Golden Brown Garlic Butter Roasted Carrots Recipe | Little Spice Jar (2024)

Garlic Butter Roasted Carrots are tossed in a homemade honey garlic butter sauce and roasted until golden and delicious. Serve with just about any kind of protein you like. This is my favorite way to make roasted carrots!

GOLDEN DELICIOUSNESS.

Garlic butter roasted carrots will go flying off the table! They are the perfect side dish!

Glazed with a simple yet irresistible garlic honey butter sauce that pairs well with just about any kind of protein you like. I love serving it up with my homemade roasted chicken for weeknight dinners but also with a holiday turkey. That makes these roasted carrots ideal for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

And the best part is that this recipe only requires a handful of simple ingredients – most of which I’m willing to bet you’ve already got in the pantry or refrigerator. If you need a last-minute side dish for the holidays, these are quick, easy, and economical to make for a large crowd. And how good would garlic butter roasted carrots be at Easter?

I would add these to any and all holiday menus stat.

What do you need to make garlic butter roasted carrots?

• Carrots:You can use rainbow carrots (tri-colored carrots) or regular orange carrots for this recipe. Feel free to peel the carrots, or if you would like to cook them peel-on, I suggest running the carrots under cold water and giving them a good scrub. Dry the carrots on a paper towel. You don’t want all that added moisture in the garlic butter sauce! Baby carrots will work, too; just keep a close eye on them, as they may be done a little sooner.
• Butter:I prefer to use salted butter for this recipe (since we’ll be adding salt anyway!) I usually buy organic salted butter from Costco and use that in both baking and cooking recipes. A recipe is rarely made without salt, and salted butter works well in just about everything! Plant-based butter would work well for this recipe too.
• Minced Garlic:I like to use fresh garlic cloves and run it through my garlic press. You could also use store-bought minced garlic that comes in a jar.
• Honey:Use any honey you like -wildflower, clover, or even orange blossom! All work well here. For those who can’t have honey, you could swap it for maple syrup instead.
• Smoked paprika:This is that special little ingredient that sets this recipe apart from all the other garlic butter carrot recipes out there. Though such a small quantity, the smoked paprika adds a nice smoky little flavor to the background. I use only a 1/4 teaspoon, but you could certainly double the quantity if you want the smoky flavor to be more pronounced.
• Chopped parsley:the fresh parsley gives the carrots a little color and brightens up the flavor. We add this on just before serving. Feel free to sprinkle in a little fresh thyme as well.

How to make the best garlic butter roasted carrots:

1. Prep the carrots.Peel the carrots, or don’t! You can run them under cold running water and then wipe them dry on paper towels. Cut the carrots into thirds or fourths if they are huge.
2. Make the garlic butter.Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 425ºF. You want to use a large, rimmed baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray so that nothing sticks. In a saute pan, melt butter. Then, add the minced garlic and let it cook until it’s fragrant. Season the garlic butter sauce with honey, smoked paprika, and a generous pinch of kosher salt and black pepper. Stir etc. combine. Then, add the carrots and toss them in the garlic butter sauce to glaze.
3. Roast the carrots.Then, transfer the carrots using tongs to the prepared baking sheet. You want to keep the sauce in the skillet. We’ll use it again, so don’t discard it! Roast the carrots for 20 minutes to really bring out their natural sweetness. While the carrots are roasting, pop the saute pan back on the heat setting and let the sauce reduce for 2 minutes. This will concentrate the flavors a bit more. Then drizzle the sauce over the carrots (or pop the carrots into the saute pan if your pan is oven-safe.) Pop the carrots back in the oven for another 5 minutes so the glaze bubbles and cooks with the carrots without burning! Toss the parsley on the carrots when ready to serve.

Other vegetable sides to serve for Easter:

• Crunchy Asparagus Orzo Salad with Lemon Shallot Dressing
• Bubbly Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole
• The Best Garlic Butter Brussels Sprouts
• How to Make Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Seriously Amazing Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

originally published on Nov 2, 2020 (last updated Mar 24, 2024)

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