Honey Roasted Carrots

Published April 20, 2021. Updated July 13, 2021

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Roasted Carrots – tender baked carrots with a refreshing and welcome hint of honey, a splash of vinegar to offer tang and balance sweetness, and fresh herbs dotted throughout to add one more layer of flavor. It’s one of the best ways to prepare fresh carrots!Photo: Roasted carrots in a white serving bowl. Carrots are garnished with parsley with a bunch in the background. Bowl is resting on a wooden platter and a grey cloth.

Flavorful Roasted Carrots

You can never have too many easy side dish recipes, especially when they are this delicious!

These roasted carrots have a highlight of sweet, a lightly caramelized and browned flavor, a nice complimentary herb flavor.

Roasting carrots just brings the perfect tempting, savory depth to them. That’s right – a tempting vegetable!

They make a delicious pairing to just about any main dish. And they’re a great way to get the kids to eat their veggies, that fair splash of honey does the trick.

Roasting vegetables is usually my favorite way to cook most vegetables and these carrots fall right in line with that as well. You’ll never want boiled carrots again!

It’s a breeze to prepare these. And here you could even cheat when you’re in a rush and just use the baby carrots from the store if you want to skip the peeling and chopping step.

Photo: Shows carrots, parsley, apple cider vinegar, honey, thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper. These are ingredients used to make roasted carrots.

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Honey Roasted Carrots

  • Carrots: Be sure to follow notes about cutting to proper sizes. Thick carrots, or at least their thicker portions need to be halved.
  • Honey: You can adjust to taste. If you’d prefer you can even skip the honey and vinegar.
  • Apple cider vinegar: In a pinch another type of vinegar would work like red or white wine vinegar.
  • Parsley and thyme: I like to use fresh herbs but if you don’t have them on hand just use 1/3 the original amount of dried.
  • Salt and pepper: Season to taste.

Photo: Collage of four images showing steps to preparing carrots for roasting on a baking sheet.

How to Roast Carrots

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Place carrots in a mound on a 18 by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and toss to evenly coat. Spread into an even layer.
  3. Roast in preheated oven 20 minutes then remove from oven.
  4. In a small bowl stir together honey and apple cider vinegar. Drizzle carrots with honey mixture and toss well to evenly coat.
  5. Return to oven and roast about 10 to 20 minutes longer until tender. For light browning broiler near broiler element for a minute or two at the end.
  6. Remove from oven, toss again and sprinkle with fresh parsley and thyme. Serve warm.

How long to roast carrots?

  • At 400 degrees it takes about 30 – 40 minutes to roast carrots that have been cut into chunks (which is what we are doing here).
  • Whole carrots (with a medium thickness) can take about 40 – 60 minutes to roast to tenderness.

Can I use frozen carrots?

  • No don’t use frozen carrots here.
  • Whenever roasting a vegetable start with fresh vegetables.
  • Frozen will have add moisture and are blanched and therefor already somewhat soft.

Photo: Roasted carrots shown from the side on a dark baking sheet.

Tips

  • Use a dark baking sheet for if you want more browning and/or broil near the end of baking. We use a whopping 3 pounds of carrots here so they are a little crowded and don’t have a lot of room for steam to escape and therefor brown without a little help.
  • Cut carrots as even in size as possible so they finish up about the same time. It’s a little tricky here with those tiny root ends but aim for approximately the same size.
  • Toss once throughout baking for even cooking. The outer edges of a baking sheet cook hotter than the center.

Roasted Carrots Variations

  • Try with other herbs such as some mint or dill in place of the thyme.
  • Use lemon or lime in place of the vinegar.
  • Season with spices such as a curry blend, garam masala, or even a cajun or chili seasoning.
  • Skip the honey and vinegar and halfway through cooking toss with 1/2 cup grated parmesan and 1 Tbsp minced garlic instead.
  • Though whole large carrots are have the best flavor, ready-to-go baby cut carrots will work as well in a pinch as long as they aren’t thin.

Photo: Overhead angle of roasted carrots in a serving bowl set over a wooden platter.

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Photo: Roasted carrots in a white serving bowl. Carrots are garnished with parsley with a bunch in the background. Bowl is resting on a wooden platter and a grey cloth.
4.82 from 11 votes

Roasted Carrots {with Honey}

An easy and flavorful way to cook carrots! Roasting them adds great flavor and the honey and vinegar makes them extra delicious. The perfect side dish all ages will love!
Servings: 8
Prep15 minutes
Cook40 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Place carrots in a mound on a 18 by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and toss to evenly coat. Spread into an even layer.
  • Roast in preheated oven 20 minutes then remove from oven.
  • In a small bowl stir together honey and apple cider vinegar. Drizzle carrots with honey mixture and toss well to evenly coat.
  • Return to oven and roast until tender, about 10 to 20 minutes longer. For light browning broiler near broiler element for a minute or two at the end.
  • Remove from oven, toss again and sprinkle with fresh parsley and thyme. Serve warm.

Notes

*Thicker carrots are preferred. If thin reduce roasting time as needed.
Nutrition Facts
Roasted Carrots {with Honey}
Amount Per Serving
Calories 141 Calories from Fat 45
% Daily Value*
Fat 5g8%
Sodium 118mg5%
Potassium 556mg16%
Carbohydrates 23g8%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 14g16%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 28560IU571%
Vitamin C 13mg16%
Calcium 61mg6%
Iron 0.8mg4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.
Photos updated 4/20/21.

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34 Comments

  • Sandra

    We have these frequently. I had never had roasted vegetables other then in pot roast, etc. until just recently. Boy had we missed out. These are absolutely delicious. For our small family, we can easily go through a 5 lb. bag of carrots a week. Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe.

  • David Carey

    This was good but not excellent. I added a teaspoon of brown sugar to the original recipe. Forgot the thyme but I don’t think that made a big difference.

  • Sharon McVay

    I love the layout of your recipes: basic then variations. Thank you both for the recipe I was looking for but suggestions as well. Great job! Great ideas that I would not have tried.

  • char

    These look exactly what I am looking for Easter ! Can these be made ahead and reheated ? I don’t have a lot of oven space …Thanks

  • Pamela Murray

    These are delicious! Highly recommend using lemon! I cooked them longer than suggested because I wanted them to be soft, and they carmelize that way.

  • Michelle Diaz

    Hi Jaclyn,These carrots are amazing! I admit, I wasn’t sure I’d like them, not because of the recipe, but because I’m not really a fan of cooked carrots. I prefer them with other roasted veggies. But your post made them look so good, I just had to try them. This is one of the best veggie recipes I’ve made! I only used a little over one pound of carrots for a small family, and I also used those cute little carrots to make it easier. This is truly delicious, and I would highly recommend the recipe, even if you’re not that fond of cooked carrots! Absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      Thanks so much for your review Michelle! I’m happy to hear they were enjoyed!