This Instant Pot carrots recipe is made in no time at all and makes for a delicious vegetable side dish to go with whatever main you serve. Carrots are coated in a lovely honey soy glaze. Replace honey for a vegan version!
If you don’t typically use your Instant Pot to cook vegetables, this is a good recipe to start with. You can also learn more about cooking veggies in your pressure cooker in our Vegetables 101 Guide post here.
Carrots are nutritious and affordable making them a frequent side dish on the table. This Instant Pot carrot recipe shows how to make them quickly and easily with a little flavor twist.
HOW TO COOK CARROTS IN INSTANT POT
The key to cooking things like carrots or broccoli in the Instant Pot or any other pressure cooker is to do it very quickly. That’s why we love Instant Pot for veggies because you can have a side dish ready in no time at all. You will notice that the time for cooking is set to ZERO minutes and set to LOW pressure. That’s correct!
The pressure in the Instant pot will take about 5-10 minutes to build-up, during which the cooking will already begin. This pressure build period (even on LOW setting) is enough time to cook the carrots perfectly. If you like your veggies a little softer, set the time to 1 minute or leave the pressure to release naturally for longer (the carrots will continue to cook during this time as well).
You can then make the honey soy glaze as per the recipe instructions or serve the carrots with a little butter or olive oil and sea salt.
WHAT TO SERVE INSTANT POT CARROTS WITH
For this recipe, we’re using a bunch of whole baby carrots, simply peeled and steamed under pressure, then quickly sautéed with honey, soy sauce and sesame seeds. If you’re roasting some chicken or pan-frying some fish, or grilling some tofu, then this is a great veg dish to make on the side with your Instant Pot at the same time.
VARIATIONS
You can use larger carrots, sliced in halves instead of using baby carrots.
For a vegan version, replace honey with agave syrup or maple syrup, or some brown sugar.
For a paleo and gluten-free version, replace soy sauce with coconut aminos or Tamari sauce.
MORE INSTANT POT VEGETABLE RECIPES
Green Beans with Butter
Asparagus with Lemon & Pepper
Collard Greens with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Broccoli with Garlic & Lemon
Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash
Instant Pot Carrots With Honey Soy Glaze
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Side
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Asian
Description
Beautifully cooked Instant Pot carrots make for a delicious side dish. Coated in some honey soy glaze, these guys go well with other Asian mains or with some rice and chicken or tofu.
Ingredients
- 8 baby carrots (4 larger carrots halved lengthways)
- 1/2 to 1 cup of water
For the honey soy glaze
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or minced
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce or wheat-free Tamari
- 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds
- A pinch of salt
- Chopped scallions /green onions, to garnish
Instructions
- Add the carrots and water to the inner pot of the Instant Pot. Close and lock the lid and set the Instant Pot to Manual, LOW pressure and adjust the time to 0 minutes. That’s correct! We basically want the pressure to build up and then stop, as that’s enough time to cook the carrots. After 3 beeps, the IP will start to build up the pressure.
- Once the timer goes off, allow 3-4 minutes for the pressure to release naturally and then use the quick release method to let off the remaining pressure. Simply turn the steam valve on the lid to Venting and let the steam out (be careful when you do this). Remove the carrots and discard of the water.
- Place the inner pot back inside the Instant Pot and press the Sauté function key. Add the honey soy glaze ingredients (except for the scallions) to the pot and stir for a minute until it starts to get sticky. Add the carrots back in and stir through the sauce until well coated. Press Cancel/Keep Warm to stop the Sauté, and serve with chopped scallions on top.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 carrots
- Calories: 72
- Sugar: 9 g
- Sodium: 483.4 mg
- Fat: 0.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 15.3 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 2.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
SAVE INSTANT POT CARROTS RECIPE TO PINTEREST
Definitely do not need 1 cup of water. I will try again with a half cup. No way for sauté function to sonits thing with that much standing water.
The recipe states to remove the carrots and drain the water. You need that amount of water to build up the pressure.
Hey Patricia, that is correct. The last part of this recipe is Sauteeing the carrots in the glaze. The Saute function of the IP doesn’t require the pressure build-up, it simply heats up the pot from the bottom, hence no water is added. Hope that helps.
Way to salty and it tasted like straight up soy sauce. Great idea but an epic fail. I followed this recipe to the T and it was not salvageable at all.
Thanks for your feedback. I find some soy sauce brands can be saltier than others. I would try it with a light soy sauce perhaps? We’ll make a note in the recipe.
This looks great! If I want to make a whole pot of these, can I still use the same instapot settings as instructed in the recipe or will I have to adjust?
Yes, you can use the same settings!