You could make a dipping sauce, or drizzle on some chimichurri, but I don’t know why you’d want to create more work for yourself. To make these salty, sweet, smoky delights, you will need:

  • One bunch of carrots, rainbow if you can find them

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • Salt

Remove any tops, then scrub or peel your carrots, and slice them in half lengthwise, unless they are teeny tiny babies, in which case you can leave them whole. Place them in a big bowl, drizzle on the oil, add two pinches of salt and toss everything together. Heat your grill (or grill pan) over medium high heat. Place the carrots on the grates, and cook for 15-20 minutes, turning every five minutes or so, until they are nice and charred and can be easily pierced with a fork. Serve as a simple side, and make more than you think you need, as any leftovers will make an excellent addition to cold salads. (Do not however, serve them as hot dogs—that’s disrespectful to both carrots and hot dogs.)