If you’re a fan of sweet potato fries, you’ll love these crispy air fryer carrot fries. Carrots have roughly half the calories of sweet potatoes, leaving room for extra cheese and garlic infused olive oil for extra crispy fries!
How to Make Carrot Fries
This is an easy one, but let’s run through the recipe with a few notes and tips.
Step 1: Crush a clove of garlic and add to a tablespoon of olive oil.
If you’ve never crushed garlic, begin by peeling and chopping a clove. Then sprinkle a bit of kosher salt on top and press the flat of your knife down firmly and drag the garlic across the cutting board. This should create a thick paste.
Note: You can also find garlic infused olive oil if you wanted to skip a step!
Step 2: Cut the carrots.
Wash and dry the carrots before removing the tops. Cut them in half and then cut each half in two to create flat surfaces.
You should be able to cut 3 strips from the larger end and 2 strips from the smaller end.
Note: Feel free to peel the carrots, but I did not. Just be sure to wash them well if you’re not peeling.
Step 3: Toss the carrot fries in the olive oil and garlic mixture.
Note: A common question about these carrot fries is whether or not you could reduce or skip the oil. I tested both in my Instagram stories to demonstrate the differences. I’ve included my notes in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 4: Mix reduced fat grated parmesan with optional ground black pepper and red pepper flakes. Toss the oil coated fries in the parmesan.
For an even coating, add half the parmesan, toss, and add the remaining parmesan before tossing again.
Step 5: Add the carrot fries to an air fryer basket or on a baking sheet (oven method) in an even layer. Cook at 350F for 16-20 minutes. Gently shake halfway through for crispier fries.
Note: I used my 6.5-quart Ninja Foodi, which I’ve found to have similar cook times to other air fryers of the same size. Every air fryer is a bit different so check on your carrot fries along the way. You can check out the Ninja Foodi and other kitchen equipment I use on my Amazon list, if you’re interested.
If you’d like to bake these in the oven, check out my oven baked carrot sticks for an example of how to do that.
Step 6: Sprinkle with chopped parsley or parsley flakes and enjoy your crispy garlic parmesan air fryer carrot fries!
Okay, because I know everyone likes their chips with some dip, let’s talk sauce ideas.
Dipping Sauce Ideas for Carrot Fries
For the dipping sauce pictured in this recipe, I mixed 2 tablespoons of fat free Greek yogurt with 1 tablespoon of sriracha. If you’re spice sensitive, you could cut the sriracha in half.
Other dipping sauce ideas:
- light mayo (or Greek yogurt) mixed with a bit of mustard and sugar free ketchup
- lemon juice, fresh parsley, and yogurt or mayo
- sugar free ketchup and sriracha
- more crushed garlic with a bit of vinegar and spices
- any pre-packaged dipping sauce for garlic parmesan wings or fries
Let me know what you come up for sauce. I’d love to add more ideas to this recipe!
Side note: Check out my spicy air fryer sweet potato fries recipe for a great seasoning alternative once you try the garlic parmesan carrot fries. The recipe includes a creamy chili lime sauce that’s a must try, too! And if you’re a fan of cajun food, you could make some cajun carrot fries with my copycat Five Guys cajun fries recipe.
And I think that’s all ya need to know. I’ve included a printable recipe card below if you like to print or save recipes. Enjoy your carrot fries!
Air Fryer Carrot Fries
Ingredients
- 3-4 150-180g Carrots
- 1 Tbsp 16g Olive Oil*
- 1 clove Garlic, crushed
- 2 Tbsp 15g Reduced Fat Grated Parmesan
- 1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper, optional
- 1 pinch Freshly Cracked Black Pepper, optional
Instructions
- Add the crushed garlic to the olive and stir well. (To crush the garlic, peel and chop a clove. Then sprinkle a bit of kosher salt on top, press the flat of your knife down firmly, and drag the garlic across the cutting board. This should create a thick paste.)
- Wash and dry the carrots. Remove the tops and cut them in half. Then cut each half in two to create flat surfaces. You should be able to cut 3 strips from the larger end and 2 strips from the smaller end.
- Toss the carrot fries in the olive oil and garlic mixture.
- Mix the parmesan with the red and black pepper. Sprinkle half the mixture over the coated carrot fries. Toss and repeat with the remaining parmesan mixture.
- Add the carrot fries to an air fryer basket or on a baking sheet in an even layer.
- Air fry at 350 for 16-20 minutes, shaking halfway through for crispier carrot fries. (If you’re baking, bake for a similar time and temp.)
- Top with freshly chopped parsley or parsley flakes and dig in!
Notes
- Each serving has 3 Smart Points.
- Nutrition facts do not include any dipping sauce.
- If you’re sensitive to spice, omit the red and black pepper.
- You could try using nutritional yeast as a dairy free parmesan substitute.
- If you don’t have garlic on hand, you can try adding a pinch or two of garlic powder to the parmesan mixture.
- Cook times are with a 6.5-quart Ninja Foodi (air fryer, pressure cooker, crockpot all-in-one).
I made these exactly as the recipe says, and they were super tasty. They weren’t as crispy as I like, but that was likely my error for not adjusting to temperature/time for my air fryer. I’ll definitely be making these as a side for my meals more often!
Cooked carrots have been one of the three foods that I hated growing up. So I was pretty skeptical about trying this recipe, especially because I am a sweet potato fry snob. Let me tell you I was blown away by how good these are! They honestly taste like sweet potato fries but the sweetness from the carrot just hits different. I tweaked the recipe a little by halving the amount of oil and adding rosemary (HOT lead). I make these regularly and have since removed “cooked carrots” from my blacklist. Honestly turn anything into a fry and I’m DTF (down to feast). Thanks Mason for crushing anotha one 👊🏽
AMAZING!!! I make these several times a week, and they never get old. I mix up the seasonings every once in a while but the OG recipe is the best. Life changing!! Carrot fries for life!!
I love the carrot fries! the carrots having a natural sweetness that is paired with the savory Parmesan. It’s a perfect ratio of sweet and savory!
These taste identical to some of the great and greasy sweet potato fries that I’ve had at restaurants, I swear, haha! And for significantly less calories, I’ll take these over those any day! Also it’s a clean and quick preparation and clean up. My whole family loved them, even though often they don’t love “healthy” alternatives. These will surely become a staple in my house.
I have been making these carrot fries at least 2x a week since he posted this recipe (not exaggerating). I use baby carrots and they don’t come out “crispy” but I just love the flavor and it makes it so easy to eat vegetables all the time. I use garlic powder and it works just as well as minced.
These carrot fries are soo good I don’t even miss regular fries!! The air fryer crisps them up so good and the flavor is perfect! I always have to double this recipe because everyone loves them!
So tasty! i tried with zucchini and it worked moderately well but probs bc they have more water content. Carrot version was perfect tho!
Does this recipe work with frying regularly? I don’t have an air fryer, but I really want to try these still because they look really good!
That’s a good question. I want to say yes, but I’ve never tried it. Let me know if you give it a go!
My husband and I love sweet potato fries in the airfryer but these carrot fries are just as tasty for way less calories!