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My Top 10 Carrot (& Root Veg) Recipes
In celebration of carrot & root veg week over at our #EatThemToDefeatThem campaign at VegPower and ITV, I’ve been looking through some of my old carrot recipes from the website and have already made a shopping list to re-make a load, because…YUM.
You guys know how much I love adding all.the.veg. to just about anything, and I always have a few carrots in my house because they grow year-round, are easy to source and dirt cheap, so these are the very best of the bunch (see what I did there?) to get your kids eating up their carrots this week:
My top 10 carrot & root veg recipes
1. Low Sugar Carrot & Apple Spelt Muffins – is it ever easier to get veg into kids than in cakey muffin form? These muffins are naturally sweetened with carrot and apple and just a tiny bit of syrup, and are wholegrain beauties that are surprisingly fluffy and uber kid-friendly. It helps that they are so easy to make your kids can do that part, too!
2. Carrot, Miso & Double Ginger Soup – I’ve tried many a carrot soup recipe, but this remains my favourite EVER! The miso adds a delicious umami (savoury) flavour and helps you feel full, and is basically an easy to find “superfood” (as much as I hate that word), as is ginger, which is very cheap, super good for you and deee-licious.
3. One-Tray Pesto Roasted Rainbow Veg – it doesn’t get much simpler than a tray of roasted veggies. The rainbow colours in the dish aren’t just pretty – the variety ensures your body is getting all the nutrients it needs. And the 30-second parsley pesto is a gorgeous addition. Plus, I find roasted is almost always the easiest way to get kids to eat more veg as it brings out the natural sweetness and gives it that lovely soft-but-crisp texture.
4. Slow Cooker Veg-Packed Beef Rib Sauce – THE best meat sauce for pasta I’ve ever had, and packed with veggies of all kinds, including carrots. I’ve been making this over and over again, which is rare for someone who gets so easily bored with the same foods as me!
5. Veg-Heavy Shepherd’s Pie with Root Veg Mash – a twist on a classic, this dish is an easy way to give your family their favourite food, but using less meat and more veg. Win-win.
6. Veg-Packed Burger with Homemade Pickles – we love a good burger, and adding grated vegetables, particularly carrot, to them is the perfect way to not only use less meat and more veg, but also to add more sweet flavours and juiciness to the burger. Perfect for making and shaping with kids, who love getting their hands a bit mucky!
7. Classic Vegetable-Packed Lasagne – another classic with a veg-filled twist. This is a go-to for me, particularly if we have people over. It takes a little effort at first, but can easily be doubled and one of the lasagnes frozen to be cooked (from frozen) at a later date, making the effort totally worth it. Plus, everyone loves lasagne but no one really notices when you replace some of the meat with lentils and pack the sauce full of veggies at the same time. For fussier eaters, the blended option is a great one.
8. Quick 3-Bean Chilli – with a vegan and meat-based option, this chilli is easy, versatile and quick. It is packed with a ton of vegetables (including carrots), and is a perfect “batch-cook” meal to re-purpose during the week. I like to start with traditional chilli with rice and/or tortilla crisps, and then move on to burritos, or chilli jacket potatoes (or sweet potatoes), or chilli pasta bake, or taco soup (add a little broth and served with sliced tortilla wraps) with leftovers. Always yummy.
9. Sugar Free Pumpkin Spice Waffles (Gluten & Dairy Free) – these waffles are really easy to make, allergy-friendly and even contain some veg in the form of pumpkin or sweet potato puree. Sweet potatoes, once baked and pureed, are undoubtedly the sweetest vegetable, and work perfectly in sweet recipes like this one.
10. Sweet Potato & Black Bean Wraps – this is still one of my most-made and favourite recipes ever. They are really cheap and easy, and I often add them to the meal plan on weeks when the budget is a little tight. They are very kid-friendly, being sweet, creamy and easy to eat with your hands!
First recipe has sugar in it hardly sugar free is it.
Hi Phil, the recipe is clearly marked as “low sugar” since it contains a little (optional) rice syrup or raw honey. If you click through to the recipe, you will see that I state that this adds sugar and is an optional ingredient (making it possible for it to have no added sugar at all), although it comes out as less than 2g (1/2 teaspoon) free sugar per muffin, so it is definitely not high in sugar if you are concerned about that. Please do feel free to try it without the syrup, it is naturally quite sweet and tasty as is! 🙂 This website aims to provide recipes for families that help them stick to the recommended daily intake of free sugars from the World Health Organisation (3 teaspoons max for children, 6 teaspoons max for adults), so it is well within those parameters, and I decided not to title this post “my top 10 sugar free carrot recipes” for precisely the reason you pointed out. Hope that helps!