Easy Roasted Carrots Recipe = Side Dish Perfection! • The Simple Parent (2024)

Roasted Carrots are one of the most versatile vegetable side dishes! You can go savory or you can go sweet. This roasted carrots recipe is all about classic flavor. Do you remember the glazed carrots from your childhood and from holiday meals? They’re perfect for weeknight dinners with the family too!

Whether you call them brown sugar carrots, carmelized carrots, or maple glazed carrots, you’ll call these delicious! Plus, they’re so simple to make! Use them for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Thursday night dinner!

SWEET ROASTED CARROTS

Carrot side dishes are often seen at the holidays, but they pair so well with a variety of main courses that I started serving them as part of our weekly meals too! I’m a huge fan of cooked carrots so I enjoy making them different ways.

When I am cooking for the holidays, I usually make my classic slow cooker carrots. While they cook, I can work on other dishes I’m in charge of making. On weeknights, I don’t often reach for my Crockpot for a side dish. If I’m breaking out the slow cooker, it’s going to be a one-pot meal night!

So oven baked carrots are a great solution. I get the brown sugar cinnamon carrots I love and still have a fairly convenient recipe going.

HOW TO COOK CARROTS

There are a lot of different ways to cook carrots. If you’re interested in trying some different methods, we’ve got you covered! Try Maple Glazed Carrots for a sweet recipe or Buttery Cooked Carrots for more savory flavor!

Most of my carrot recipes lean towards the sweet side of things and use ingredients like brown sugar, honey, and maple syrup. But you’ll find some garlic thrown in there as well!

For this recipe, you cook the carrots in the oven at 425°F to roast them. It’s easy to do and you can work on the rest of the meal while they bake!

DO YOU PEEL CARROTS BEFORE ROASTING?

The truth is you don’t have to peel carrots unless you want to do it. Some people don’t like the texture or the taste of carrot skin, so most people do peel them. If you peel them and have never tried a Y-shaped Peeler, I highly recommend trying one! You can get a Y Vegetable Peeler here!

I often use baby carrots to avoid peeling and doing a lot of chopping. But if you use whole carrots for this recipe (and you can!) then it’s up to you if you want to peel the carrots before roasting them.

HOW DO YOU CUT CARROTS FOR ROASTING?

If you’re not using baby carrots, I suggest you cut your whole carrots before roasting them with this recipe. There are a few options.

You can slice the carrots. If you slice them, I recommend slicing them into slices that are about 1-2 inches thick. You’ll want them all to be similar in size so you get more even cooking.

You can also chop them into chunks or slice them length-wise to make carrot sticks. No matter how you cut them, make sure the pieces are all about the same size.

If you’re using baby carrots but would like more bite-size carrots to serve, you can cut them in half too before roasting in the oven.

HOW TO MAKE BROWN SUGAR ROASTED CARROTS

To get started, prep your carrots if you’re not using baby carrots. Then heat your oven and line your baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. You don’t have to do this, but it really helps make cleaning up easier when you’re glazing carrots.

Then mix all of the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Put the carrots in a larger bowl and once you’ve mixed your glaze, pour it over the carrots. Stir them around to get them coated with the glaze.

Spread the glazed carrots on the baking pan in a single layer and put them in the oven to roast! Cook the carrots for about 20 minutes or until they reach the desired softness and tenderness. I recommend flipping them over about halfway through the cooking time.

You can garnish them with parsley flakes and serve them with your favorite main dish!

SUGGESTED MAIN DISH RECIPES: Oven Roasted Lemon Pepper Chicken, “Fried” Chicken Legs, Crockpot Turkey Breast