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!
The carrot is a biennial plant in the Apiaceae family and both the root and the leaves (known as the carrot top) are edible.
Carrots are normally grown from seed. Some varieties mature in as little as 70 days where other ones can take up to 4 months. An abundance of carotenes within the taproot produce the identifiable orange color.
While a carrot tastes sweet, it most definitely is a vegetable. The carrot is a root vegetable and comes in a variety of colors and shapes.
Technically, there are hundreds of varieties of carrots and all it takes is a quick look at any seed category to quickly realize the full range of carrot possibilities. Interestingly, carrots are categorized by their shapes and colors.
Four of the main types of carrots are:
Imperator carrots are commonly found in the grocery store. These have a heftier look to them, and a higher sugar content than other types.
Nantes are a popular choice for home gardeners. These have a longer and perfectly tapered cylinder shape. Their color is a deeper reddish-orange color.
Chantenay is a hearty carrot that needs to be picked before it is fully grown or else it becomes woody. If harvested when the carrot is still small, it will have a sweet taste and a tender texture.
Danvers have a tapered shape but are shorter in length than many of the others. These do have a deep orange color and and a rich flavor
There are also a variety of both miniature carrots and round carrots.
The most common carrot is orange even though carrots come in a rainbow of colors from yellow, purple, black, red, and even white. All colors are edible and are beautiful to look at.
Carrots are the taproots and carrot tops are the leaves. Carrots come in all shapes and sizes, from short to long to round to skinny. The common orange grocery store carrot is 6-8 inches long and approximately 2 inches in circumference.
Carrots are a favorite of kids because it is a vegetable that tastes sweet. Along with their sweet taste, carrots have a woody and earthy taste. Some varieties will even have more of a bitter than sweet taste to them.
There are a lot of carrot dishes and foods where the carrot is the star. But first, we must plainly state that a carrot eaten by itself, in its raw state, is a delight! This is why carrot sticks and slices are often a main ingredient in vegetable appetizer trays.
Carrot salads are very popular around the world, and shredded carrots are often used as toppings added to salads and dishes. Glazed carrots and sauteed carrots are excellent side dishes and chopped carrots are a staple in soups and stews. For dessert, you won't find a finer cake than the popular carrot cake.
Parsnips are excellent substitutes for carrots. In fact, they look like a carrot without the signature orange color!
Turnips, radish, rutabaga, celery, or daikon cucumber make excellent raw carrot substitutes.
If you are looking for a cooked substitute for carrots, you can select cooked turnips, radish, rutabaga, or squash.
Carrots are healthy for dogs! They are a low-calorie food and dogs love them. Of course, overfeeding can cause an upset stomach, so be sure to feed them in moderation to your pup.
Cats can eat carrots, too. Although, they may turn their nose up to them. It’s best to feed cats cooked carrots instead of raw so it won’t be a choking hazard. Similar to dogs, feed carrots to cats in moderation.
Unfortunately, yes. Carrots are high in sugars and starches and that may cause bloating, intestinal discomfort, and gassiness.
Carrots are excellent storage vegetables! If stored properly, carrots can last up to 3 months in the refrigerator. If you're one of the lucky ones with a root cellar, stored carrots can often last the entire off-season.
Fresh carrots will last for several days at room temperature, which is good if you are planning to eat them right away. Be sure to store them in a cool dry place.
One way to store freshly cut carrots is to wrap them in a paper towel and store them in a plastic bag or vegetable bag in the refrigerator’s crisper.
Some people like to keep cleaned carrots ready-to-eat for themselves or for their kids as a tasty snack. One way to do this is to place washed carrots in a jar with a little water and keep it tightly sealed with a lid.
Yes! The best way to freeze carrots is to blanch them in boiling water for a few minutes and then plunge them into a bowl of ice water. To keep them from sticking when they are frozen, drain any excess water and place the carrots on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper and place them in the freezer until frozen. Remove the sheet pan and place the carrots in a freezer bag.
It is also possible to skip the blanching process and chop or dice the carrots and freeze on the sheet pan the same way. From there, transfer to a freezer bag.
There are many ways to cut a carrot and the most popular ways are to dice, chop, mince, slice, strip, and julienne.
Carrots are super easy to clean. Remove the carrot tops and trim the ends and wash them in cold water, scrubbing with your finders, a sponge, a dishcloth, or even vegetable brush. Stay away from harsh dish soaps because nobody wants to eat that!
Almost all cuts start by peeling the outside skin of the carrot and trimming off the ends. The outside of the skin is perfectly edible, however many people like to remove it to reveal the beautiful and consistent orange color of the root just below the skin.
The skin of a younger carrot is sweet while older carrots can develop a bitter flavor in the skins.
Chopping or cubing carrots is just a matter of taking a good vegetable knife and cutting in uneven chunks.
Dicing carrots is similar to chopping carrots, only dicing involves more uniformed sizes.
It is not recommended to zest carrots.
Mashed carrots are incredible and deserve a place on the dining table right next to mashed potatoes. The easiest way to mash carrots is to bring a pot of water to boil and add chopped carrots and let it cook until a knife easily slips in the carrot. The key is to make sure the carrots are more overcooked than undercooked. It’s hard to mash undercooked carrots! Drain your carrots and mash using a potato masher, a ricer, or an immersion blender with butter and seasonings.
Pureeing carrots is similar to mashed carrots. After draining, instead of mashing, place them in a blender with some of the reserved liquid and puree until smooth.
There are people who believe that a carrot juice a day keeps the doctor away. In case you wondered how people are able to squeeze a carrot, rest easy because they don’t! They use a juicer, which extracts the juice and leaves the pulp.
Carrots do not have seeds and therefore there is no need to remove them.
Yes! Carrot greens, aka carrot tops, are edible! They’re not exactly sweet and have more of a parsley or bitter taste.
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.
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.
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.
Carrots can be pickled or canned.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.
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.
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