Our recipe for grilled carrots on dill yoghurt with dukkah and fresh aromatic herbs makes a Middle Eastern style side dish loaded with texture, flavour and fragrance that’s fantastic with grilled meats and garlicky chicken. Use baby carrots or carrot batons, grill the carrots or pan-fry them, serve the carrots on dill yoghurt or labneh, and shower with crunchy dukkah and fresh herbs.
If you’re a fan of those Middle Eastern vegetable side dishes of vegetables served atop labneh or hummus, you’ll love these grilled carrots on a bed of dill yoghurt, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with dukkah (the crunchy Arabic nut, seed and spice condiment), and showered with fresh aromatic herbs. Sometimes I’ll stir a little pesto through the olive oil. So good.
If you’re a lover of those Middle Eastern dishes, try these traditional hummus-based dishes, such as this balela salad (a salad on hummus with chickpeas) and hummus bil lahme (spiced minced beef on hummus). This Turkish Antalya piyaz recipe makes a tomato salad with boiled eggs on white bean purée. We also have recipes for roasted cauliflower on hummus, green beans on white bean purée, cucumber salad on creamy butter bean purée, and this beetroot, arugula, feta, and walnut salad on butter bean purée.
This recipe for grilled carrots on yoghurt is nothing if not versatile. As my mother’s oven-grill isn’t working I’m currently pan-frying baby carrots. You can pile them onto labneh (strained yoghurt) and use whatever fresh herbs you have. These baby carrots are a fantastic side to Mediterranean-style chicken and Middle Eastern seven-spiced meatballs, kofta kebabs, and garlicky chicken.
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Looking for more cooking inspiration? We’ve got thousands of recipes in our archives from around the world from places we’ve lived, worked, travelled, and loved. And note that you can save your favourite recipes in a private account by clicking on the heart on the right of the post. Now let me tell you all about these grilled carrots on dill yoghurt with dukkah and fresh fragrant herbs. I’m making these again tonight!
Grilled Baby Carrots on Dill Yoghurt with Dukkah and Fresh Fragrant Herbs
I don’t know about you, but I reckon there are few things as comforting as an old-fashioned Australian roast dinner. As a child, I loved the rare occasions when dad’s side of the family came together at my Australian grandparents home. Nan and pop, my parents, little sister, aunt and uncle, and all the cousins crammed around the big table in their airy dining room.
Nanna would go all out and make a traditional Australian roast. The succulent roast chickens had crispy brown skin and a savoury bread stuffing, and were served with a bounty of baked vegetables – roast potatoes, carrots, pumpkins, green beans, and peas, all grown by my pop in their backyard veggie garden – and served with boats of homemade gravy that nanna had prepared with the roast chicken juices.
As a child, I adored nanna’s tender baked vegetables – they were so full of flavour thanks to pop’s green thumbs, and so soft that they’d melt in your mouth. But as an adult, I have to confess that I much prefer carrots, beans and peas that are barely cooked, brightly coloured, and still have firmness, even crunch.
Which is why when I’m not cooking Southeast Asian food and stir-frying vegetables in a wok, I love to cook vegetables such as these carrots under an oven-grill – or broiler to our American readers – or pan-fry the carrots on medium-high to high heat so that they’re a little charred and tender on the outside but still firm within.
I only have few tips to making these grilled carrots on dill yoghurt with dukkah and fresh fragrant herbs, as it’s an easy dish that quickly comes together. It’s also versatile with so many variations.
Tips to Making these Grilled Baby Carrots on Dill Yoghurt with Dukkah and Herbs
Just a few tips to making this grilled carrots recipe as it’s super easy and comes together quickly. As I’ve been able to source baby carrots, I’ve made this a few times recently and it’s become one of my favourite vegetable side dishes – although my mum and I also ate this as a lovely, light, standalone dinner the other night.
Baby carrots are best for this, as they’re sweeter and cook quickly. As carrots are more nutritious with the skins left on, don’t peel the carrots, just give the carrots a good scrub. I wash the carrot tops on and leave those on, as they’re delicious when they’re brown and crunchy.
I’ve been laying these carrots on a bed of thick creamy Greek yoghurt stirred through with chopped fresh dill, but you could also make Middle Eastern labneh simply by straining the yoghurt overnight in muslin. One evening I spread some leftover tzatziki on the plate and it worked a treat. You could also use Arabic khyar bi laban, hummus or white bean puree.
Make the dukkah ahead of time and this grilled carrots recipe is even speedier – or prepare the dukkah while the carrots are grilling. Dukkah is also quick and easy to make and very versatile: follow our dukkah recipe or use whatever nuts, seeds and spices you have on hand. It takes minutes to pound dukkah in a mortar and pestle.
My recipe calls for fresh dill, fresh mint and fresh coriander or parsley – but you could shower on whatever fresh herbs you have on hand – as well as a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil. Sometimes I stir a little pesto through the olive oil before drizzling, as I did the day I took these images. We have a traditional basil pesto recipe here.
If you wanted to give this dish more of a Mediterranean taste instead of Middle Eastern flavour, say, Italian, you could sprinkle on gremolata or pangrattato, or both if you use a basic pangrattato of fried breadcrumbs only.
Grilled Carrots on Dill Yoghurt with Dukkah and Herbs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 250 g baby carrots - washed, around 10 baby carrots or large carrots sliced into batons,
- ½ tsp salt
- Greek-style yoghurt - or labneh
- 1 tbsp fresh dill - finely chopped
- 1 tbsp dukkah - see recipe
- 1 cup fresh herbs - mix of fresh dill, mint, coriander and parsley
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil - for drizzling
Instructions
- Grill the carrots: lay the carrots on an oven tray, use a pastry brush to coat them with olive oil, sprinkle on salt, slide the tray under an oven grill (broiler) on high heat, grill for 5 minutes, use tongs to turn the carrots, grill for another 5 minutes, then turn again, grilling for 5 minutes a side OR pour the olive oil into a skillet, griddle pan or fry pan over medium-high, lay the carrots down, brush them or turn them so they’re covered in olive oil, then use tongs to turn the carrots every 5 minutes, until they’re done, around 20 minutes.
- While the carrots are cooking, transfer the yoghurt or labneh to a bowl, stir through the tablespoon of finely chopped fresh dill, then spoon it onto a serving plate, using the back of the spoon to spread it over the plate.
- When the carrots are cooked to your liking – we like the carrots so that they’re a bit charred on the surface but still firm and a little crunchy – use tongs to arrange them on top of the yoghurt or labneh.
- Sprinkle the dukkah over the grilled baby carrots, shower the plate with a mix of fresh herbs, such as fresh dill, mint, coriander, and parsley leaves, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, grind on some freshly ground cracked black pepper, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make our grilled carrots on dill yoghurt with dukkah and fresh fragrant herbs, as we love hearing how our recipes turn out for you.
