These Honey Brown Sugar Roasted Carrots are an easy and delicious side dish. They’re tossed in a simple glaze, roasted until tender, and topped with fresh thyme for visual appeal.
Serve these with your next holiday dinner, they’re great for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
Don’t get me wrong, plain ole roasted carrots are good… but they’re not great. When you add a little brown sugar, honey, and herbs, it really brings out the natural sweetness and flavors of the carrots.
The beauty of this recipe is its simplicity. You’re literally tossing carrots in a glaze and throwing them in the oven. In minutes, basic carrots transform into a side dish that looks and tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen.
Craving more carrot-inspired recipes? Check out my Quick Pickled Carrots, Banana Carrot Muffins, this irresistible Carrot Snack Cake, or hearty Vegetable Orzo Soup.
Roasted Carrots Ingredients
Here’s everything you will need to make these Honey Brown Sugar Roasted Carrots, plus a few important notes.
- Carrots: Grab a bag of whole carrots, orange or tri-colored. You’ll want to wash, peel, and cut them into 1/2″ diagonal chunks. The more uniform the cuts the better, because they will evenly cook.
- Butter: I recommend unsalted butter because you can easily control the salt content. But, if all you have is salted you can use that too, just omit the added salt or add less of it. Also, you can swap the butter for all extra virgin olive oil if you’re wanting to lighten this dish up a bit.
- Oil: Use extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil, they have a high smoke point and are healthier than other oils. Feel free to swap this for all butter if you’re wanting a more rich and buttery flavor to these carrots.
- Brown Sugar: Light or dark is fine, and you’ll want to lightly pack it when measuring.
- Honey: I recommend local honey because it offers unique health benefits you can’t find in commercially processed honey.
- Seasonings: We use a combination of salt, black pepper, and fresh thyme to really make the flavors pop.
How to Make Roasted Carrots
1. Prepare the carrots for roasting. In a small bowl whisk together the melted butter, olive oil, brown sugar, honey, salt, and black pepper. Add the cut carrots to a baking dish and top with honey brown sugar sauce.
2. Roast the carrots and garnish. Bake carrots until fork tender and caramelized. Top with fresh thyme and serve warm.
Find the complete recipe instructions with measurements below.
Storage Information
These Honey Brown Sugar Roasted Carrots are best hot out of the oven. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container and in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Easily reheat them in the microwave or oven at 350°F.
What To Serve With Roasted Carrots
This is a very versatile side dish. The honey and brown sugar caramelized flavors pairs beautifully with roasted turkey, honey-glazed ham, even prime rib or Smoked Pork Butt. No matter what you serve these with, they add a delightful touch to boring ole carrots.
Here are a few suggestions from my recipe index, Ham and Cheese Sliders, French Onion Chicken Bake, Baked Cajun Chicken Thighs, Fish Sliders, Greek Yogurt Chicken Bake, or this pan-fried Garlic Chicken.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
More Vegetable Side Dishes
If you love these Brown Sugar Roasted Carrots, try another one of my oven roasted vegetable side dishes.
Honey Brown Sugar Roasted Carrots
EQUIPMENT
- 13×9 baking dish - glass
INGREDIENTS
- 2 pounds carrots - washed, peeled, and cut in 1/2" diagonals *
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter - melted
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar - lightly packed
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon thyme - fresh, chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 °F. Add diagonal cut carrots to a 13×9 baking dish, set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, olive oil, brown sugar, honey, salt and black pepper. Pour it over the carrots and toss together.
- Roast carrots for 20 to 40 minutes (depending on size), stirring every 10 minutes, until fork tender and caramelized.
- Garnish with fresh thyme and serve.
RECIPE NOTES
STORING INFORMATION
- Refrigerated, in an airtight container, for up to 4 days. Reheat in microwave or oven at 350°F.
Metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
