Whole Honey Roasted Carrots

With a hint of warm-spiced sweetness, slender whole honey roasted carrots are as tasty as they are pretty.  Alternatives included for cutting big carrots too!

Don’t you love when you see pictures of pretty foods?  I do, though sometimes my first response can be a little sarcastic.  Like: Okay that’s nice but how hard is it?

But happily, the answer may be not hard at all.  Especially in the peak of summer when perfect vegetables are practically begging you to cook them!  Like these Whole Honey Roasted Carrots!

So when I decided I needed carrots with the stems attached, I had lots of opportunity.  First from my CSA and then a reprise from the farmer’s market. 

Hooray for the bountiful summer! 

Why You’ll Love This!

Tasty.  The honey and warm spices are a perfect complement to the sweet roasted carrots.

Pretty.  I always feel special when I eat something pretty!  You eat with your eyes first, right!

Easy.  I looked for the cleanest carrots I could find, scrubbed them gently without peeling and added the sauce.  How easy is that!

What You’ll Need

Ingredient Notes

• Honey, Olive oil.  These add sweetness and flavor and help browning.  You can use maple syrup instead of honey for a vegan version.
• Ginger, cardamom, dried mined onion (or onion powder).  These add flavor and complexity.  Feel free to play with the flavors here.  I think other “warm” spices like cinnamon could also be delicious! 
• Salt.  To enhance flavor.
• Carrots.  If you can find slender to medium carrots with tops, that’s the best. But larger carrots, sliced thin, can work too (’cause you’ll still want this in winter)!  They’ll be just as tasty—and almost as cute!  See Variations below for some tips. 

Special Tools

• Parchment paper is nice to roast the carrots on for easier cleanup but not a requirement. Most brown parchment is even compostable—check your package labeling!  Don’t use wax paper which is not heat proof.

Step by Step Directions 

Heat the honey to soften it, then whisk in the olive oil, and spices.

Leaving about 1 ½ in piece of greens, wash and peel or scrub carrot. 

Spoon honey sauce over carrots (orange carrot only, not stem), coating on all sides.  Reheat the sauce if needed to keep it workable. 

Place carrots in pan on parchment and sprinkle with salt.  Bake at 400 for 15-30 minutes (depending on thickness), until tender with flavorful roasted brown spots.  Baste halfway through with remaining honey sauce if desired.  

Serve hot.

How to Serve

Honey Roasted Carrots are a perfect side to just about any entrée.  I decided to use salmon for the color complement, but I’d do chicken, pork or beef—or even a vegetarian entrée.

I like to sprinkle my carrots with a little chopped parsley for some additional color, but that is entirely optional. 

Variations and Special Diets

If you’re serving vegans, you can simple use maple syrup instead of honey for Maple Roasted Carrots!

And as mentioned, this can still work with big fat carrots.  I like to slice thinly on a diagonal as shown below so they get cooked through before they’re too brown.  Just be careful they don’t clump together when you roast them.      

Leftovers

Store leftover Honey Roasted Carrots covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.  Reheat in the microwave. 

Tips & FAQs

If your carrots have very slender tips like mine, take a little more off the tip than I did, so they are more uniform in size from top to bottom.  This will enable them to roast more evenly and for you to get more flavorful dark roasted spots.  I had to remove these a little early since the tips were burning. 

Did you know that the three different layers of carrots have different nutrition in each layer?  This means it’s great to scrub them if your carrots aren’t too dirty or uneven.  But the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter tells us that “removing the peel reduces some phytonutrients and small amounts of the vitamins and minerals in carrots, (but) there is plenty of nutritional value left behind”

If your carrots are tender but not browning well, you can increase the temperature on your oven or use the convection setting if you have it.

And while at the farmer’s market, why not shop for some of the tasty recipe below!

• • Brussels Slaw by A Day in the Life on the Farm
  • Easy Ratatouille Casserole by Blogghetti
  • Air Fryer Bell Peppers by Cheese Curd In Paradise
  • Creamy Ranch Corn & Cucumber Salad with Dill by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
  • Scarlet Sunrise Platter by Magical Ingredients
  • Broccoli Tots by Palatable Pastime
  • Sourdough Rosemary Focaccia by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
  • Zucchini Panzanella Salad by Jolene’s Recipe Journal
  • Vietnamese Chicken Salad by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
  • Root Vegetable Medley by Our Good Life
  • Mexican Street Corn Pizza by The Spiffy Cookie

Whole Honey Roasted Carrots

With a hint of warm sweetness, whole honey roasted carrots are as tasty as they are pretty.  Alternatives included for cutting big carrots too!

Author: Inger

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Course Vegetable

Cuisine American

Servings 4

Calories 151 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ¼ cup honey
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion or onion powder
• 1/2 pound carrots approximate

Instructions

 

• Heat the honey to soften it, then whisk in the olive oil, and spices.
• Leaving about 1 ½ in piece of greens, wash and peel or scrub carrot.
• Spoon over carrots (orange carrot only, not stem), coating on all sides. Reheat the sauce if needed to keep it workable.
• Place carrots in pan on parchment and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 400 for 15-30 minutes (depending on thickness), until tender with flavorful roasted brown spots. Baste halfway through with remaining honey sauce if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 151kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 1gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 40mgPotassium: 196mgFiber: 2gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 9472IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 21mgIron: 0.3mg

I am not a health professional and nutrition data is calculated programatically. Accuracy may vary with product selection, calculator accuracy, etc. Consult a professional for the best information.

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