Need an easy vegetable side dish for a Sunday supper or holiday meal? Carrot casserole combines sweet, tender carrots and buttery, browned onions with a creamy sauce and a crunchy topping. It’s a dish truly greater than the sum of its parts—even those who typically aren’t crazy about cooked carrots will come back for seconds.
A couple of smart shortcut ingredients mean that making it requires only about 20 minutes of prep time before it’s ready to go in the oven. It makes a sweet, warming side dish perfect to accompany almost any main. And if you make this recipe and still have carrots to use up, check out this collection of our most delicious carrot recipes.
Carrot Casserole Ingredients
- Carrots: The hero of this casserole is sweet sliced carrots. Cutting them into rounds makes it easy to scoop servings of casserole.
- Onions: White or yellow onions, sliced and sauteed, give this carrot casserole a savory backbone.
- Butter: Butter helps brown the onions to start this recipe, and a finishing drizzle helps the croutons toast in the oven.
- Cream of celery soup: A can of condensed cream of celery soup melts the cheese, and the two act as the creamy gravy that binds this carrot casserole together. Because the soup contains starch, it thickens any juices released by the vegetables as they bake.
- Cheddar cheese: Cheese adds richness to this carrot casserole and, with the soup, helps bind all the ingredients together.
- Seasoned croutons: Seasoned croutons are a shortcut ingredient here that adds a layer of flavor and a major textural contrast to the soft vegetables and sauce.
Directions
Step 1: Par-cook the carrots
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the carrots in a saucepan, and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil, and cook the carrots until crisp-tender.
Step 2: Make the sauce
Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute the onions in 3 tablespoons of butter until tender. Stir in the soup, salt, pepper and cheddar cheese.
Step 3: Assemble and bake
Drain the carrots, then add them to the onion mixture. Transfer to a greased 13×9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with croutons. Melt the remaining butter, and drizzle it over the croutons. Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes.
Carrot Casserole Variations
- Add a vegetable: Replace some of the volume of carrots with sliced parsnips or cauliflower florets.
- Substitute a different soup: Out of cream of celery? Swap in another condensed cream soup such as cream of mushroom or cream of chicken, either store-bought or homemade.
- Swap out the croutons: You can easily replace the croutons with crushed butter crackers or seasoned bread crumbs. To ensure the bread crumbs crisp, toss them with the remaining melted butter before scattering them on top of the assembled casserole.
- Layer in more flavor: Add garlic, orange zest, all-purpose seasoning, a dash of a smoky barbecue rub or any other dry seasoning that sounds good with carrots.
How to Store Carrot Casserole
Allow the casserole to cool to room temperature, then either wrap it or transfer it to a container with a lid, and store it in the refrigerator. It will keep well for several days.
Can you freeze carrot casserole?
Yes, you can freeze this carrot casserole. Though it’s generally not recommended to freeze casseroles containing cheese, as the freezing and thawing process can seize the proteins in the dairy and leave it with a grainy texture, the starch in the condensed soup should help stabilize the combination. Allow the casserole to cool completely, then wrap it well or portion it into individual containers before freezing.
Can you make carrot casserole ahead of time?
You can make carrot casserole ahead of serving it, with one caveat: Because it contains cheese, it really is best when served hot, otherwise the texture of the sauce might feel gluey. Plan to warm it back up in a hot oven just before serving.
Carrot Casserole Tips
Can I use baby carrots to make carrot casserole?
Yes, you can use baby carrots to make this carrot casserole recipe, though they will need longer to cook to tenderness than sliced carrots do.
How else can I speed up prep for carrot casserole?
You can buy precut carrot “chips” (made with a crinkle cutter) as a time-saver, or use the slicing blade on your food processor to zip whole, peeled carrots into coins in a snap.
What goes well with carrot casserole?
Carrot casserole is a great side dish for turkey on Thanksgiving, ham on Easter or a roast chicken any other day of the year.
