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You’ll love the sweet and intense flavor of carrots when you prepare them sous vide style! These Sous Vide Carrots are perfectly cooked to your desired texture. Finish them in the skillet for a delicious caramelized glaze!
There are so many ways to prepare carrots, but I’m going to be bold and say that this is the best way! Yes, that’s right. The sous vide method is my new favorite way to cook carrots.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ll always have a place in my heart for these super quick and easy air fryer carrots and these Instant Pot carrots. They’re ready in 20 minutes which makes them perfect for busy weeknights.
But, you guys, these sous vide carrots have the most amazing carrot flavor!
As the carrots cook in a vacuum sealed bag, moisture and flavor are locked in, so the natural carrot flavor and sweetness intensifies. So good!
While these carrots take longer to cook than other methods, it’s definitely worth the wait!
Jump to:
Why this recipe works
- It’s a versatile side dish. You can serve these carrots with grilled flank steak and truffle mashed potatoes for a fancy date night meal, or pair them with air fryer frozen meatballs for a casual weeknight dinner.
- With the sous vide, you can cook carrots to your desired texture. The recipe includes instructions on how to cook them so they’re firm, slightly soft or very soft!
- Carrots are budget friendly and easily accessible. You can find them in most grocery stores any time of year, and they aren’t expensive either. So there’s no reason why these carrots can’t be on the menu all the time!
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What is Sous Vide?
Sous vide is basically a method of cooking using what is called an immersion circulator (i.e. the sous vide machine). This immersion circulator circulates water in a temperature controlled water bath at a certain temperature to perfectly cook your food every time.
Because the temperature doesn't change, and it keeps your meat (or dessert, veggies, etc.) at the same temperature, your risk of overcooking becomes very minimal.
To learn even more about sous vide cooking, head over and read "what is sous vide cooking and the benefits of sous vide cooking."
What is the Water Displacement Method?
The displacement method is where you slowly submerge a ziplock bag in water pushing the air out of the top of the bag (the bag should be slightly open at the top to allow air to escape).
Use a clip (I use sous vide magnets) to clip the bag to the side to keep it from floating and getting air and/or water inside.
Tools Used
You will also want to check out these posts on the best sous vide containers and the best sous vide bags for more information!
Other sous vide recipes
- Sous Vide Green Beans
- Sous Vide Parsnips
- Sous Vide Brussels Sprouts
- Sous Vide Lemon Curd
- Sous Vide Skirt Steak
Ingredients
Refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients and quantities.
You’ll need 1 pound of whole carrots. You’ll want to wash them (and peel, if necessary) and trim the ends, making sure they aren’t too long for the container you use for your water bath.
Save the carrot tops and make this carrot top pesto!
For the glaze, the carrots will cook in a mixture of maple syrup, unsalted butter, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper.
For the best flavor, make sure you’re using real maple syrup. You can also substitute honey, if you prefer.
For the Dijon mustard, I prefer grainy but smooth works too. Some mustards are a little saltier than others, so you can cut back on the added salt if your mustard is extra salty.
Step by step instructions
Heat a sous vide water bath to 184F degrees.
Wash the carrots and place them in a vacuum seal or zip lock freezer bag and add the remaining ingredients.
**Try to spread the ingredients over the carrots as much as possible while in the bag.
Use a vacuum sealer to vacuum seal the bag, or use the water displacement method if using a freezer bag.
Cook the carrots for 1 hour for a firm texture, 1 ½ hours for slightly soft, and 2 hours for very soft carrots.
Remove the bag from the water bath and transfer the carrots and the cooking liquid to a heated skillet.
Cook the carrots on medium high heat until they start to caramelize on the outside, about 3-5 minutes.
Remove from the skillet and serve.
Expert tips
- For even cooking, make sure the carrots are roughly the same size and they’re arranged in the sealable bag in a single layer.
- Try to spread the glaze ingredients over the carrots as much as possible while in the bag.
- You can substitute olive oil for the butter. Just make sure it’s good quality as it will have the best flavor.
- You can also substitute honey for the maple syrup.
- The sealed bag of carrots should be completely submerged in the water bath. If air gets in the bag and it floats, just open the bag, remove the air and reseal it.
- To prevent floating, you can also weigh the bag down with something heavy (like adding a few utensils to the bag) or use sous vide weights.
Common questions
For the best results, you’ll want to set your water bath to 184F degrees.
This depends on your preferred texture and the thickness of your carrots. For firm carrots, cook them for 1 hour. For slightly soft carrots, cook them for 1 ½ hours. And for very soft carrots, you’ll want to cook them for 2 hours. If your carrots are really skinny, you might want to reduce the cooking time.
While I haven’t tested this recipe with baby carrots, if you use them, you may need to reduce the cooking time.
Yes, this last step finishes the glaze as the cooking liquid caramelizes around the carrots as they cook in the skillet. You only need 3-5 minutes to finish the carrots like this, so don’t skip this step!
Make ahead and freezing instructions
You can make these carrots in advance and store them in the fridge or freezer.
To do this, follow the recipe instructions up until the carrots are removed from the water bath. Instead of opening the bag and heating them in the skillet, place the bag in an ice bath for 10 minutes. Once cooled, transfer the bag to the fridge or freezer until ready to use.
To reheat, place the bag of carrots in a 184F degrees water bath until just warmed through. Open the bag and empty the carrots into the skillet and cook over medium high heat for 3-5 minutes until caramelized.
Serving options
We love these carrots paired with Instant pot beef short ribs, sous vide mashed potatoes, air fryer baked potatoes and/or spicy braised green beans.
For date night, I suggest adding these carrots to the menu with this sous vide pork loin, sous vide filet mignon or lamb chops.
You can also serve them for Sunday family dinner with a sous vide whole chicken or this sous vide London broil.
And stay a little on the healthier side by serving them with this sous vide chicken breast.
If you love this recipe, leave a comment below and let us know your favorite thing about it. We'd also love to connect on Instagram! Follow us at @went_here_8_this for awesome recipes and all sorts of fun food stuff 🙂
Recipe
Sous Vide Carrots
Ingredients
- 1 pound whole carrots
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon coarse Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat a sous vide water bath to 184F degrees.
- Wash the carrots and place them in a vacuum seal or zip lock freezer bag and add the remaining ingredients. (Try to spread the ingredients over the carrots as much as possible while in the bag).
- Use a vacuum sealer to vacuum seal the bag, or use the water displacement method described above if using a freezer bag.
- Cook the carrots 1 hour for firm, 1 ½ hours for slightly soft, and 2 hours for very soft.
- Remove the bag from the water bath and transfer the carrots and the cooking liquid to a heated skillet.
- Cook the carrots on medium high heat until they start to caramelize on the outside, about 3-5 minutes.
- Remove from the skillet and serve.
Expert Tips:
- For even cooking, make sure the carrots are roughly the same size and they’re arranged in the sealable bag in a single layer.
- Try to spread the glaze ingredients over the carrots as much as possible while in the bag.
- You can substitute olive oil for the butter. Just make sure it’s good quality as it will have the best flavor.
- You can also substitute honey for the maple syrup.
- The sealed bag of carrots should be completely submerged in the water bath. If air gets in the bag and it floats, just open the bag, remove the air and reseal it.
- To prevent floating, you can also weigh the bag down with something heavy (like adding a few utensils to the bag) or use sous vide weights.
Nutrition
kubet
best view i have ever seen !
Danielle
Thanks!
Jon
Sounds interesting. I've always used my sous vide mainly for meat (and eggs), but recently had excellent results with asparagus and corn on the cob. One question: would a little bit of garlic go with this? Not sure if it fits with the maple syrup...
Danielle
Sure, you could definitely add some garlic! I like garlic and maple syrup together, and it pairs well with the other ingredients as well.
Craig
Can you put the vacuum bag in the freezer and cook later from frozen?
Danielle
Yes, you definitely can! Just make sure to put it in an ice bath to cool it down before freezing it.