Carrot and Cheddar Bites
These cheesy little carrot and cheddar bites are the perfect finger food for a vegetarian party buffet – or just a mid-afternoon snack!
Sometimes it’s nice to cook something fancy, to make you feel super grown up and posh. Other times… party food is where it’s at. Eating like a toddler at a birthday party can be so satisfying – a few of these carrot and cheddar bites dipped in ketchup makes the best snack.
Bonus points if you serve them on a cocktail stick with a stripy paper napkin.
Cheesy carrot bites
These carrot and cheddar bites are brilliant. Little bites that are crispy on the outside, and soft and cheesy in the middle – the perfect combination.
The carrot gives them a slight sweetness, and having a veggie in there makes you feel a little better about eating party food – but they still remain a fun, cheesy treat.
They’re easy to make, utterly delicious, and very toddler-friendly!
Simple recipe
As always, the recipe for these cheesy bites is incredibly straightforward. Just mix some breadcrumbs, grated carrot, and grated cheese in a large bowl.
You can add whatever additional flavourings you fancy. I added a bit of my beloved smoked paprika (I will post a recipe without it one day, I promise), but you could use whatever ground spices you like – a bit of chilli powder if you’d like some heat, some garam masala to add an Indian vibe, dried herbs… whatever you fancy.
Then, just crack in a couple of eggs to help hold everything together.
Baked carrot bites
Form the cheesy carrot mixture into little balls, and lay them out on a baking tray.
The balls are baked in the oven, so that’s the entirety of the hands-on work done. They really are quick to prepare – grating the cheese and carrot is the job that takes the longest, and even that only takes a couple of minutes!
Just pop the carrot balls in the oven until they’re golden brown and crispy, and you’re all done!
How should I serve these carrot and cheddar bites?
These carrot and cheddar bites would be perfect served up as finger food at a party – either for kids, or grown ups (just like a good outfit, you can dress them up or down!).
Alternatively, if you don’t have any parties coming up, they’re great nibbled on their own as a snack. I think they’re best eaten warm, but they’re totally yummy eaten cold too.
We actually had ours for dinner, served on top of a big salad (and I don’t just mean a pile of lettuce – I’m talking lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, pickled onions, feta cheese, creamy Caesar dressing… the works). I just plonked a few carrot bites right on top of each bowl – they were just the thing to turn a simple salad into a really irresistible dinner.
Other vegetarian party food ideas
One item on a buffet table isn’t much of a party, so here are a few more vegetarian party food ideas to serve alongside your carrot and cheese bites:
- vegetable sticks and some kind of vegetarian dip or hummus
- vegetarian samosas
- coleslaw
- beetroot nuggets or any other kind of breaded veggie
- lentil sausage rolls
- bruschetta or crostini
- slices of vegetarian tart or quiche
- veggie-based salads
- pasta salad / potato salad
- bowls of crisps (chips)
- bowls of spicy nuts
- crackers or breadsticks
Stick all of that on a table next to your cheesy carrot bites, and you’ve got yourself an amazing vegetarian buffet!
Carrot and Cheddar Bites
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 100 g bread (~ 2 medium slices)
- 1 large carrot, grated (~ 185g / ~ 6 1/2 oz)
- 100 g cheddar cheese, grated (~ 1 cup when grated)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 2 eggs
- Oil, for greasing the tray
Instructions
- Use a food processor to blitz the bread into breadcrumbs (or just crumble it finely if you don’t have a food processor).
- Add the breadcrumbs to a mixing bowl, along with the grated carrot and grated cheese. Mix to combine.
- Add the remaining ingredients (apart from the oil), and mix thoroughly.
- Use clean hands to shape the mixture into balls – I ended up with 15 balls in total. Place them on a well oiled baking tray, and bake at 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F) for around 30 minutes, or until crispy and slightly browned.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
As a HUGE fan of these, I decided to try and freeze them to see what happened. I froze a small bag of 4 (I didnt want to sacrifice more if it didnt work!) I defrosted in the fridge overnight. I cut one in half, looks, smells and feels the same. Tasted the same too, perhaps a LITTLE drier, but with a dip wouldnt be an issue. I reheated in the oven, and again, I would say its like a <10% reduction/dryness, not a huge amount. I would make double batches and freeze some in the future
Thanks so much for the feedback, that’s so useful! Great to know they’re still good after being frozen :)
Hi ,
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe
love how the preparation is quick and easy
and it tastes yummy
but is there any way i can replace eggs ?
like maybe cornstarch or flour
Hmm I’m not sure to be honest, and I wouldn’t like to advise without having the ingredients in front of me. I think you’d need some sort of egg replacer, like a flax egg maybe?
I have just made these, they are AMAZING. These need to come with a warning just how delicious they are! I must have made mine slightly smaller as I got a few more than the recipe states, hardly an issue! i chopped a spring onion and added it to the last little bit of mix, yes it was lovely, but this recipe needs no tweaks or additions, its perfect as it is. These are going to be a firm favourite! I emailed my daughter my pictures, she is already in the kitchen making breadcrumbs! Thank you, i love these already!
Ahhh what a lovely comment, thank you so much! You’ve made my day. I’m so glad you enjoyed them :)
My daughter video called me as she was taking them out of the oven. My Son In Law was walking through the door from work. Between them, they finished the lot! I have half of Scotland making these today…I will work on the other half tomorrow!
Haha maybe you should be on commission ;)
Maybe YOU should, I have of course given credit and pointed them all to this post!
Made these for dinner with a salad and some pitta – they can definitely double as a meal too, they were delicious!
Thanks Hannah, glad you enjoyed them! :)
Delicious!!And so quick and easy, thank you so much for this lovely recipe!Added some dried chopped chives, very tasty.
Thanks Soly! :)
Finally got around to making these yesterday, yum yum yum! Added two spring onions and some chilli powder and was delicious. We ate half yesterday and had rest today,some heated in microwave and some cold cos we were too hungry/impatient to wait. Big hit here with everyone!
Yay so glad you enjoyed them Claire, thanks for your lovely comment! :)
can i make these ahead of time and freeze them?
I’ve never tried, sorry! I always think it’s worth a go though :)
I loved making these! So easy and fun! I tried experimenting with some chives and onion that I had left over and my little green batch came out quite tasty too! My kids loved them too! Thanks!
Thanks Maria, glad you liked them! :)
These are pretty darn good!
Terrific recipe Becca!! I made them… they are a little more dense than yours but were nonetheless, DELICIOUS!!
Another great looking recipe that I have never seen before! I Pinned it!
Have a Super Saturday!
Diane Roark