Roasted Carrots in Oven
This Roasted Carrots recipe is a healthy, delicious, shockingly addictive side perfect for every meal from weeknight dinner to Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas! The Roasted Carrots are sweet, savory and tangy, glazed in a masterful herbaceous balsamic honey sauce then roasted to caramelized tender perfection. Best of all, these Balsamic Roasted Carrots taste gourmet but can be prepped in minutes with only ONE bowl to clean. Serve them alongside your favorite chicken and gravy, beef and noodles or pork tenderloin, for a low maintenance, high reward dinner everyone will swoon over.
Servings 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds thin/young carrots peeled, NOT baby-CUT carrots (see notes)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
- 2 tablespoons honey, divided
- 3/4 tsp EACH salt, garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp EACH dried thyme, rosemary (crushed), dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp EACH paprika, onion powder, pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Add carrots and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil until evenly coated. Spread into an even layer without overlapping. Bake for 20 minutes. Meanwhile:
- In a small bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon honey, and all seasonings.
- After 20 minutes, remove the carrots from the oven. Pour sauce over carrots and toss until evenly coated. Spread back int an even layer. Bake an additional 15-25 minutes or until for tender. (Heirloom carrot varieties will roast in as little as 30 minutes total, but most carrots are denser and typically require 35 to 45 minutes total. Fresh carrots will require more time, older carrots will require less time.)
- Remove from the oven. Whisk together 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon honey and pour over carrots; stir to evenly coat. Taste and add an extra drizzle of honey if you like them sweeter. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.
Video
Notes
- Baby Carrots: Baby carrots are not to be confused with flavorless, not recommended baby-cut carrots, which are small chunks of coreless carrots. True baby carrots are young, thin, carrots (as pictured) harvested before reaching maturity and sold at that smaller size. True baby carrots are often found in the organic section of your grocery store.
- Carrot options: That being said, you can use any carrots for this recipe! If you want to use larger carrots, cut them into thirds then cut their thick part in half lengthwise to create similar-sized carrot chunks. If using smaller carrots, you can leave them whole. Take note that generic carrots are often heirloom carrots and may take less time took. Carrots are done when they are fork tender or roast longer for more caramelization.
Make Ahead
Leftover carrots are delicious reheated or you can prep some of the recipe ahead of time. Here are some options:- Peel, rinse and dry carrots; refrigerate until ready to bake.
- Go one step further and line the cleaned carrots on a greased, foil lined baking sheet and toss the carrots with olive oil, cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.
- Whisk the balsamic sauce ingredients together and store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to three days.
- Bake the carrots for 20 minutes, toss with sauce, let cool, cover and refrigerate. When ready to serve, pop back in the oven and bake until tender. Don’t forget to finish with the extra honey and balsamic!
How to store and reheat
- To Store: Store roasted carrots in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- To Reheat in the Microwave: Microwave at 30 second intervals until warmed through.
- To Reheat in the Oven: Arrange carrots in a single layer on a lightly greased, foil lined baking sheet. Reheat at 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes, or just until warmed through.
- To Reheat on the Stove: Heat a light drizzle of olive oil and a couple tablespoons of water in a nonstick skillet. Add carrots, cover and heat over medium-low until warmed though, stirring and replacing the lid occasionally.