This quick and easy guide will teach you how to cut carrots into different shapes like rounds, half moons, matchsticks, and more. Add them to soups, stews, smoothies, and sauces.
Peel: You have two options for carrots — scrubbing or peeling. Either way, give them a good wash. Then, use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin if you’d prefer.
Rounds
With the carrot perpendicular to you, firmly grasp one end with your non-dominant hand. Using a rocker motion, slice the carrot into rounds as thickly or as thinly as the recipe you’re making calls for. You can also rotate the carrot slightly to make diagonal cuts.Optional: If you have one, a mandoline will achieve a more even thickness, but remember to keep your fingers well away from the blade! Use your carrot rounds for recipes like stews, stir-fries, soups, garden salads, or dehydrated carrot chips.
Half Moons
With the carrot facing parallel to you, carefully slice it in half lengthwise, using your palm to press the knife all the way through. Place each half flat-side down, and rotate it the same as for the rounds. Slice the carrots into half-moon shapes as thickly or as thinly as you’d like.Optional: Once again, you can use a mandoline for this process, just be careful. Half-moon carrots are perfect for stir-fries, soups, salads, and stews!
Diced
Start by cutting the carrot into halves just like before. Then, cut the carrots into quarters. If they are quite large, make 3-4 cuts. Rotate the carrot sticks, and dice them into smaller pieces using a rocker motion with your knife.Remember, use a claw grip and continuously move your fingers back as you’re cutting. Diced carrots are great for soups, stews, lentil loaves, chopped salads, and hearty pasta sauces.
Julienned
Trim the ends off of the carrots, then cut them crosswise into 2 or 3 pieces (it depends on how big your carrots are). Thinly slice the pieces on one side, then flip the pieces on the flat side. Slice lengthwise to form thin slabs, lay each one flat-side down, and cut it into thin matchsticks.Once you feel more comfortable, you can stack the slabs to make cutting faster. You can also use a julienne peeler if you have one for a more convenient option! Add julienned carrots to salads or stir-fries.