23 Carrot Recipes To Add To Your Fall Lineup

Whether you fantasize about sweater weather year-round or mourn for the sun as soon as the leaves start to change, there's one thing we can all agree on: autumn brings a shift in the culinary landscape that has something for everyone. Warm, spicy drinks, roasted meats, and an endless bounty of sweet treats — whatever your weakness, fall offers a banquet of seasonal favorites to indulge in. One of the most versatile and ubiquitous ingredients during this time of year is the humble carrot.

Carrots are delicious in any season, but with their bright color and earthy sweetness, they lend themselves to a rich tapestry of autumn recipes, both savory and sweet. Though pumpkin may be the orange-hued choice during the fall and winter months, carrots are even more adaptable and offer some welcome variation to the ever-present squash. You can shred them and make them into salad, blend them to make hearty soups, and grate them into spice-filled cakes and muffins. You can even turn them into fries.

Carrots also come with a host of nutritional benefits. Just a half cup of them provides 51% of your recommended daily intake of vitamin A and a powerful dose of carotenoids, an antioxidant that helps prevent age-related vision loss and some cancers (per Cleveland Clinic). As much as we love carrots, however, it can be easy to fall back on old recipes. That's why we've rounded up 23 recipes that will let them shine in a whole new way.

You don't have to be vegan to enjoy carrot bacon. What's remarkable about this recipe is that if you ate the final product blindfolded, you'd be hard-pressed to taste the carrot at all, thanks to the magical combination of seasonings. Liquid smoke gives this recipe a knockout flavor that will surprise and delight anyone lucky enough to share it with you.

Once you have all the ingredients and preheated the oven, the recipe takes less than 20 minutes. Make sure to use the fattest carrots you can find to produce wide strips that not only taste like bacon but look like it, too.

Recipe: Homemade Carrot Bacon

If you like roast carrots to be tender and crispy all at once, this recipe has your back. Instead of roasting at a low temperature for a long period, these carrots are baked at a sizzling 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes. If you use slender carrots, you can even get away with a shorter duration.

Because of the high temperature of the oven, you'll need to rotate the pan halfway through roasting to avoid burning the tops and tips. The results are crispy on the outside, and juicy and soft on the inside.

Recipe: Simple Roasted Carrots

Aside from pumpkin spice and cable-knit sweaters, nothing signals the approach of fall like maple syrup. Swapping honey for maple syrup is a quick way to add a hint of autumn to your meal without going all-out on a pie.

Melted butter adds a nutty flavor to the sweetness, and a sprinkle of fresh parsley adds a hint of color and acidity. Baking the carrots whole instead of slicing them lengthwise or into rounds will ensure they do not become mushy. Leave the tops on for color, and don't forget to scrub them vigorously if you're not planning to peel them.

Recipe: Easy Maple Roasted Carrots

Sometimes, fall can feel more like a continuation of summer than a welcome shift to cooler temperatures. If the heat is still sizzling the pavement and the pool continues to beckon, you're probably craving refreshing dishes over warming, spiced ones that feel like autumn. Luckily, we've got the carrot-filled solution.

This salad is packed with flavor, from the sweetness of the carrots to the tangy mustard and lemon in the dressing. A hint of honey draws out the sweetness in the carrots, while green onions bring a fresh kick of sharpness.

Recipe: Shredded Carrot Salad

For a quick, classic salad that lets the carrots shine, this recipe is the cream of the crop. Using mayonnaise as a simple, creamy dressing adds a bit of decadence to this otherwise healthy dish, and raisins and a hint of sugar add extra sweetness.

It takes 10 minutes to make, requires no cooking, and uses ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen already. Add some chopped parsley for color and a delicious hint of bitterness, and you'll have a restaurant-worthy dish in the time it takes to hard boil an egg.

Recipe: Easy Carrot Raisin Salad

There is no rule against wrapping vegetables in bacon, and this recipe proves it's a match made in heaven. Taking the classic combination of maple syrup and bacon, and adding carrots is a great way to surprise your dinner guests, and prove to skeptics that vegetables can be indulgent, too.

Considering how flavor-packed this recipe is, you might be surprised to learn that it has only three ingredients — carrots, bacon, and maple syrup. The prep is just as simple: wash the carrots, wrap them in bacon, and bake. Brush them with syrup, and you've got a mouthwatering dish that you'll want to make again and again.

Recipe: Bacon-Wrapped Maple-Glazed Carrots

As the cooler months set in, nothing brings comfort quite like a bowl of creamy vegetable soup, and this recipe is as healthy as it is comforting. It's 100% dairy-free, relying on the earthiness and starch of the roasted carrots for all the flavor and creaminess you could wish for.

Garlic, onions, chicken broth, and herbs round out the flavor, but feel free to swap in vegetable broth if you want a vegan version. With only 5 minutes of prep time, it's a great weeknight dinner when you want something healthy but don't want to spend all night chopping vegetables.

Recipe: Roasted Carrot Soup

Just when you thought vegetables for breakfast sounded like a cruel joke, we're here to tell you about one of the most delicious pancake variations you've never tried. This recipe will make you feel like you're eating dessert for breakfast, while still reaping the health benefits of all those antioxidants.

It isn't just the carrot that makes this recipe delicious. It's full of fall spices and calls for a breakfast spin on cream cheese frosting. The carrots make a dense batter that makes thick, bready pancakes. Serve it with sausages and bacon, or double down on the sweetness with maple syrup.

Recipe: Carrot Cake Pancakes

We know carrots are healthy, but this recipe for roasted carrots was developed by a nutritionist, so you can rest assured that it's packed with nutrients. It is also full of flavor, and with a sprinkling of Parmesan, this dish tastes nothing like diet food.

It's also quick and simple. Peel and slice the carrots, pop them in the oven for less than 30 minutes, and you have the ideal side dish for dinner. The lynchpin of the recipe is the Parmesan. Add it 5 minutes before the carrots come out of the oven to make it just the right amount of melted and crispy.

Recipe: Parmesan Roasted Carrots

You knew there'd be at least one carrot cake recipe, right? There is no point in trying to reinvent this classic dessert. It is elegant in its simplicity and exquisite in flavor. The warm scent of nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger will bring fall right into your kitchen, and don't even get us started on the toasted pecans.

One unique addition to this recipe is a tablespoon of cocoa powder. Although the amount is too small to add a chocolatey flavor, it brings out the earthiness of the carrots and adds depth to the spices, making this quintessentially fall cake even richer.

Recipe: Carrot Cake

Recipe developer Catherine Brookes describes this recipe as "a hug in a bowl," and we can't think of a more apt description. Soup is already comforting in the chilly months of the year, but add the warming kick of ginger and you have a recipe for maximum coziness.

This soup is 100% vegan and quick to prepare. Just sauté your ingredients, add vegetable broth, allow it to simmer, and blitz it in the blender. Make sure to add a squeeze of lemon at the end for a touch of acidity.

Recipe: Silky Smooth Carrot Ginger Soup