Carrot Soufflé

Easy-to-make carrot soufflé with carrots, milk, saltines, cheddar cheese, butter, and eggs.

Carrot Souffle
Elise Bauer

Okay, if you are like me, you'll hear the word "soufflé" and think, "too much work, too hard."

Let me assure you that not only is this carrot soufflé as easy as they come, it's gobsmacking good! This soufflé isn't nearly as touchy as a traditional soufflé. In fact it's hard to mess up. It barely puffs up, which means it doesn't deflate that much either.

My father made a half batch a couple weeks ago and the three of us devoured it within minutes. He then made a full batch a few days ago, left for an hour and returned to find a third of it gone (that would be my doing).

"Hey, you know it serves eight!" Uh huh. Or just the three of us. The rest was gone by the end of the day.

Carrot Souffle
Elise Bauer

Dad found the recipe in a recent issue of House Beautiful. The recipe credit goes to Sam Beall, author of The Blackberry Farm Cookbook: Four Seasons of Great Food and the Good Life.

Other than its impossible-to-screw-up-ness and over-the-top deliciousness, I also love how easily this recipe lends itself to adaptations.

Try experimenting with the seasonings, such as some ginger, ground or fresh minced, some thyme, maybe a little orange zest, or a pinch of coriander. You might also try substituting all or some of the carrots with parsnips.

I want to make a parsnip version of it (maybe with a bit of horseradish and parsley). Or one could dress it up further with a touch of ginger or thyme.

Just remember the better the inputs, the better the results!

Carrot Soufflé

Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 70 mins
Total Time 80 mins
Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds carrots, peeled, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds

  • Salt, for salting cooking water

  • 1 cup whole milk

  • 1 cup saltine cracker crumbs

  • 3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

  • 1/3 cup onion, minced

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne

  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

  • 3 large eggs

Special Equipment

  • Food processor or immersion blender

Method

  1. Preheat oven and prepare baking dish:

    Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 2-quart baking dish and set aside.

  2. Cook and purée carrots:

    Place carrots in a saucepan and cover with an inch of water. Add about 1 teaspoon of salt to the water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Strain the carrots and purée in a food processor or with an immersion blender.

  3. Make carrot purée base:

    Place carrot purée in a large bowl. Slowly add in the milk, a little at a time, whisking after each addition so that the mixture stays smooth, not lumpy. Mix in the saltine cracker crumbs, the grated cheese, onion, butter, Kosher salt, cayenne, and black pepper.

  4. Whip eggs and combine with carrot pureé:

    In a separate bowl, whip up the eggs until frothy. Then whisk them into the carrot purée mixture.

    whip eggs to make batter for carrot souffle
    Elise Bauer
    whisk pureed carrots into egg mixture for carrot souffle
    Elise Bauer
  5. Bake:

    Transfer the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes, until puffed up a bit and lightly golden.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
175 Calories
9g Fat
18g Carbs
7g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 175
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 9g 11%
Saturated Fat 4g 21%
Cholesterol 87mg 29%
Sodium 473mg 21%
Total Carbohydrate 18g 6%
Dietary Fiber 4g 13%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 7g
Vitamin C 5mg 23%
Calcium 159mg 12%
Iron 1mg 7%
Potassium 369mg 8%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.