How much Shredded, Sliced, or Chopped is in a Carrot?

Many recipes will call for "1 cup of chopped carrots" or "1/2 cup of shredded carrots" but it is not always easy to figure out actually how many carrots are in a cup. In order to help make cooking easier we did some experiments to help tell you exactly how many carrots you need to buy.

To answer How many carrots in a cup we went to the grocery store to check out the vegetable section. After surveying the produce we realized there are a wider variety of carrot sizes to choose from than we remembered from our casual shopping trips for dinner.

After some research, we found it's easy to locate the fresh baby ones because they come in a 1-pound plastic bag with a label on it that contains about 48 baby carrots. Since the other sizes are not as obvious, the United States Department of Agriculture gave its opinion that a medium carrot is between 5.5" and 7.25" in length and weighs between 50 and 72 grams each. Anything bigger than these measurements is considered a large carrot, or less than is called a small carrot.

Given our newly found parameters, we determined 1 pound of this vegetable was equal to 6 to 8 medium carrots or 4 large ones. We purchased medium carrots for our how many carrots in a cup testing samples. We found that it took about 2.75 medium carrots to obtain 1 cup of grated carrots. When sliced or chopped, only 2 carrots were needed to reach the 1 cup mark.

Did you know that the longest carrot officially recorded was in 2007 at over 19 feet. Baby carrots aren't individually peeled; they get buffed and polished in a large tumble drum. The orange carrot that we eat today is a domesticated version of the wild purple, red, white, and yellow carrots originally found in Europe and South-Asia. And finally, due to its high natural sugar content, carrots are enjoyed in cakes, desserts, jams and juice drinks worldwide.

Next time your recipe calls for a cup of chopped, sliced or grated carrots you'll feel confident knowing how many you need. You can also use our conversion tool below for any custom how many carrots in a... measurements you need. If you peel a lot of carrots by hand you should definitely look into getting a good vegetable peeler to greatly speed up the process. I feel comfortable recommending the OXO Good Grips Swivel Peeler since I use it all the time at home!

Custom Conversions for Carrot

One Carrot Equals

• There is 3/8 Cup (79 mls) of Shredded Carrot in a Carrot
• There is ½ Cup (118 mls) of Sliced Carrot in a Carrot
• There is ½ Cup (158 mls) of Chopped Carrot in a Carrot

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How to Store Carrot

General How to Store Carrot Info

Carrots with the green tops attached tend to lose sweetness quickly so purchase them only if you can use them in a day or two. Remove tops as soon as possible.

Short Term Carrot Storage

Place carrots in a plastic bag or in refrigerator vegetable compartment for up to 3 weeks.

Cooked carrots will keep 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Carrot Long Term Storage

For the best freezing results, select young, tender, medium length carrots. Remove tops, wash and peel. Leave small carrots whole; cut others into thin slices, 1/4 inch cubes or lengthwise strips. Blanch small whole carrots for 5 minutes, diced, sliced and lengthwise strips for 2 minutes. Cool by dipping in ice water, drain and package, leaving 1/2 inch headspace; seal in airtight freezer bags or containers. Carrots will keep frozen for 6 to 8 months.

Carrot Side Notes

Even though they'll lose sweetness and succulence the longer they're kept, carrots are still one vegetable that can be stored without tremendous damage to their taste.

Carrot Recipes

Sous Vide Butter Poached Root Vegetables Recipe

Using sous vide to butter poach root vegetables is an easy process that makes creating side dishes a breeze! Just toss some chopped vegetables into a sous vide bag with some butter, thyme, and cumin, then give them a quick cook at 183°F (83.9°C). Top them off with some coarse sea salt, lemon and oregano and you're all set!

Spicy Rosemary Sous Vide Pickled Carrots Recipe

This sous vide pickling recipe uses a higher temperature to soften up the vegetables. It works great with carrots, green beans, and other tougher vegetables. The timing varies based on the vegetable, but following the general guidelines in the Cooking by Tenderness article will help give you an idea. Personally, I usually go a little shorter so the vegetables have more crunch to them. You can also mix up the spices and herbs to create your own flavor profiles.

Honey Glazed Sous Vide Rainbow Carrots Recipe

These sous vide honey glazed carrots are sweet and tender, not to mention simple to make, which makes them one of my favorite sides! I like to use rainbow carrots, but you can really use any carrots you find that look good.

Sous Vide Sweet and Spicy Glazed Carrots

This sweet and spicy glazed carrots recipe uses the sous vide machine to simplify the process of preparing a great side dish!

Looking for Something a Little Different?

What is the Produce Converter?

One of the biggest hassles when cooking and working in the kitchen is when a recipe calls for "the juice of 1 lime" or a similar measurement. Often times when cooking people use bottled juices, pre-sliced vegetables and other convenient cooking time savers. Produce Converter will help you convert the "juice of 1 lime" and other similar recipe instructions into tablespoons, cups and other concrete measurements.

Produce Converter can also be used to figure out how many vegetables to buy when you need, for instance, "A cup of diced onion." You can use our easy conversion tool to figure out exactly how many onions you need to buy at the store in order to end up with the amount you need for your cooking.

We hope you enjoy Produce Converter and if you have any suggestions for how we can improve it and make your cooking easier please let us know.

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