Want to make a grated carrot salad or carrot cake? For the best flavor, skip the store bought shredded carrots. Instead, learn how to shred your own!
Whenever I make a recipe that calls for shredded carrots – say, a salad or carrot cake – I always shred my own at home. I tend to avoid pre-cut produce as a rule, but I especially steer clear of bagged grated carrots. They’re drier and more brittle than ones I grate myself. Plus, when I shred carrots at home, I can taste their natural sweetness. Out of the bag, their flavor isn’t nearly as good.
Taste aside, you could argue that buying shredded carrots saves time. But if it does, it doesn’t save much. This method for how to shred carrots by hand is quick and easy, and it only requires one piece of basic equipment: a box grater! Try it once, and you’ll never buy grated carrots at the store again.
How to Shred Carrots
This method for how to shred carrots is super simple. All you need is a box grater and a bunch of carrots!
When I make shredded carrots, I look for a bunch of carrots with tops. I trim off most of the tops, leaving an inch or so attached to the carrot. This stub of green gives me more to hold on to while I grate the carrots, helping to avoid cut fingers.
I find it useful, but if you can’t find carrots with greens attached, don’t worry! Any large carrots will work here.
Wash the carrots well, and use a vegetable peeler to peel off their skins. Place a box grater on a cutting board.
Using a downward motion, scrape the pointed end of the carrot along the large holes of the box grater. Be careful to keep your hands and fingers out of the way! Repeat this shredding motion until you reach the last 2 inches of each carrot. I recommend stopping there to avoid cutting your hands. That’s it!
This method will work for any quantity of carrots, but I use it most when I’m just shredding 1-4. If I need a larger quantity of grated carrots, I use the shredding disk on my food processor to save time.
How to Use Shredded Carrots
Shredded carrots are a wonderful addition to sweet and savory recipes. I often toss them into salads for extra color and crunch, and they’re also delicious in these curried millet and carrot cakes. Otherwise, I love to use them in carrot cake-inspired treats. Try them in any of these recipes:
How do you like to use grated carrots? Let me know in the comments!
Shredded Carrots
Prep Time: 10 minutes mins
Learn how to shred carrots for cakes, grated carrot salads, and more! They have a delicious fresh taste and crisp texture.
Instructions
Place a box grater on a cutting board. Pick up a carrot by its thick end, and run its tip down the large holes of the grater. Continue this downward shredding motion until about 2 inches of the carrot remain intact. Stop here to avoid cutting your fingers on the holes of the box grater.
Repeat with the remaining carrots.
Notes
*I like to use a box grater when I'm shredding 1-4 carrots for a recipe. This method also works for larger quantities, but in those cases, you may want to use the shredding blade on a food processor to save time.
FAQs
However, if your recipe calls for a certain amount of shredded carrot without specifying how many carrots to use, then you may need to estimate. Keep in mind that one pound of carrots is about the same as two and a half cups of shredded carrots and one large carrot is about the same as one cup of shredded carrots.
What is the difference between grated carrots and shredded carrots? ›
The main difference between shredded and grated carrots is the size and appearance of the results. Shredded carrots typically look like long, thin strips while grated carrots are much smaller, almost crumb-like. This is due to a difference in blade size between a shredder and a grater.
What does grated carrots mean? ›
(greɪt ) verb. If you grate food such as cheese or carrots, you rub it over a metal tool called a grater so that the food is cut into very small pieces.
How fine to grate carrots for cake? ›
Think thin
It's true that carrots are the star of the show, but aim for finely grated pieces rather than chunky. The finer you grate the carrots, the more evenly they will be distributed throughout the cake (for the perfect texture), and the more evenly the cake and the carrots will bake.
How many cups is 1 pound of shredded carrots? ›
How Many Cups are in a Pound?
| Asparagus | 1 pound = 3 cups chopped |
|---|
| Broccoli | 1/2 pound = 3 cups chopped |
| Cabbage | 1 pound = 4–1/2 cups shredded |
| Carrots | 1 pound = 3–1/2 cups sliced or grated |
| Celery | 1 pound = 4 cups chopped |
19 more rowsApr 29, 2024
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.
Can you eat shredded carrots raw? ›
Raw carrots can be a nutritious and filling snack, and their fiber can help ease constipation. But if you eat them cooked, your body can better absorb the beta carotene in them, and it reduces your chances of getting sick from a contaminated carrot.
Why are my shredded carrots slimy? ›
This happens when the carrots are exposed to air for long periods of time when they're not tightly sealed in a bag or container. Luckily, this white film is perfectly safe. If you can't mentally stomach them at this point, cook them!
Do you need to wash shredded carrots? ›
Although washing is a crucial step in the processing of ready-to-eat salads, having an enormous impact on product quality, shelf-life, and safe- ty of the final products, no standardized washing procedures are applied in the fresh-cut produce industry.
What is the easiest way to shred carrots? ›
A Julienne peeler is basically a perfect shredding adaptation of a regular vegetable peeler. This tool can allow you to achieve excellent shreds with barely any work. Simply use it the way you'd use a vegetable peeler, and you'll have the perfect crunchy carrot shreds for any salad.
STORAGE: Use the freshly grated carrots immediately in the recipe. If you don't intend to use it immediately, place the carrots in ziplock bags or an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator or freezer. While carrots will last 5-7 days in the fridge, they can last up to several months in the freezer.
Can I use frozen shredded carrots for carrot cake? ›
You can use frozen carrots to make carrot cake, but you need to shred them before freezing — use the same process as above but be sure to peel the carrots before shredding and blanch them for less time. Here are a few recipes to get you started.
How many carrots do you need for 3 cups of grated carrots? ›
Ingredient: Grated carrots - 3 cups (2 large carrots)
Why is my carrot cake soggy in the middle? ›
When a cake is wet in the middle it is because the edges have cooked faster than the centre. This happens because of the way the cake cooks naturally in the tin – the sides of the cake tin heat up first.
What is a substitute for shredded carrots in baking? ›
For baking, try grated parsnips, rutabaga, or zucchini. If using zucchini, squeeze out some water. These alternatives are all featured in spice cakes similar to carrot cake, so they will produce a similar result.
Are shredded carrots the same as matchstick carrots? ›
Slightly thicker than shredded carrots, our matchstick carrots will bring sweet, fresh flavor and added crunch to any salad, sandwich or wrap. They're also perfectly prepped for stir fries and soups.
How many mini carrots equal one large carrot? ›
But here's the big secret about baby carrots: They're actually pieces of carrots. "Cut into two-inch pieces and peeled, and put in a bag," explained Jeff Huckaby, the CEO of Grimmway Farms, the biggest carrot grower on Earth. One regular carrot might be cut into two, three, even four baby carrots.
How do you measure carrots in cups? ›
Carrots: slice or grate 2 medium carrots, or about 1⁄3 lb (150 g), to get 1 cup. You could instead use 12 raw baby carrots to fill a cup. Potato: a large baked potato that weighs about 10 ounces (280 g) is about the same as a cup. Sweet potato: use 1 large sweet potato, or 1 pound (450 g), for your measurement.
