Honey roasted carrots are a beautiful and simple side dish that is perfect for Easter, or for an everyday dinner. With four simple ingredients, they are sweet, buttery and delicious!
Roasting vegetables is such a great way to concentrate their flavors, while getting those delicious golden caramelized bits. Our favorite roasted vegetables include balsamic roasted brussels sprouts, maple cinnamon roasted butternut squash, and these honey roasted carrots!
Whether you serve them for a holiday meal, or for a weeknight dinner, these honey roasted carrots are going to be loved by all!
Simple to prepare, they are buttery, slightly sweet, and perfect served with a variety of main dishes including slow cooker ham or a simple baked chicken breast.
Reasons you'll โก honey roasted carrots
- they are sweet, buttery, and pretty to look at
- they are simple to prepare with just four simple ingredients
- you can make them ahead and reheat them
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You can use any carrots
For this meal, I used farmer's market carrots that are smaller and shorter than standard grocery store carrots. You can also use grocery store carrots, however you're going to want to prep them differently.
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Farmer's market carrots
For this smaller variety, trim off the green tops (you can reserve them to make pesto or use in bone broth) and scrub the carrots well. If you are cooking a holiday meal, these carrots are visually so beautiful on the table, and also have a ton of flavor.
Grocery store carrots
For these larger carrots, they are going to take forever to roast through in the oven. You'll want to either slice them in half lengthwise, or cut them into uniform 1 ยฝ inch pieces. You could even use baby carrots, and save yourself time in washing and chopping them!
Roasting the carrots
Roasting carrots concentrates their flavors, which brings out a buttery and sweet flavor. For this recipe, we are roasting in a 425ยฐF oven for around 45 minutes, but the exact time will depend on the size of your carrots.
Don't overcrowd
I recommend spacing out the carrots as much as you can, which helps them roast rather than stem. If you are cooking for a crowd, you'll want to use 2 baking sheets.
Flip halfway
To ensure the carrots cook all the way through evenly, it's important to flip the carrots over after 20 minutes of roasting. At this point, you should start to see some caramelization and browning of the carrots.
Brush during the last 5 minutes
The finishing touch to these honey roasted carrots is to brush with additional honey mixture during the last five minutes. As it cooks, it thickens into a glaze, helping to add even more flavor to the carrots.
Variations
You could certainly get creative with these carrots, adding your own twist to them! Here are some suggestions:
- herbs- try adding some dried thyme leaves, rosemary
- aromatics- minced garlic would add a savory dimension
- spicy- try adding harissa paste or sriracha
- tangy- add in some balsamic vinegar or serve with balsamic reduction
Making them ahead
I am happy to report that you can roast these carrots through ahead, store, and reheat. Here are my tips:
- they are best served fresh, but still really good reheated
- cool and store for up to 24 hours (after that they aren't as good)
- reheat in a covered pan at 350ยฐF for 20 minutes. Brush on some extra honey during the last 10 minutes for bonus points!
More healthy holiday side dishes
- Instant Pot Wild Rice Pilaf
- Creamy Parmesan Instant Pot Mashed Cauliflower
- Instant Pot Carrots with Honey Glaze
- Whole Roasted Cauliflower
- Rosemary Roasted Root Vegetables
- Stuffed Acorn Squash with Mushrooms and Cranberries
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Honey Roasted Carrots (4 ingredients)
Ingredients
- 2 lb carrots stems removed; see note 1
- ยผ cup olive oil
- ยผ cup honey
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425ยฐF.
- Stir together the olive oil and honey. Arrange carrots on two large sheet pans and brush with the olive oil/honey mixture. Season with salt & pepper.
- Roast for 20 minutes, then flip the carrots over using tongs. Return to the oven for another 15-25 minutes, until edges begin to caramelize and carrots are cooked through.
- Brush with reserved honey/olive oil during the last few minutes of cooking.
To make ahead:
- Allow to cool and refrigerate up to 24 hours.
- Brush with more olive oil & honey, then re-heat (covered) at 350ยฐF for 15-20 minutes, until heated through.ย ย
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Tips:
- herbsโ try adding some dried thyme leaves, rosemary
- aromaticsโ minced garlic would add a savory dimension
- spicyโ try adding harissa paste or sriracha
- tangyโ add in some balsamic vinegar or serve withย balsamic reduction
Nutrition Information
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Elayne Pedley says
Going to experiment with these later today. Hoping to get a stellar side dish to go with Honey Baked ham, Barefoot Contessa's mac and cheese, salad, rolls. Whenever I roast veggies, they smoke terribly and my smoke alarm goes off. This can't happen with guests at Christmas! So I'm hoping to do the roasting earlier in the day, and successfully reheat later in the oven with the mac and cheese and ham for 30 minutes. Will try it with rainbow carrots, and maybe add some chopped pecans. What do you think? Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Denise says
Hi Elayne, apologies for my late reply! I hope you enjoyed the carrots!
Shannon says
I did carrots for Thanksgiving. I used maple syrup instead of honey. Still very tasty and everyone gobbled them up. I was actually surprised.
Denise says
Hi Shannon! I'm so happy to hear this! Thank you for reporting back ๐
Kristin says
Hi! Looks amazing! Iโd like to reheat these in a serving dish. Would you reheat them covered or uncovered? Thanks!
Denise says
Hi Kristin, my apologies, I actually re-heated them covered. I have updated the recipe card. Sorry for the confusion!
Marsha says
I bought rainbow baby carrots - Iโm just thinking that Iโll just have to cook them a little shorter time - any thoughts??
Denise says
Hi Marsha, I would think you'd need to bake them for less time but I'm not sure how long. If you try it, I'd love to hear how it works out for you!
Danielle says
Do you peel the carrots first?
Denise says
I didn't peel mine because they were the farmer's market type that don't have a thick skin. You could do it either way!
Regina says
These are GORGEOUS looking carrots! I love that this is a make-ahead recipe. Those are a life saver for holiday dinners especially
Denise says
Thank you, Regina! <3
Kim Beaulieu says
I freaking love roasted carrots, especially rainbow carrots!! This looks amazing.
Denise says
Thanks so much, Kim! I love them too <3