When you boil carrots in water, you pour a good share of the vitamins down the drain afterwards. In the Varoma, the water stays below and the steam rises through the carrots, so everything that is water-soluble (mainly vitamin C and some of the B vitamins) stays in the vegetable rather than leaching into the cooking water. That is exactly why we always steam our carrots in the Thermomix® above the mixing bowl, never submerged in the bowl itself.
Varoma steaming has been our standard method for every root-vegetable side dish for years. Carrots, parsnips, parsley root, everything goes up into the tray while rice, couscous, or lentils cook below. One machine, one cooking process, one wash-up. And the flavour is noticeably more intense, because the carrot is not diluted by water but stays in its own juices.
Steaming Carrots in the Thermomix® Varoma®
Ingredients 0 / 2 ✓
- 500 g carrots
- 500 g vegetable stock
Instructions 0 / 2
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1
Wash the carrots.
Wash and cut the carrots, then distribute them between the Varoma tray and the Varoma insert tray.
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2
Steam the carrots.
Pour the vegetable stock into the mixing bowl, place the Varoma on top and steam for 20 min / Varoma / speed 1.
Tip: You can use this method to steam other root vegetables too.
Video
Nutrition per serving
What makes Varoma carrots so reliable
Vitamins stay in the carrot, not in the cooking water. Vitamin C and some of the B vitamins are water-soluble. With conventional boiling they migrate into the water, which we then pour away. In the Varoma the vegetables never come into contact with the liquid cooking medium, and the steam carries only heat. Whatever vitamins were there to begin with stay there. Carotenoids, the orange pigment together with provitamin A, are fat-soluble and stable anyway. We unlock those at serving time with a little butter or oil.
The flavour becomes more concentrated, not diluted. A carrot boiled in water gives part of its natural taste to the water. We notice this when the cooking water tastes sweet and earthy, that is lost carrot. In the Varoma that layer of flavour stays in the vegetable. The difference is not subtle: anyone can taste it in a direct comparison. That is why a Varoma carrot needs no sugar sprinkled over it and no cream at the table. It is sweeter on its own.
Salt only after cooking, never before. Salt draws water out of vegetables through osmosis. If you salt the raw carrots and then place them in the Varoma, you end up with a flabbier, blander carrot and a small puddle at the bottom of the tray. We scatter the salt over the fully cooked carrots just before serving. A pinch of coarse sea salt or fleur de sel is enough. This keeps the cell structure intact, the carrot firm to the bite, and the seasoning exactly where we want to taste it: on the outside.
Quantities, cuts, and timings that work for us
In this recipe we use 500 g of carrots and 500 g of vegetable stock in the mixing bowl. That gives five servings of 100 g as a side dish. If you are cooking for more people, go up to 1 kg of carrots and spread them between the tray and the insert tray. More than that will not fit cleanly into one Varoma without blocking the steam from circulating evenly.
The cut determines the cooking time. We slice the carrots into rounds about 5 mm thick or cut them into batons about 1 cm on each side. The only rule: all pieces the same size. As soon as one piece is thicker, it will still be hard in the centre when the rest is already tender. That is the most common mistake with Varoma cooking, and it has nothing to do with the Thermomix®. It is down to the knife.
With 5-mm rounds or 1-cm batons, 20 min / Varoma / speed 1 is enough. We use stock rather than plain water in the mixing bowl, because the rising steam carries a hint of savour and that makes the difference between fine and really good. Salt comes afterwards, as mentioned.
Four pitfalls that trip up Varoma carrots
Carrots cut unevenly
When the pieces are different sizes, the small ones are already soft while the large ones are still firm. Our fix: We take the two minutes at the start to cut everything to the same size deliberately. For thin, straight carrots, rounds work well. For thick, curved ones we halve or quarter them lengthways first and then cut into batons. That way there is only one cooking time for everything in the tray.
Carrots salted too early
Salt added before or during cooking draws water out of the carrot and leaves it limp and bland. Our fix: Nothing goes on the carrots inside the Varoma. Salt only goes on once they are on the serving plate or in the bowl, coarsely ground if possible. If you like, add a knob of butter and a few drops of lemon juice at the same time. The fat releases the carotenoids and the acidity lifts the sweetness.
Varoma overloaded, steam cannot get through
If the tray is too full or the carrots are packed so tightly that there are no gaps between the pieces, the top layer barely cooks. Our fix: Only add as much as still leaves visible gaps in several places. For larger quantities, use the insert tray and spread the carrots across two levels. Give everything a quick stir after 10 minutes and the top and bottom will cook evenly.
Too little liquid in the mixing bowl
If there is less than 500 g of liquid in the mixing bowl, the steam cannot flow steadily through the Varoma for 20 minutes and the bowl runs dry. Our fix: We keep 500 g of stock or water as the minimum. The stock can become a sauce, a puree, or the base for rice and couscous cooked in the same step. Nothing is wasted.
Four variations we often have on the table
Carrots and rice in parallel. Instead of stock alone, we put 250 g of rice and 500 g of stock into the mixing bowl, Varoma with carrots on top, 20 min / Varoma / speed 1. Rice done, carrots done, one step. We have described this in more detail in our Varoma guide.
Honey and thyme carrots. After cooking, toss 1 tbsp of butter, 1 tsp of honey, and a few picked thyme leaves through the hot carrots. It tastes like a restaurant side dish and takes 30 seconds.
Carrot and ginger puree. Tip the cooked carrots into the mixing bowl, add a piece of fresh ginger (about 10 g), a splash of the cooking stock, and 20 g of butter, then blend for 30 sec / speed 6. Creamy, no cream, no extra water.
Mixed root vegetable medley. Combine carrots, parsnips, and yellow beetroot, all cut into 1-cm batons. Same time, same speed. It looks like a Sunday roast on the plate.
What we serve with Varoma carrots
Most often the carrots end up as part of a complete meal from the Thermomix®. A combination that works really well is our vegetable platter with rice, where several root vegetables steam in the Varoma at the same time while the rice swells below. If you want something quicker, toss the cooked carrots in a carrot salad dressing and they become a warm starter. And if you want to make the most of the Varoma generally, our guide has more Varoma recipes with rice, fish, and poultry.
Leftovers the next day: chill, reheat, freeze
Stored in a sealed jar or airtight container, the cooked carrots keep for 3 days in the fridge. Let them cool first, then refrigerate. If you put them in while still warm, condensation forms and the carrots go soft. Reheating works best at 5 min / Varoma / speed 1 and they come back as if freshly made.
Also goes well with: mashed potatoes.
Freezing is possible in principle, but we only recommend it in two cases: if the carrots will be turned into a puree or soup afterwards, or if they were sliced thinner than 5 mm. Larger pieces become watery after thawing and lose exactly the firm bite that made us use the Varoma in the first place. Properly portioned carrots keep for 3 months in the freezer.
More side dishes and main courses from the Varoma can be found in our Varoma guide, in the vegetable platter with rice, and in our carrot salad.
