Carrot

Beta-carotene is fat soluble

Per 100 g

41 kcal Energy

0.9 g Protein

9.6 g Carbs

0.2 g Fat

2.8 g Fibre

Gluten-free GI 32

Let’s cook with it → Invent something with it

What it is for

They bring water, fibre, acid and colour. Most are 80–95% water, and much of cooking them is really about managing that water.

Where it catches you out

Under a lid they cook in their own water; in a crowded pan they steam. If you want colour, give them room and take the lid off.

The knack

Beta-carotene is fat soluble: cooking carrot in fat improves both the nutrition and the taste.

Storage and health

How to keep it, and who it suits.

Keeping it

Snap the green tops off and refrigerate in a perforated bag for 3-4 weeks; left on, the tops draw water out of the root.

Gluten-free

Carrot is naturally gluten-free.

Glycaemic index

32 — glucose is taken as 100. Below 55 is low, 56–69 medium, 70 and above high. The number says nothing about portion: at the same index, twice the amount is twice the load.

Row in the table: Carrots, mean of two foods

Atkinson et al., Am J Clin Nutr 2021

What it works with

Pairings, and the reason for each

"They go well together" is not an explanation. Every pairing below has a chemical or structural mechanism under it.

Olive oil →

β-carotene sits inside crystalline chromoplasts behind rigid cell walls; heat disrupts the wall and fat forms the micelles absorption needs. The measured swing is large: roughly 11% bioavailability raw against about 75% stir-fried. **Both steps are required** — fat on whole raw carrot does little.

Also works with

Butter

Cumin

Lentil

Rice

Yoghurt

Honey

Water

What goes on top

Garlic yoghurt, crushed walnut, dried mint, olive oil

Key compounds

β-karoten: Provitamin A; fat-soluble and it isomerises with heat.

Nutritionally

Carrot is the clearest case here where cooking *increases* nutritional value: chopped and cooked with fat it beats raw by a factor of several for vitamin A delivery.