There is nothing I love more than using a humble ingredient and coming up with a fantastic result. A case in point is this carrot chutney.
This is not your ordinary chutney recipe. It’s subtle, tangy and zesty with an amazing kick to it thanks to the cayenne pepper and ginger. It’s needless to say that a homemade carrot chutney is healthy and can be used as a spread too. Buy lots of glass jars, make a large batch, and voila, you have created homemade Christmas gifts!
carrot chutney recipe
Overall, this carrot chutney recipe works with all types of recipes and can be enjoyed on any occasion. For example, you can pair the chutney with an Indian curry such as lamb karahi. Serve it as a side dish alongside other delicious chutneys and sauces, like pakora sauce or runner bean chutney.
However, my favourite way of enjoying this recipe is when it’s served as part of a cheese platter. Listen up, cheese lovers! This carrot chutney pairs perfectly with soft and hard cheeses. Plus, it lends a certain aesthetic to your cheese platter, especially if you serve it with fruits like figs and grapes.
Are you up for the challenge of become the master of homemade chutneys? You can start with this simple carrot chutney recipe.
grating and zesting with Microplane
Even though this carrot chutney is a simple recipe, it involves the use of many fresh ingredients. This chutney recipe calls for fresh carrots, ginger, oranges, onions, lemons, in combination with some herbs and spices for extra flavour.
Carrots give the chutney a beautiful vibrant colour which makes the chutney all the more appetising. However, the secret to making this carrot chutney recipe a doddle is to have the best equipment – a Microplane grater. forever!
Microplane is a grating specialist that revolutionised kitchen graters. The company has over 50 years of experience in this type of technology, and I can assure you that you won’t find any grater sharper than Microplane’s. Microplane is original amongst photo-edged graters, and trust me, you’ll notice the difference. I used to detest the monotonous task of grating but with Microplane it was a piece of cake.
Renowned for being the sharpest in the world, the blades are manufactured in the USA. They are photo-edged and long-lasting. While grating a tonne of carrots for this recipe, I’ve noticed the following benefits:
- I grated the carrots with minimal effort
- the carrots were cut precisely
- the aroma of the carrots unfolded naturally, and
- the overall results were visually impressive, making the carrot chutney uniform and appealing
Microplane also has a Premium Classic Zester, which I used for the citrus fruit, and can use for so many of my other potential recipes.
Click here to find out more about Microplane, its unique story and its large blade selection that made history in the kitchen.
best carrots for carrot chutney
There are several types of carrots which you can use for this carrot chutney recipe. Generally speaking, carrots are usually categorised by their shape and colour. Let’s start with the traditional orange carrots, which are most commonly available.
As you might have noticed, there are also various types of orange carrots. Thin, long, thick, short, you name it. However, what intrigues me more are the carrots which have different colours.
what do different coloured carrots taste like?
- Orange carrots: These are generally sweet and carry an earthy flavour. Best consumed raw in a salad like this creamy carrot salad or vegan coleslaw. Also excellent for this carrot chutney recipe.
- Purple carrots: Intense sweet flavour with a subtle peppery note. Excellent with spices, try them with this cumin roast carrots recipe. Or, try them in this carrot salad recipe.
- Red carrots: Taste resembles orange carrots. They are best braised, baked or used in soups. Try them in these recipes: carrot and swede mash or easy carrot soup.
- White carrots or golden carrots: Very mild earthy flavour and perfect for glazing. Try this simple roasted carrots recipe.
Basically, all carrots are interchangeable for this carrot chutney recipe, except for one type of carrot and that is baby carrots. Although they are sweet and flavourful, they are too small to give this carrot chutney the texture you are looking for. This is because they are not so easy to grate. Trust me, the larger your carrot, the easier it will grate.
In addition, think of the fact that you can actually want to make a larger batch of the carrot chutney.
spicy carrot chutney recipe
This is where you are in control of the intensity of the carrot chutney. This chutney recipe gets its spicy flavours from two elements, fresh ginger and cayenne pepper.
Firstly, if you want to cut down or scale up, then lessen or add more ginger, respectively. The latter adds a certain heat and pepperiness.
Secondly, you can tweak the amount of cayenne pepper used in the recipe. Alternatively, you can also consider red pepper flakes or chilli powder.
That’s the beauty of making your own carrot chutney from scratch. You can control which flavours you want to max out on or omit altogether!
carrot chutney for sandwich
As mentioned above, you can pair this chutney with any type of recipe. One great suggestion is to use it as part of a sandwich filling. You can add this carrot chutney to these sandwiches to jazz things up a bit:
- lamb sandwich with avocado and jam
- brie sandwich with chicken, pear and balsamic onions
- steak and caramelized onion sandwich
carrot chutney calories
Believe it or not, a serving of 30ml (2 tablespoons) is only six calories! This means that this carrot chutney is excellent as a flavour enhancer to other low-calorie recipes, which sometimes don’t carry a lot of flavour.
For example, let’s consider that you make this delicious low-calorie curried cauliflower with yoghurt. You can pair the cauliflower with a spoonful of carrot chutney to add more flavours and textures.
Nevertheless, this is why I also opt for adding this carrot chutney onto a cheese platter when I run out of my seedless blackberry jam. In comparison to any type of jam or homemade marmalade, this chutney doesn’t contain too much sugar or fructose. Hence, you can munch away at the cheese guilt-free without worrying about its sugar content.
So, forget counting calories and indulge in these addictive savoury and tangy flavours of this carrot chutney!
How would you serve this carrot chutney? Let me know!
Carrot Chutney
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 18 x 250ml (1 cup) glass jars 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
An easy carrot chutney recipe made with oranges, carrots, ginger & more. It’s spicy, tangy and above all, delicious.
Ingredients
- 1.5kg (3¾ lbs) carrots, peeled and grated
- 3 onions, peeled and grated
- 90ml (6 tbsp) fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
- 750ml (3 cups) apple cider vinegar
- 750ml (3 cups) water
- 600g (3 cups) brown sugar
- 15ml (1 tbsp) fresh thyme, washed and leaves only
- 7.5ml (1½ tsp) cayenne pepper
- 1 lemon, washed and zested
- 3 oranges, washed, zested and juiced
- 15ml (1 tbsp) salt
- 5ml (1 tsp) freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a large pot.
- Bring the contents to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, giving it a stir once in a while.
- Reduce the heat and let the chutney simmer gently for 45 minutes until thickened.
- Ladle the chutney into sterilised jars and top with paper jam covers.
- Seal the jars while still hot.
- Leave to mature for at least a month in a cool dark place.
- Category: Chutney
- Method: Boil
- Cuisine: English
Keywords: carrot chutney, spicy carrot chutney recipe, homemade Christmas gift recipe
P.S. This is a sponsored post.
Maxine G says
this would be super for zesting limes into home made hot and spicy salsas!
sam macaree says
i would use it to make a lemon drizzle cake
Shawanda says
I normally just use as zester for citrus fruits, but sometimes use it quickly grate cheese.
Solange says
I would use it to grate a lemon for a lemon drizzle cake.
Jane Willis says
I’m just about to start in on the Christmas baking so I would use it for zesting all the citrus I will need.
★★★★
cheryl hadfield says
I would use to grate carrots for my carrot cake muffins
Susan Lloyd says
I would use it to grate lemons for my lemon curd.
Iain maciver says
perfect for grating my cheese
★★★★★
Peter Watson says
I would use the zester particularly for fruit such as lemons and oranges for adding flavour in a large variety of dishes.
★★★★★
Sheena Batey says
It would be great for getting the peel from citrus fruit for my mincemeat to make mince pies
Tracy Nixon says
I’d use to make salads and cakes
LESLEY BRADLEY says
I’d use it to make your carrot chutney, it looks delicious! It would also come in handy for zesting oranges which I use to decorate my homemade citrus cheesecake.
pete c says
would tend to use it mainly on fruit for when making cakes and desserts
Lucy says
I think for zesting limes for recipes mainly 🙂
Ritchie Dee says
Grating ginger for sweet and savoury dishes
Emma Gosling says
I love a homemade lemon drizzle cake so this would be awesome.
cat says
Zesting for the insane amount of sweet mince I ahave to make
Kelly Y says
Would to great to make my lemon pepper caper pasta
Jodie Green says
As a mum of 8 im forever cooking and baking for them, the first thing i would make is carrot cake!
★★★★★
Margaret Clarkson says
I would use it to zest citrus fruits for home baking
★★★★★
Jade Hewlett says
I would use it when making lemon drizzle cake
Amandeep Sibia says
For zesting in a variety of dishes!
Laura Pritchard says
To grate ginger for my curries
★★★★
ADEINNE TONNER says
I would use it for making lemon drizzle cake it would save me so much time too!
Susan B says
At this time of year I enjoy baking custard tarts so would use to grate nutmeg generously on top.
Joo Dee says
for cake making for sure, no more lumps!
charlotte isobelle says
i love making lemon chicken for tea and it takes some effort so id use it with that!
claire woods says
I would use to grate carrots for my carrot cake
Ruth Harwood says
this would be fab for grating limes lemons and oranges to give my homemade cakes a little zesty taste!
★★★★
Melissa Lee says
We have been cooking a lot of Mexican dishes lately, so I would love to use this to make zesting limes much quicker and easier
Gillian Hitchen says
to grate delicious parmesan over all my pasta dishes!
Brendan Kirkpatrick says
Oooh carrot chutney I’d never even considered that but now I’m amazed I’ve never been told about it before. Sweet and tangy like a great chutney should be.
★★★★★
Sadiyya Maryam says
Mainly for salads and deserts.
Samantha M says
I would use it for both savoury and sweet but I think I’d use it most for adding zest to citrusy desserts.
Karen Usher says
I made an orange chicken recently and it required at the very end to use some orange zest, I had to miss it off as the peeler made the zest far too big! So this would be ideal
Dale Dow says
I would use it for topping off my cocktails or even sponge cakes x
Caroline Tinsley says
I would enjoy watching my husband use it to bake my favourite lemon drizzle cake! 😀
Valerie Seal says
Hubby is the chef and I’m not allowed in his kitchen so heavens know what he’ll use it for – but he will and it would be a lovely pressie for him!
Gillian McClelland says
I would use for cheese in everyday use and for citrus fruit when baking
Juli Savage says
Would use it to grate my carrots for a moist carrot cake
Emma Ellams says
Lemon zest in muffins! It’s such a fiddly job normally
Margaret Gallagher says
Orange zest lime zest chocolate and nutmeg – adding flavour to recipes or a topping to bakes – so versatile
Jodie W says
Id use it to try this carrot chutney recipe – ive not seen a carrot chutney before, but it looks yummy
Amanda Baggott says
I’d use it everyday to grate ginger, lemon, chocolate – all for delicious recipes I love cooking
Heather Haigh says
I love to add citrus rinds to my baking and this would be perfect to make lots
Mark R says
I would use it for carrots and orange zest for my spicy carrot and banana cake
Maurice Haigh says
carrots and apples
Carole Nott says
It would be perfect to use when baking a lemon cake and to grate the zest
★★★★★
Hannah Lord says
This would be the perfect kitchen tool for a lemon meringue pie
Adrian Bold says
I would use them to make some great cakes. Thanks for the competition.
jo liddement says
I would use this to grate the carrots to make this chutney. I have loads of carrots in my veggie box delivery and this is such a lovely and unusual recipe to use up the carrots.
★★★★★
Glynis O'Halloran says
I think these would be very useful when making marmalade
Michelle Ferguson says
I would use it for grating lemons for my favourite lemon drizzle cake
Katrina Adams says
I would use it to grate some lemon zest ready to go in a lemon cheesecake as I love that zingy flavour.
Victoria Prince says
I would use it for grating ginger into my porridge!
Lynn Neal says
I would love to use this to add orange zest to my carrot and orange salad!
Fiona jk42 says
I make freshly squeezed orange juice every day, so I’d use the zester to make orange zest from the orange peels I normally throw away.
★★★★★
Mandy Betts says
I would use them on oranges and lemons for the dishes i create
Marie Rungapadiachy says
I would use it to grate limes to flavour my curry.
Mark Mccaffery says
I would use it to for zesting ingredients for curries etc…
Sarah McCaffery says
I’d use it for grating lemons for my lemon drizzle cake.
Margaret Mccaffery says
I’m always using garlic and the like and it’d be especially great for that.
laura pyper says
I would make lemon drizzle cake
James Travis says
Use to it to help make Lemon Drizzle Cake
zoe somerfield says
I’d use it for when I zest for cakes and in spicy foods
DK says
I use mace a lot so this would be handy for shavings from that. Also, shavings of beetroot would be good. I can only eat it in small amounts.
Sheri Darby says
I would use for my vegan lemon cake
Lisa says
I would use it for the cakes that i love to bake.It would be great for the fruit christmas cakes but also all year round to add that extra flavour.It would also be great for making carrot cakes.
RobynS says
To zest the oranges for my favourite Chocolate Orange Shortbread recipe
Angela Kelly says
I cook with grated carrot a lot so it would be very useful.
Anthea Holloway says
I would use it mainly for lemons and oranges in the fruit cakes that I make and also for the nutmeg.
Lorna-Jane Holland says
I would use it to help make my Christmas cake!
A.E. ADKINS says
I would use it for grapefruit marmalade to get the fine zest required
Richard Eldred Hawes says
I would make a carrot cake,the grater for the carrots and the zester for the lemon cream cheese topping
Richard Eldred Hawes says
I would make a carrot cake, using the grater for the carrots and the zester for the lemon cream cheese topping
Christine Hobbs says
I love making cakes for the family. Carrot is popular and so is lemon drizzle cake along with courgette loaf and orange and cinnamon. The times I have grated my thumb fighting my conventional grater is many. These would help me save on plasters for starters
Bev Cannar says
Lemon drizzle cake the old time recipe is still a favourite in this house !
Patricia Avery says
Primarily in hubby’s lemon cake and my lemon curd but if it is as easy to use as you say I think we would explore other recipes if it is no longer hard work. At our age anything for an easier life sums us up!
paula cheadle says
I would use it for zesting my citus fruits for my cooking
Richard Eldred Hawes says
I would make a Carrot Cake useing the grater for the carrot and the zester for the lemon cheam cheese topping
meryl thomas says
This wold be grate to zest my home grown lemons for lemon curd
Tammy Neal says
Perfect for grating cheese x
Erica Hughes says
In cake making for orange and lemon zest
Amy Jo McLellan says
Zest for chutneys!
Naomi Williams says
I would use it for when i want lemon zest in a recipe
Sheena Read says
It would help me have more vegetables.
Kerry Webber says
I think I would probably use it for cheese the most!
LORRAINE STONE says
Zesting lemons for a cheesecake!
Jennifer Toal says
I would use it for curry’s, cakes and biscuits
Maria P says
Would be great for lemon zest for various cakes
Tom Grade says
Apart from cheese, I grate courgettes for a pasta bake and gently sprinkle chocolate shavings over my fudge cake.
Amy Stevens says
I would use it to zest lemons when I name lemon drizzle cake