Name: Carrots with yogurt
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 300g carrots (0.5 lb), about 3 medium carrots; 1 tbsp olive oil; 155g Turkish yogurt (⅔ cup), or use full-fat Greek yogurt; 1 big garlic clove; 1 tsp fine sea salt; 15g butter (1 tbsp); ½ tsp pul biber (Aleppo pepper), or replace with any crushed chili flakes

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Cooked carrots with yogurt go hand in hand! The flavors you get by combining sweet carrots, creamy garlicky yogurt, and spices are simply amazing.

I admit to having licked the plate multiple times after being done because the sauce is thaaat good. It’s so savory that it reminds me of a cheese dip.

Go to:

🥕 Cooked salad
📖 Substitutions
📋 Step by step
💭 Tips

🥕 Cooked salad

One of the most popular yogurt-based mezze in Turkey is havuç tarator. Cooked grated carrots are mixed with a garlicky yogurt sauce, and sometimes chopped dill or crushed walnuts are thrown in. Unfortunately, I don’t have a food processor that shreds/grates carrots. As much as I love the traditional recipe, I don’t have the patience to grate carrots by hand using my box grater. If one day I get a food processor, it will be the first recipe I post, but until then, on to my simplified version of Turkish carrots with yogurt. Sweet carrots meet salty sauce, spicy chili flakes meet crushed garlic, hot melted butter meets cold tangy yogurt, it’s heaven!

Technically it’s not “my” version cause it’s something my husband remembers eating at a friend’s house when he was a kid. I jumped at the chance to recreate it because I was really craving the whole carrots with yogurt combo, but as stated before, I couldn’t be bothered grating the carrots by hand. You might not be crazy about carrots, but as anyone in Turkey would attest, adding garlic yogurt and a spicy buttery will turn anything into the most amazing meal.

📖 Substitutions

I will always encourage anyone to try the real thing, but, not everyone has a Turkish store nearby. You are not going to drive for miles just for a side dish! So don’t worry, here are substitutes:

Turkish süzme yogurt: You can use full-fat Greek yogurt instead. The taste will be slightly different because Greek yogurt is creamier and less tangy, but your side dish will still be delicious.
Pul biber: Also called Aleppo pepper, these chili flakes are commonly used in Turkish cuisine and are starting to appear on supermarket shelves! But if you can’t get your hands on pul biber, you can use any other kind of mild chili flakes (pul biber isn’t very hot).

📋 Step by step

This is a super easy way to prepare carrots!

➝ Cook the carrot slices covered over low heat for 30 min, stirring frequently.
➝ Crush the garlic into a paste with the salt and mix it into the yogurt. Add the carrots into the mixing bowl with the yogurt sauce and stir.
➝ Melt the butter and add the chili flakes. Cook for 1 min and you’re done!

💭 Tips

If you are trying to get a head start while you have time, you should know that you can:

cut up carrots ahead of time: I think fresh is best but, you can cut up carrots in advance. You can slice the carrots for up to 1 week in advance. Store them in the fridge in a freezer bag or an airtight container. They will dry up over time so, place a damp paper towel under the sliced carrots.

make the whole recipe in advance (almost): I actually find the carrots with yogurt more flavorful when it’s cold. However, the spicy butter sauce will harden in the fridge so the texture can be off-putting. So, follow the recipe up to the end of the 2nd step; cook the carrots, make the yogurt sauce, and combine the two. It will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
The day you want to serve this side dish, take the carrots with yogurt out of the fridge, place them into a serving dish, and leave it on the counter while you make the spicy sauce. Drizzle the sauce over and serve immediately.

Carrots with yogurt

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

Author: Amélie
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 2 servings 1x
Category: Side dish
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: Turkish
Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

Cooked carrots with yogurt go hand in hand! The flavors you get by combining sweet carrots, creamy garlicky yogurt, and a spicy buttery sauce are simply amazing.

Ingredients

Scale

300g carrots (0.5 lb), about 3 medium carrots
1 tbsp olive oil
155g Turkish yogurt (⅔ cup), or use full-fat Greek yogurt
1 big garlic clove
1 tsp fine sea salt
15g butter (1 tbsp)
½ tsp pul biber (Aleppo pepper), or replace with any crushed chili flakes

Instructions

Cook the carrots. Peel the carrots, then slice them into coins, approximately 5mm (⅕ in) thick. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over low heat and add the sliced carrots. Cover the pan and cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the carrots are wilted but not browned. It should take about 30 min.
Make the yogurt sauce. Add the yogurt to a mixing bowl. Peel the garlic clove and roughly chop it. Put it into a mortar and add the salt. Crush the garlic into a paste with the pestle and scrape the paste over the yogurt. Finely chop the garlic if you don’t have a mortar and pestle. Mix with a spoon until the yogurt and garlic are well combined. When the carrots are cooked, gently stir them into the yogurt sauce with any leftover cooking juice. If desired, transfer the carrots with yogurt to a serving dish.
Make the butter sauce. Melt the butter in a small frying pan over low heat. Add the chili flakes and cook for 1 min, stirring constantly. Pul biber can burn pretty quickly so be careful. Drizzle the spicy buttery sauce over the carrots and serve immediately.

Notes

Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days. I recommend warming through before eating (over low heat or using the microwave) because the butter sauce will solidify in the fridge.