Last Updated on November 15, 2025
Vegan Kinpira Carrot is a variation of Japanese dish called kinpira gobo (sautéed burdock root).
What’s Kinpira?
Kinpira is a type of Japanese family style dish. It’s lightly sauteed root veggies such as:
- Burdock root
- Carrot
- Lotus root
The most common kinpira dish would be with burdock root but you can also make it with more accessible root veggie like carrot!
Flavor profile of kinpira is sweet and savory. The typical ingredients for kinpira are:
- Soy sauce
- Mirin
- Sugar
- Sake
- Hot chili peppers
I make similar dishes all the time but in this particular recipe, I made it a little healthier with no sugar!
Kinpira itself is traditionally and naturally vegan (unless you flavor it with fish dashi stock). I use most of the typical ingredients mentioned above plus a little more to give more flavor in depth.
How to Serve
Kinpira would be a perfect accompaniment for a bowl of Japanese rice or sake. You could make it in a large batch and use it as one of the components of a healthy bowl.
Just like most traditional Japanese dishes, you can serve Vegan Kinpira Carrot warm, room temperature, or cold.
Ingredients for Vegan Kinpira Carrot
To make this Vegan Kinpira Carrot recipe, you would need the ingredients listed below.
- Carrot
- Avocado oil
- Soy sauce
- Mirin
- Sea salt
- Rice vinegar
- Toasted sesame oil
- Toasted sesame seeds (optional)
- Shichimi pepper (optional)
Lately, I’ve been making more health-conscious food so I completely skipped sugar. But mirin would add a touch of sweetness to the dish so it comes out perfectly fine to be a sweet & savory flavored dish.
Rice vinegar, in my opinion, is not a must have ingredient to make kinpira. However, a splash of vinegar binds all the flavor together and gives a little edge to the dish.
How to make Vegan Kinpira Carrot
1. Heat up a frying pan at medium high heat. Pour avocado oil and add carrots.
Sauté for 3-4 minutes until carrots are slightly tender but still a little crispy.
2. Next, add soy sauce, mirin, and sea salt. sauté for 2 minutes or so until the liquid is evaporated.
3. Add rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil. Give a quick stir.
4. To serve, sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and shichimi pepper (optional).
Vegan Kinpira Carrot
Ingredients
- 1 pound carrots peeled (or unpeeled) and julienned
- 2 tsp avocado oil or any neutral oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1/4 tsp sea salt adjust to taste
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds optional
- Shichimi pepper optional
Instructions
- Heat up a frying pan at medium high heat. Pour avocado oil and add carrots. Sauté for 3-4 minutes until carrots are slightly tender but still a little crispy.
- Next, add soy sauce, mirin, and sea salt. sauté for 2 minutes or so until the liquid is evaporated.
- Add rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil. Give a quick stir.
- To serve, sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and shichimi pepper (optional).
Notes
Choice of Cooking Oil
- I use avocado oil. Any neutral flavor oil would work for the recipe
Substitution
- Use tamari as a substitute for soy sauce
- Use crushed red pepper flakes as a substitute for shichimi pepper
Serving Temperature
- You can serve the dish warm, room temperature, or cold
