There are six ways to store carrots for the winter: canning, freezing, pickling, dehydrating, cold storage in a root cellar, and refrigeration.  Do it right and you can easily supply yourself with carrots until Spring.

Some of these ways take more time, effort, or resources than others.  I’ll go through each way, showing you how to do it (or provide a link), as well as talk about some of the pros and cons of each method.

Storing Carrots in the Refrigerator

This is the method I use and is the easiest and quickest of all the methods.  Unfortunately, it is not zero waste and requires that you have a decent amount of fridge space, or an extra fridge.

1. Wash your carrots and remove the greens.
2. Fill a clear, plastic bag with carrots and add a sheet of paper towel.
3. Tie the bag shut and poke a few holes in the plastic with a fork.
4. Store in the refrigerator.
5. Check carrots once a month and remove any moldy or soft carrots.

Store Carrots in a Root Cellar

Before you reject this idea, thinking you don’t have a root cellar–think again.  If you live in a warmer climate, you can easily make your own root cellar with a trash can or cooler dug into the ground.  Here’s a comprehensive post on the different ways you can create your own root cellar from the Prairie Homestead.

In researching making my own root cellar, I found posts suggesting you could do this project from zones 3-9, as long as you put more insulation on top of the lid the lower your growing zone.  I live in zone 3, and while I could see this working, I really wouldn’t want to trudge out into my yard in the middle of a stretch of -30 and piles of snow drifts to go collect my carrots and potatoes.  If you have tried this idea in a lower growing zone, please let me know how it worked (or not) in the comments!

Related: How to Preserve Onions until Spring

Not keen on the whole outdoor root cellar idea?  You can always store your carrots in a container in your basement or heated garage with insulation.  Here’s how.

1. Put a small layer of insulation on the bottom of a large cardboard box or plastic tub.  Insulation materials can be sand, shredded newspaper, sawdust, or leaves.
2. Put a layer of unwashed carrots on top of the layer of insulation.
3. Put another layer of insulation over your unwashed carrots.
4. Repeat until the container is full.

Warning: Your carrots might still get mushy using this method if your basement or heated garage is damp.

Freezing Carrots

Freezing carrots has a few steps to it, but is less intensive than pressure canning.  If you are going to use your carrots within a month, it is okay to clean them and freeze them in bags without boiling them.  Storing them for longer?  You’ll need to follow these steps so you don’t lose out on colour, flavour and nutrition:

1. Wash carrots, remove greens, and peel.
2. Slice into your desired shape.  (Cubes, coins, or shredded)
3. Boil carrots for 3 minutes
4. Transfer carrots into a large bowl filled with water and ice for 3 minutes.
5. Remove carrots and store in freezer safe bags.

Quick Pickled Carrots

If you enjoy pickled carrots, pickling them is an easy way to preserve your harvest–especially if you skip the canning step and put your jars in the fridge.  I personally have never pickled carrots, but here are a few recipes to get you started:

• Simple Refrigerator Sweet Pickled Carrots from the Kitchen Magpie
• Quick and Easy Refrigerator Pickled Carrots from the Domestic Dreamboat
• How to Make Quick Pickled Carrots from the Pioneer Woman

If you have a bit more time, you can can these recipes in a water bath to store out of the fridge, which brings us to our next option. . .

Canning Carrots in a Pressure Canner

If you have the time and inclination, you can can the years carrot harvest with a pressure canner.  DO NOT USE A WATER BATH TO CAN CARROTS!!  Carrots are a basic vegetable, and a water bath can not kill all the bad bacteria unless the carrots are pickled.

I personally would be unlikely to use this method, but if you have a pressure canner and the time, here’s how to do it.

Dehydrating Carrots

I’ve also never personally dehydrated carrots, but I do own a dehydrator, and I can see this being a fairly easy was to preserve the harvest without refrigeration.  Basically, the steps are exactly the same as freezing carrots, except the last step is to put them in the dehydrator, not the freezer.  Because I know you’re not going to scroll up, here’s the directions:

1. Wash carrots, remove greens, and peel.
2. Slice into your desired shape.  (Cubes, coins, or shredded)
3. Boil carrots for 3 minutes
4. Transfer carrots into a large bowl filled with water and ice for 3 minutes.
5. Layer cooled carrots into the dehydrator and dehydrate for
6. Dry at 125 degrees until dry and crispy.  Check every few hours, or follow guidelines on your dehydrator.

How do you store your carrots for the winter?  Share any tips or tricks you have with us in the comments!

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.