How To: Roast Carrots

Cooked carrots were something that took me some time to figure out. I am not sure why, but I struggled to get the right texture. I want my carrots to be tender but not soggy or mushy, and I don’t like it when they get kind of tough or dried out, which can happen when you roast them. When I get roasted carrots from a restaurant, they often taste like they have been cooking low and slow all day in a mixture of steam and butter. While that is, I am sure, the ideal way to prepare carrots, this working Mom rarely has the time for all that.

A pressure cooker, like an Instant Pot, has been a game changer for me! I can have the carrots peeled, chopped, and cooked in under 20 minutes. And they have the perfect texture! When I add a bit of grass fed butter and salt at the end, they taste wonderful. Here is how I do it:

Peel the carrots, the chop them into chunks. I usually them in half long ways, then chop them into 3/4 – 1 inch chunks.

Place them in the Instant Pot with about a cup of water. The amount of water doesn’t need to be exact.

Place the lid in place. The settings on the Instant Pot should be: manual, high pressure, for 2 minutes.

After the carrots come to pressure and cook for 2 minutes, the Instant Pot should beep. Do a “Quick Release” and remove the lid. Drain any excess water and put the carrots back in the pot. Top with grass fed butter or ghee and salt to taste. Turn the Instant Pot to saute until the butter is melted and coats the carrots.

You can either serve them now or you can save them for meal prep. I find when cooked this way, they are great either cold in salads or reheat well in the microwave or air fryer. Because they aren’t mushy or tough, they make great leftovers.

Enjoy your perfectly cooked carrots!