These air fryer roasted carrots are a mouthwatering side dish you can whip up in under 20 minutes. An optional touch of honey enhances their natural sweetness, making them irresistible!

Affordable, easy to keep on hand, and utterly delicious when air fried, carrots might just be the perfect vegetable. They turn beautifully golden and caramelized when roasted in the air fryer, with a tender, sweet flavor. Veggie side dish perfection!
For some other simple vegetable side dishes you can prepare in your air fryer, check out air fryer roasted vegetables, air fryer roast potatoes, air fryer sweet potato wedges, and air fryer parsnips.
What do you need?
Carrots
Use full-sized regular carrots cut into quarters, or baby carrots whole. You can also use frozen carrots if that is all you have, but the cooking times will be slightly longer, and you will want to flip them a few times to make sure they cook evenly.
Oil
The recipe below specifies light olive oil, but you can use another liquid cooking oil with a high smoke point. Vegetable oil, corn oil, or avocado oil are all good choices.
Choose a cooking oil with a high smoke point to reduce the chance of your air fryer smoking.
Seasoning
This recipe uses thyme (dried or fresh thyme will work), but you can swap this for any other herbs or seasoning that you like to use with carrots. Try rosemary, oregano, garlic powder, paprika, or cinnamon.
Honey (optional)
You can add a drizzle of liquid honey (or maple syrup) to sweeten the carrots up. It will caramelize up nicely during cooking to give you lovely golden honey-roasted carrots.
How to cook carrots in the air fryer
1
Prepare carrots.
Scrub the carrots (no need to peel), and cut lengthwise into quarters (baby carrots can be roasted whole). Then toss them with oil and herbs until coated.
To make honey-glazed air fryer carrots, add a drizzle of liquid honey over the carrots as you mix them with the oil.
2
Preheat.
Preheat the air fryer to 360°F/ 180°C. Preheating is important for this recipe because the air frying time is relatively short, and so you want it to be up to temperature when you put the carrots in. If your air fryer doesn’t have a preheat mode, just set it to air fry for 3-4 minutes.
3
Air fry carrots.
Place the carrots in the air fryer basket and air fry for 10-15 minutes until they are golden and tender.


How long to air fry carrots?
The carrots will take around 10-15 minutes to roast in the air fryer, depending on how large the carrot pieces are, how powerful your air fryer is, and how you like your carrots cooked.
It is easy to add a few extra minutes to the end of the cooking time to get them just how you like them. If you prefer roasted carrots so tender they melt in the mouth, roast them for longer. Or, if you prefer to retain a little crunch, you can reduce the cooking time a little.
Serving ideas
- Top with garlic and herb butter
- Toss with honey, butter, and a sprinkle of cinnamon for a sweet and delicious side dish.
- Serve them with dipping sauce as a healthy alternative to French fries.
- Drizzle roasted carrots with a balsamic dressing for a sweet and tangy flavor.
- Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese over the air-fried carrots for a cheesy and savory flavor.

Air Fryer Roasted Carrots
Ingredients
- 4 medium carrots
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon thyme fresh or dried
- drizzle liquid honey optional
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 360°F / 180°C.
- Wash carrots (peel if preferred), then cut lengthwise into quarters [Note 1].
- Place carrot pieces into a large bowl, drizzle with the oil and seasoning (and honey if using), then toss to coat.
- Place carrots in air fryer basket, and set to air fry for 10-15 minutes. Shake the basket once or twice during cooking to ensure the carrots cook evenly.
- The carrots are ready when they are tender and golden brown at the edges.
Notes
- Baby carrots can be air-fried whole.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and provided for informational purposes only.
Also want to air fry your main dish?
These air fried carrots are the perfect match for any air fryer main dish that needs resting time after cooking. Because the cooking time is short, you can cook them while the meat is resting.
Just prepare them while the meat is air frying, then remove the meat and cover with foil to rest for 10-15 minutes while you air fry the carrots.
Try serving them with: Air Fryer Chicken Breast, Air Fryer Roast Pork, Air Fryer Roast Beef, Air Fryer Roast Lamb, or Air Fryer Steak.