How To Julienne Carrots

If you’ve ever eaten a carrot slaw or carrot salad, then you’ve likely experienced “julienned” carrots. Julienne, a thin, match-like cut, is also known as the “French cut” and is regularly taught to culinary students at French-style cooking schools. But julienning isn’t just for professional restaurant chefs; Marta Rivera Diaz, the chef and author of Sense and Edibility, tells us that “julienned carrots are a busy cook's dream. Not only do they look better in salads and slaws, but their thin size allows them to be cooked quickly in recipes like stir-fries. Cubed or diced carrots take longer to soften and are more difficult to pierce with a fork when served raw.”

We consulted a group of professional chefs who regularly work with julienned carrots to find out exactly how to pull off this cut, how to keep your fingers safe in the process, and how to best use julienned carrots in your cooking.

How To Julienne Carrots

Follow these simple and careful steps to master this technique.

Peel Carrots

While it’s generally acceptable to ignore the peeling step when cutting carrots for stews and slow braises, julienned carrots (which are often served raw) should be peeled first. Also, you’ll want to “start out by choosing the right carrot. Look for a large, uniform and firm carrot, then peel it with a vegetable peeler. This step guarantees that it is clean and free from dirt and impurities,” explains Jeff Shields, chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.

Cut With A Sharp Knife

According to private chef Tiffani Janelle, the two most important kitchen tools to keep with you when julienning carrots are “a sharp knife and a safe cutting surface.” For the safe cutting surface, seek out a cutting board with enough space to maneuver and that has the weight and the grip to stay in one place during the process.

It may seem like a very sharp knife would put you at a higher risk of nicks and cuts, but the opposite is true. The University of Rochester Medical Center says that a dull blade is “actually more dangerous to use than one that is sharp. A dull blade requires more pressure to cut, increasing the chance that the knife will slip with great force behind it.” By contrast, “a sharp knife ‘bites’ the surface more readily.”

The best knife for julienning is “a sharp, non-serrated knife. A chopping knife works well, but is not required. It's important to only use a sharp knife so you can make clean cuts,” explains Hugo Saavedra, executive sous chef of ATRIO Wine Bar & Restaurant at the Conrad Downtown in New York City.

Also, while you’re slicing, be sure to “maintain good knife discipline,” recommends Chad Brown, executive chef of Hunt & Fish Club in New York City. “Knife discipline” involves “using your knuckles as a guard, ensuring that you stand comfortably, and staying focused [on the task].”

Or Cut Using A Mandoline

Julienne cuts are most commonly done with knives only, but other tools can simplify the method. Enter the mandoline. “A mandoline is an amazing tool for precision slicing. It has been my experience that the best way to even think about julienning a carrot or any type of root vegetable is to begin with a mandoline,” says Massachusetts-based private chef and caterer Carlos Montoya. Montoya likes julienning with the mandoline because it “will give you even, thin slices for you to be able to then lay out on your cutting board and then be able to julienne.”

Make Additional Cuts

• Rectangle shapes: After the carrot is peeled and rinsed, “cut off the stem and bottoms and slice off one side at a time so you are left with a rectangular chunk of carrot,” Hugo Saavedra tells us. For a zero-waste angle, “you can slice [the scraps] up and mix them in with the uniform pieces you'll cut later.”
• Chunks for shorter sticks: The length of a julienne “stick” can certainly span the entire length of the carrot, but if you’d rather work with shorter sticks, you can accomplish that easily by “chopping the carrot into chunks that are 2-3 inches long,” says Saavedra.

Slice Carrots Lengthwise

Julienne cuts are, by nature, long and thin. Therefore, once you’ve sectioned your carrot into chunks of the length that you prefer, slice the julienned matchsticks into planks “down the length of the carrot,” says Saavedra. Because you’ve cut the ends off of the carrot chunks, you can do this slicing by propping the carrot on one end and cutting down lengthwise. The thickness of the planks should be “⅛ inch to 1/16 inch”, depending on how narrow you want your completed matchsticks to be.

Stack Planks And Cut Into Sticks

To finish the julienne process, place the planks on top of each other and cut the stacked planks lengthwise into sticks that are "1/8-inch to 1/16-inch" wide, says Saavedra.

Measure Cuts For Consistency

We’ve included a number of specific widths and lengths in these instructions, and you may be wondering just how important it is to abide by those measurements. Saavedra argues that, because “the goal with juliennes is to get them all to a fairly uniform size,” measuring shouldn’t be avoided.

But the ruler-averse home cooks among us will be glad to know that, according to Matt Cockrell, chef of Josephine Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia, experience will allow you to grow out of the measuring phase of julienning. “In culinary school, I had to measure each cut to ensure it was the right size. [I found that] this will help you identify the correct size until it becomes muscle memory,” he says.

Favorite Ways To Cook With Julienne Carrots

Now that you know how to julienne carrots, we’re here to tell you how to use them. Two categories of recipes call for julienned carrots more than any other:

Use For Salads And Slaws

Sam Fore, the Kentucky-based chef and owner of Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites, says that she likes to use julienned carrots “in salads for a textural swap.” The thin matchsticks offer a solid crunch without overwhelming the other textures in a salad, which allows them to integrate in a pleasant and refreshing way. 

Fore also tells us that she enjoys “using [julienned carrots] as a pickled topping for a pulled pork sandwich.” Julienned carrots have long been a staple ingredient for slaws of all stripes, since they absorb dressing well and have a firmer bite to them than other popular slaw ingredients (like cabbage). 

Add julienned carrots to these salad and slaw recipes:

• Creamy Broccoli Slaw
• Quinoa Salad with Carrots and Sugar Snap Peas

Add To Stir-Fry Recipes

The thinner texture of julienned carrots makes them easy and quick to cook through, which is why cooking methods like stir-frying, which relies on high heat and speedy stirring, are an ideal match for this cut.

Although Chef Carlos Montoya tells us that he prefers to use julienned carrots raw in salads and slaws, “if I am going to cook with [julienned carrots], I use them in a stir fry.” To help maintain the crisp bite of the carrots, Montoya adds them to his stir fries at the very end and gives them just enough time to warm up, but not enough to soften. 

Try these stir fry recipes with julienned carrots:

• Pork and Bok Coy Stir-Fry
• Sesame Shrimp Stir-Fry