Raw carrot blended with milk, sugar and vanilla and put through a sieve. Five minutes, and the milk is what makes it Colombian rather than a health-food juice.
Milk, not water
This is the decision that defines the drink. Carrot juice made with water is thin, earthy and tastes of raw carrot. Made with milk it becomes something closer to a milkshake: rounder, sweeter and much easier to drink.
It is the same logic as juice in milk across Colombia, where you are asked en agua o en leche for almost any fruit.
Chop it small
Raw carrot is dense and hard, and this is where the drink goes gritty. A blender thrown large chunks will bounce them around the jug and leave shreds however long it runs.
Small pieces break down properly. It costs a minute with a knife and it is the difference between smooth and sandy.
Strain it
Carrot fibre does not break down the way citrus pulp does, and an unstrained carrot drink is closer to a purée. The sieve takes out what the blender could not, and there is more of it than you would expect.
Taste before the sugar
Carrots are sweet, particularly the thick ones sold in winter, and blended with milk and vanilla they often need nothing at all. Add the sugar at the end and only if it is short.
Vanilla is doing more than it seems
Half a teaspoon in two glasses is not enough to taste as vanilla. What it does is round off the raw carrot note, in the same way it rounds off the eggy edge in custard, and leaving it out makes a noticeably more vegetal drink.
More juices
- Beet juice — the other root, also raw.
- Blackberry juice — in water or in milk.
- Apple juice — blended and strained.
- Colombian fruit — and the water or milk question.
Carrot Juice FAQ
Milk, as written, which is the Colombian way and turns it into something closer to a milkshake. Water gives a thinner, earthier drink that tastes much more of raw carrot. Both are drunk there, and you get asked which you want.
The pieces were too big. Raw carrot is dense and a blender cannot break down large chunks properly. Chop it small before it goes in, and strain afterwards regardless.
If you want a drink rather than a purée, yes. Carrot fibre does not break down like citrus pulp, and there is more left in the sieve than most people expect.
Taste first: carrots are sweet, and with milk and vanilla the drink often needs none. Add it at the end and only if it falls short.
Half a teaspoon is not enough to taste as vanilla, but it rounds off the raw carrot note in the same way it softens the eggy edge of a custard. Leaving it out gives a noticeably more vegetal drink.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 medium carrots (raw, peeled and chopped small)
- 2 glasses milk (about 400 ml; water works but gives a thinner drink)
- Sugar, to taste (carrots are already sweet, so taste first)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Notas
Instructions
- Wash and peel the carrots, then chop them into small pieces so the blender can break them down.
- Put them in the blender with the sugar, the vanilla extract and the milk.
- Blend for a few seconds, until everything is combined.
- Strain the mixture to take out the carrot pulp, and serve.
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