Creamy Carrot Casserole Recipe
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Carrots star in this simple, flavorful casserole. Topped with crunchy brown-butter-and-garlic-infused breadcrumbs, they’ve never been so irresistible.
What to buy: Panko is coarse Japanese-style breadcrumbs, available in many grocery stores.
Game plan: The breadcrumb topping can be made up to a day ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature. The carrots can be chopped up to a day ahead, covered with a moist paper towel, and stored in a resealable plastic bag.
This recipe was featured as part of our Thanksgiving for Six menu.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
- 2 pounds carrots, cut on the bias into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 3 medium garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Lightly coat a 2-quart casserole or 11-by-7-inch baking dish with butter, and set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When foaming subsides, add carrots, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots just start to brown, about 7 minutes.
- Evenly sprinkle flour over carrots, stirring constantly. Cook until flour turns golden in color, about 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly pour in cream while constantly stirring, bring to a boil, then remove from heat.
- Transfer to the prepared dish and cover with aluminum foil. Place in the oven and bake until cream is bubbling and carrots just give way when pierced with a knife, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat. When foaming subsides, add garlic and cook until butter just begins to brown, about 3 minutes.
- Add breadcrumbs to the pan and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir occasionally until panko is lightly browned and toasted, about 5 minutes. Remove to a medium bowl and discard garlic.
- When casserole is ready, remove foil and allow to sit for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle toasted breadcrumbs evenly over top before serving.
I made this with unsweetened almond milk instead of heavy cream. Next time I plan to tweak it a bit - sauteing in olive oil instead of butter, mixing in some red curry paste, and skipping the bread crumbs. It was good as it was, but I thought it could use another layer of flavor.
This is unbelievably good! Such a wonderful comforting dish. I kept the breadcrumbs separate and passed them with the casserole because we have a small family and I wanted the leftovers to be of original consistency when reheated. Turned out perfectly. YUM!
I'm thinking mushrooms; sauteed for a shorter period of time.
This is SO GOOD I find myself wanting to type in all CAPS and use sports expressions to proclaim its greatness.
I was really excited for this. After I made it I could tell that it could have been a good dish, but I think the 1 TBSP kosher salt must be a mistake ... should be 1 TSP. It was SOOO oversalted. I'll try it again with less salt but it was close to inedible with that much salt.
Would this work with asparagus?
I made this for Thanksgiving. It's a week later now, and my eyes still nearly roll up into my head from the memory of how delicious this is. I was ready to push aside everything else I'd spent 2 days cooking and set the whole casserole dish on my plate. I think the only thing that stopped me was the nagging voice in my head reminding me how much butter and cream it contained (Per Meredith's warning, I didn't even bother trying to lighten it up.) I have to disagree about the reheating though. I found the texture completely changed upon reheating -- perhaps the breadcrumbs had absorbed the sauce at that point? The flavor was still excellent, but the overall experience was not nearly as exquisite as when freshly prepared. I made a lot of my Thanksgiving dishes in advance, but I'm glad this wasn't one of them.
Note: I found panko breadcrumbs easily in my regular supermarket, but they were located in natural/organic foods section for some reason.
I made this for thanksgiving dinner and it was a total hit! Thanks so much for providing this recipe. And to blow my mind...it was just as good if not better the next day.
I'm definitely making this again for Christmas dinner. And again in Jan., Feb., etc. - if you get the idea...it's on my monthly dinner list.
Not just Japanese markets. I find them at just about any good sized grocery.
panko is the name of the japanese bread crumbs you can find it in any japanese market near your home or substitute it with normal bread crumbs( but they are less fluffy )
can anyone tell me if this what is panko bread crumbs. is that whole wheat >?
I tried to substitute the cream for whole milk last night and bad news: it was nowhere near as good. I was surprised at the difference, though I probably shouldn't have been--after all, we all know fat is what made it so amazing in the first place.
When I make it again, I will stick to cream and try to eat less (=not easy).
Meredith of CHOW
this sounds great except for the heavy cream. what should I substitute for it to make it a lighter dish?
This sounds so much better than the tired green bean casserole!
no. reheat gently so the sauce doesn't separate.
This sounds terrific. Is there any reason it couldn't be prepared ahead - even the day before?