Chilled Carrot and Yogurt Meze

A traditional but timeless Turkish meze with yogurt, garlic, and carrots.

Aug 23, 2025

Carrots, yogurt, garlic, olive oil. Four ingredients, endlessly familiar — but together, they make one of Turkey’s most refreshing meze. The trick is to soften the carrots slowly in oil, coaxing out their sweetness without dulling their color. What you get is a cooling spread, just as welcome with grilled fish as on a table of small plates.

Garlic can go in raw, but for a gentler flavor, sauté it lightly in oil with the carrots, or use a spoonful of garlic confit. For garnish, use what’s at hand — walnuts, fresh mint, or a few pomegranate seeds all work.

Chilled Carrot and Yogurt Mezze with Cumin Oil

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

For the carrots:

3 medium (300 g) carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
1 tbsp (15 ml) extra virgin olive oil
Salt, to taste

For the yogurt:

300 g full-fat strained or Greek-style yogurt
1 small garlic clove, finely grated into a paste
Zest of ½ lemon
Salt, to taste

For the cumin oil:

1 tsp (5 g) whole cumin seeds
2 tbsp (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil

To serve:

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
Cumin oil (to drizzle)

Optional toppings:

Chopped walnuts, fresh dill or mint, Aleppo pepper, extra virgin olive oil

METHOD

Crush the garlic or grate it with a microplane. Peel and grate the carrots.

In a wide pan, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and sauté gently for about a minute, just until soft but not browned. Stir in the grated carrots and cook over medium heat, 10–12 minutes, until they glisten, smell sweet, and are fully softened but not collapsing. Add a little more oil if the pan looks dry. Let cool completely.

In a bowl, whisk the strained yogurt with the extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Season with a bit of salt and black pepper. If you want a brighter flavor, you can add some lemon zest too.

Once the carrots have cooled, fold them into the yogurt. Mix well, taste, and adjust the seasoning. Chill until ready to serve.

For the cumin oil, toast the seeds in a dry pan until fragrant, then stir them into the warm olive oil. Cool before using.

Just before serving, spoon the carrot–yogurt mixture into a shallow bowl. Drizzle with cumin oil, sprinkle with mint, and finish with any optional toppings.

Serve with warm pita as part of a meze spread, or alongside grilled mains as a cooling side.

Kitchen Notes

Keeps up to 2 days in the fridge, covered. The yogurt will loosen slightly over time.
Use garlic confit for a sweeter depth.
Serve alongside grilled lamb, fish, or a simple tomato salad for balance.
Garnish options: fresh herbs in summer, walnuts and Aleppo pepper in winter.