What’s Up, Doc? 35 Carrot Recipes That Prove They’re Not Just for Bunnies and Kindergartners

With its tangle of bright carrot strips and bits of spicy chorizo, this beautiful tart makes an exciting appetizer or even a light main dish. An all-butter puff pastry, such as Dufour, gives especially flavorful and flaky results, but it’s delicious made with any kind of puff pastry.

The warm spices of this one-pan dinner complement the roasted carrots.

Israeli chef Alon Shaya buys bunches of young carrots. “The skins are more tender,” he says. “I roast them skin-on for the added nutrients.”

Its sweet note of honey and its aromatic cumin seeds give this salad a Moorish character. The sharp, nutty manchego cheese shavings add another taste of Spain.

It tastes even better made a day ahead and is ideal for a beach day.

This is a great party dish and is easy to multiply for a crowd.

Who says carrots are for schoolkids?

This playful nod to Indian dal (legume curry) is perfect at room temperature for a picnic or office lunch, but also great alongside roasted lamb chops for dinner. It tastes even better after a night in the fridge. Yellow split peas look especially pretty here.

Serve this lively soup, a fine showcase for Dungeness crab, to brighten up a winter day.

“Diners were going to fall for this soup before it ever crossed their lips,” says chef and cookbook author Joanne Weir. “Its vibrant orange color and sweet smell of fresh carrot mingling with heady notes of licorice would pave the way for their first satiny sip.”

Get the most out of great fresh carrots by making pesto out of their tops.

A surprising combination that works just right.

Rather than stirring the herbs into the soup, try setting out bowls of dill and tarragon—along with some crème fraîche or sour cream for dolloping—and let guests do the garnishing themselves.

Chef Aaron Woo of Natural Selection restaurant in Portland makes his soup with spices, apples, and Riesling to bring out the sweetness of the root vegetables

Scoop up these spiced carrots and seasoned yogurt with freshly toasted pita chips.

Tender potatoes and carrots need very little fussing over. Simply roast them and toss with thyme and butter for an easy side dish.

This healthy salad is picnic-perfect, because the carrots stay crunchy and the quinoa and chickpeas keep their texture.

Easy, crunchy, fresh!

This light salad, based on one our reader had while vacationing in Germany, is great alongside grilled meat or fish.

Slicing the carrots is fastest on a classic French- or Japanese-style mandoline, but you can also use a vegetable peeler.

San Francisco Bay Area chef and cookbook author Joanne Weir gave us this tender-crisp pickle. It’s good served with raw vegetables alongside dips at a party.

Ever so slightly healthier than potato chips, but just as salty and tasty.

Tender carrots and crunchy pecans get tossed in a sweet brown sugar and ginger glaze for a quick side dish that’s easy and delicious.

Garlic, green olives, thyme, and parsley turn everyday carrots into an elegant side dish.

Tarragon, so often overlooked, brings out a different side of carrots.

It’s made the traditional way, but this risotto hits some extraordinary flavor notes, thanks to mascarpone and, of course, sweet carrots.

This tangy dish makes a great side for roast meats.

This cooling side dish is our interpretation of shlata chizo, a classic Moroccan salad.

White miso and cider vinegar help this salad straddle two worlds.

Yes, it’s a carrot cocktail, and yes, you’re going to enjoy it!

Taking a cue from our favorite juice bar combos, this dense, not-too-sweet cake gets loads of moistness from both carrots and carrot juice, and a hint of heat from two kinds of ginger. The lime glaze adds a tangy kick.

Fun and portable, this easy dessert stuffs sweet cream cheese icing between two flat cylinders of spiced carrot cake.

Put a new spin on carrot cake with these fresh and delicious treats.

Forget dry and dutiful; these whole-wheat muffins are incredibly moist. The trick is heating the carrots and raisins in water, which softens them nicely before they’re added to the flour mixture.

Tart, grated apples give this moist carrot cake a delicious twist. Mild goat cheese adds a tang to the cream cheese frosting.