Simple yet sophisticated, these French style Vichy carrots are tender, buttery sweet and absolutely delicious! Bring a French touch to your next gathering or holiday dinner with the best carrots you'll ever eat! And I mean it too!
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Why You'll love this recipe
- Vichy carrots are one of my absolute favorite French classic recipe. Sliced carrots are glazed with a little butter and sugar, and they turn out irresistibly delicious. The original recipe uses mineral naturally sparkling water found in the town of Vichy in France, hint of how it got its name. If you want to try more French recipes, try my celery root remoulade, soupe au pistou, hachis-parmentier, creamy cucumber salad and my bistro salad.
- It's simple, easy to make yet elegant. These carrots pair with everything from roasted chicken to grilled steak, seared fish, pork or even as holiday dinner side. I've made those for Thanksgiving before and they were a hit!
- This recipe is kid-friendly (maybe skip the parsley for their portion if they're like my kids and don't want "green things"), the carrots are sweet, super flavorful with a great texture and a shiny finish from the glaze.
Key Ingredients and variations
- Carrots: you need 1 ½ pound of carrots, which is around 7-9 carrots depending on their size. Try to choose carrots that aren't extremely thin or save the thinner part for snacking like I do.
- Butter: I use salted butter for everything, but unsalted is totally fine too.
- Sugar: a little white sugar to create the delicious glaze. I have not tested this recipe with a artificial sweetener, but if you do please let me know how the Vichy carrots turned out.
- Water: while the classic recipe uses mineral sparkling water from Vichy in France, I keep it very simple and use regular water for this recipe. Most methods will tell you to fully cover the carrots with water, but depending on what kind of pot or skillet you use, I don't believe it's necessary as it would take forever for the liquid to evaporate.
- Parsley: fresh curly parsley is traditionally more common in French cooking but if you can't find any, flat parsley is absolutely fine, they pretty much taste the same.
- Salt, pepper and lemon: seasoning to finish the dish.
How to make French Style Vichy carrots
- Peel and slice the carrots about ⅛-inch thick. Chop the parsley.
Heat up skillet with high sides over medium low heat, add butter and sugar, melt everything stirring often.
Add sliced carrots and stir to coat them with the melted butter. Add water. Cover and simmer for 5 min.
Uncover and simmer on low to medium low heat for 20-25 min, gently stirring a few times.
Once carrots are tender when poked with fork, sprinkle salt, pepper and parsley, squeeze a little lemon. Stir gently and serve with side of choice. Enjoy!
More Recipes with Carrots
If you love carrots check these out!
Tips
- For the best taste, use fresh ingredients for this recipe: fresh carrots, fresh parsley and fresh lemon.
- Try to cut the carrots fairly evenly so they cook at the same rate.
- Make sure the heat isn't too high. The carrots should not get any caramelization marks in this recipe. Making the glaze is slow and steady.
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frequently asked questions
The classic recipe of "Carottes Vichy" uses mineral-rich sparkling water from the famous spa town of Vichy in France.
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French Style Vichy Carrots
Equipment
- pot/high side skillet with lid
- wooden spoon or spatula
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pound carrots about 8 carrots; peeled and sliced ⅛ to ¼-inch thick
- 2 tablespoons salted butter or unsalted
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- ½ to 1 cup water
- 1 squeeze fresh lemon
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Peel and slice the carrots about ⅛-inch thick. Chop the parsley.
- Heat up a skillet with high sides over medium low heat, add butter and sugar, melt everything stirring often.
- Add the sliced carrots and stir them with a wooden spoon (or spatula) to coat them with the melted butter. Add the water (it doesn't have to cover the carrots fully). Cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Uncover and simmer on medium low heat for 20-25 minutes, gently stirring a few times.
- Once the carrots are tender when poked with a fork, sprinkle salt, pepper, and parsley, squeeze a little lemon. Stir gently and serve with side of choice. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
About Priscilla Lawrence
Hi there, I'm Priscilla Lawrence! Welcome to Sprinkled With Balance where I share elevated and approachable nutrient-rich recipes that aren't overly restrictive, complicated or boring! Based in California but born and raised in France, I'm a mom of two, former certified nutritionist, recipe developer, and food photographer.
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