Root vegetables
Dried CarrotsRounds, Chunks and Strips: Drying Time, Storage and Recipes
Drying makes carrots sweeter and brings out their true flavor. Their bright color livens up any dish, even in small amounts.
The cut changes how fast they dry and what they’re good for. On this page we dried and compared rounds, chunks and thin strips.
| Cut | Drying time (dry) | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Rounds (1 cm / ⅜ in) | 3–4 days | Simmered dishes, glazed carrots, soups |
| Chunks | 3 days | Simmered dishes, marinades, curry |
| Thin strips (5 mm / ¼ in) | 1–2 days | Mixed rice, kinpira, miso soup |
| Storage | |
|---|---|
| Dry | 3 weeks at room temperature (fridge in humid summer) |
| Semi-dried (half a day–1 day) | 5 days in the fridge |
Drying times assume drying during the day in sunny weather and bringing them in at night. They vary with the season and humidity.
How to dry carrots
- Wash: Much of the flavor is in the skin, so don’t peel. Scrub off the soil well with a brush.
- Cut: Cut into rounds, chunks or thin strips depending on how you’ll use them. An even thickness means even drying.
- Pat dry: Blot the cut surfaces lightly with paper towels.
- Lay out: Spread on a basket without overlapping. Spread strips out so they overlap as little as possible.
- Dry: Put them somewhere sunny and breezy and turn them about once a day. Bring them indoors by evening.
Where and when to dry is covered in How to Dry Vegetables, and tools in Tools for Drying Vegetables.
Rounds
Dry (3–4 days)
Carrots dry from the outside in, so the center stays moist the longest. Press the center with a finger to check. If it’s hard with no give, it’s done. Ours took a full 4 days.
Semi-dried (half a day–1 day)
The surface is dry and the rounds are slightly limp. You can use them without soaking, and they’re sweeter too.
Day by day
Before drying
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Chunks
Leave the skin on and cut into large chunks, rolling the carrot as you cut. They’re thicker than rounds, but with more cut surfaces they dry well; ours were done in a full 3 days. Rehydrated, they hold their shape in simmered dishes and make a hearty ingredient.
Semi-dried
Day by day
Before drying
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Thin strips
Leave the skin on and cut into strips about 5 mm (¼ in) thick. Of the three cuts, strips dry fastest and rehydrate fastest. With the water gone, the carrot flavor is concentrated, which makes them handy for mixed rice.
Semi-dried
Day by day
Before drying
Day 1
Day 2
Storage
- Dry: Put completely dry carrots in a bag or airtight container with a desiccant, and keep somewhere cool and out of direct sun. Use within about 3 weeks. In humid summer weather, keep them in the fridge.
- Semi-dried: Keep in a bag in the fridge and use within about 5 days.
- Frozen: Both dry and semi-dried can be frozen for 1–2 months. Add them straight from frozen to soups and simmered dishes.
Fuzzy white or green growth, black spots or a bad smell during storage are signs of mold or spoilage. Don’t eat them; throw them away. More in How to Store Dried Vegetables.
Rehydrating and using them
- Rehydrate in water: Rinse dry carrots quickly and soak in water: 3–5 minutes for strips, 15–20 minutes for rounds and chunks. The soaking water is sweet, so use it as the liquid in your dish.
- Use them dry: For miso soup, soups, simmered dishes and mixed rice, just rinse and add them. They rehydrate as they cook.
- Semi-dried: No soaking needed. Use them like fresh carrots in stir-fries and simmered dishes.
Recipes
Mixed rice with dried burdock and dried carrot
- Dried burdock strips from ½ root
- Dried carrot strips from ¼ carrot
- 180 ml (¾ cup) Japanese short-grain rice
- 200 ml (about ⅘ cup) water
- A: 1 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp sake
- Rinse the dried burdock quickly and soak in separate water for 3 minutes. Discard the soaking water.
- Rinse the dried carrot quickly and soak in the measured 200 ml of water for 3 minutes. Keep this soaking water.
- Wash the rice and drain in a colander.
- Pour A over the rehydrated burdock and carrot and mix.
- Put the rice and step 4 into a rice cooker, add the carrot soaking water from step 2, and cook.
Mixing in dried green shiso after cooking adds a nice aroma. Dried mushrooms work well as the filling too.
Dried carrot marinade with flaxseed oil and green shiso
- Dried carrot chunks from ½ carrot
- 3 green shiso leaves
- A sprinkle of white sesame seeds
- A: 1 tsp each soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and flaxseed oil; ½ tsp mirin; ½ tsp agave syrup
- Soak the dried carrot in plenty of water for 5 minutes, then put the pot on the heat and boil for 10 minutes.
- Drain in a colander, and toss with the shredded shiso leaves and A.
- Serve sprinkled with white sesame seeds.
Flaxseed oil doesn’t stand up to heat, so the key is to toss it in without cooking.
Glazed dried carrots
- Dried carrot rounds from 1 carrot
- 10 g (2 tsp) butter
- 2 tsp agave syrup (or sugar)
- A pinch of salt
- 200 ml (about ⅘ cup) water
- Dried parsley (optional)
- Put the dried carrots and the water (or hot water) in a pot and soak for 20 minutes.
- Add the butter, agave syrup and salt to the pot and heat. When it boils, cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
- Uncover and boil over high heat for 2–3 minutes, until most of the liquid has cooked off.
- Serve sprinkled with dried parsley.
Adding dried rosemary while simmering gives it a lovely aroma.
