Vichy carrots
- Published: 28 Oct 24
- Updated: 26 May 25
Have you ever tried vichy carrots? This classic French technique is our favourite way to cook carrots, whatever the time of year. It’s particularly good at Christmas – especially when you add star anise, thyme and lemon to give the dish a bright sweetness.
Get our definitive Christmas dinner menu, including best-ever versions of all the classics.
-
Serves 6-8 -
Hands-on time 10 min. Simmering time 20 min
Before you start
Why these are the best carrots
Very vichy: Throwing some butter into the pan while the carrots cook is a wonderful way to add richness to the vegetables. They absorb the butter as they cook, rendering them sweet and soft rather than waterlogged and limp.
Go for the glaze: Simmering the carrots in a wide, open pan rather than a deeper saucepan means the water can evaporate away quickly, leaving the butter behind – which glazes the carrots towards the end of cooking ((it’s a cheffy French technique, hence the term ‘vichy’).
A bright idea: A pinch of sugar amplifies the carrots’ sweetness, lemon zest and juice gives them a bright tang and the star anise lends a subtle aromatic note which really complements the vegetable.
Nutrition
- Calories
- 130kcals
- Fat
- 8.7g (5.3g saturated)
- Protein
- 0.7g
- Carbohydrates
- 9.7g (9.2g sugars)
- Fibre
- 4.9g
- Salt
- 0.1g