Roasted carrots are divine. They get super sweet as the natural sugars caramelize in the oven, but when you add a honey balsamic glaze it just takes them to the next level! These Roasted Carrots with Honey Balsamic Glaze are sweet, tangy, and rich, all at the same time. And the best part? This Roasted Carrots recipe is incredibly simple. So you can have these heavenly carrots with a honey balsamic glaze as a side dish with dinner any day of the week, or save them for a special occasion like Thanksgiving, Easter, or even a date night in. Either way, they’re simple and delicious, and you won’t regret it.
Garnished with parsley for color.
Ingredients for Roasted Carrots with Honey Balsamic Glaze
This super delicious side dish is incredibly easy. Here’s what you’ll need to make these roasted carrots:
- Carrots: You can use basic generic carrots (the best price option), pre-peeled baby carrots (the easiest), or fancy carrots that have the tops still attached for the best presentation (trim the tops before roasting to prevent burning).
- Olive Oil: The carrots are coated in olive oil before roasting so they stay moist, which helps the natural sugars caramelize properly.
- Honey: Honey balances the acidic flavor of the balsamic vinegar in the glaze and creates the thick, shiny texture of the glaze.
- Balsamic Vinegar: Balsamic vinegar adds a deliciously deep and tangy flavor to the glaze.
- Butter: The richness of butter balances the acidity of the vinegar and helps create a nice sheen in the glaze.
- Salt & Pepper: The carrots are seasoned simply with salt and pepper to prevent the flavors from getting too muddy. We really want the carrots to shine!
What to Serve with Roasted Carrots
I love these carrots with a really herby main dish, like Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin, or Herb Roasted Chicken Breast. The sweet and tangy roasted carrots will make a nice contrast to the more subtle, deep herbal flavors. And don’t forget a big ol’ pile of creamy mashed potatoes! The tangy balsamic glaze also pairs really well with something like Classic Homemade Meatloaf. These fancy-pants carrots also make a beautiful addition to any Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter dinner.
Do You Need to Peel Carrots?
Peeling carrots is entirely optional, but carrots do grow underground so it’s important to clean them well either way. Some people find carrot skin to be slightly bitter, so if you’re sensitive to bitter flavor you may prefer them peeled. Otherwise, you can simply scrub them well with a vegetable brush and leave the skin on for a more rustic look.
Not into balsamic glaze? Try our classic Easy Roasted Carrots Recipe.
Roasted Carrots with Honey Balsamic Glaze
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 lbs. carrots ($1.69)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp pepper ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp honey ($0.24)
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar ($0.55)
- 1 Tbsp butter ($0.14)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Wash and/or peel the carrots, then cut them into one-inch pieces.
- Place the carrots on a parchment lined baking sheet and drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add ¼ salt, ¼ tsp pepper, and toss the carrots until coated. Transfer the carrots to the oven and roast for 30 minutes, stirring once half-way through.
- While the carrots are roasting, prepare the honey balsamic glaze. Add the honey and balsamic vinegar to a small sauce pot and stir to combine. Simmer the glaze over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, or until it has reduced and thickened slightly. Remove the pot from the heat, then add the butter. Stir until the butter has melted into the glaze. Set the glaze aside.
- When the carrots are finished roasting, drizzle the honey balsamic glaze over top and toss to coat. Serve warm!
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Nutrition
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How to Make Roasted Carrots with Honey Balsamic Glaze – Step By Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Wash or peel two pounds of carrots and slice them into 1-inch pieces. Place the carrots on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper, and toss until the carrots are coated in oil, salt, and pepper. Roast the carrots for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring once halfway through.
While the carrots are still in the oven, prepare the balsamic glaze. Combine ¼ cup balsamic vinegar and 2 Tbsp honey in a small pot and simmer over medium-low for about 10 minutes or until it has thickened slightly.
Once the balsamic and honey mixture has reduced and thickened slightly, turn the burner off and add 1 Tbsp butter. Stir until the butter has melted into the glaze. Set the honey balsamic glaze aside.
When the carrots are finished roasting, remove them from the oven and pour the honey balsamic glaze over top.
Toss the carrots to coat in the honey balsamic glaze. You can do this in a bowl if you prefer so that you don’t lose any of the delicious glaze.
Serve the delicious roasted carrots warm! You can garnish with freshly chopped parsley if desired.
Can you use baby carrots?
You should be able to just fine! Just adjust the cooking time as needed depending on what size baby carrots you have. You may have to test them with a fork a little sooner than written to make sure you don’t over cook them.
I plan on trying this recipe soon***
Do you have pacific recipes for Lactose free.
The plant based butters just don’t do it!!!! Maybe something else???
Have you tried ghee? While it’s not truly dairy-free, though ghee may be a good choice for people who are lactose-intolerant. If not, I like using coconut oil (they even have pretty good butter flavored coconut oil) when replacing animal fat or butter.
Oh! I have lavendar balsamic vinegar in my pantry. I know what I’m making soon!
Nice balance of sweetness and tang. Delicious!
These were SO good! I could eat them as a meal by themselves. Next time I might cut my carrots a tad smaller so they get a little softer in the 30 minute cook time. Love this recipe!
After roasting should the carrots be hard or soft or both? One of the kids said they were too hard; they were soft on the outside and a bit crunchy inside. I thought they were good (a bit less honey maybe) but my teenagers…🙄
It just depends on your preference. :) You can roast them longer if you want them softer.
These were great. Made them last night with your pork tenderloin recipe. Super easy and tossed them in the same roasting pan.
My only regret is not finding this recipe sooner.
Super great. Sweet and salty almost like a candy. We eat these multiple times a week
I used this as inspiration and used bottled balsamic glaze from Trader Joe’s instead of making my own. Delicious!
Made these and they came out super pruney. I’m try it again but maybe I’ll blanch them first next time??
I made these last night and they were so tasty! I’m definitely going to make them again. The roasting brings out such a nice flavour and the glaze just takes it over the top. I think I’m going to try oven roasted broccoli next.
Question: Could I make these the morning of and warm up that evening?
While I wouldn’t *not* eat these reheated, they’re noticeably better when fresh.
To be honest, this was a miss for me. I couldn’t taste the honey at all and I even added an extra teaspoon. it just tastes like carrots with vinegar poured over them.. but I guess that’s technically what it was. Not inedible but it wasn’t good to me either. I guess just personal taste
If you used teaspoons, that might be why you couldn’t taste the honey. It should have been tablespoons. That would almost double what you had put in, even with an extra teaspoon.
What are the dimensions/capacity of the small sauce pot you have?
It is 1.5 quart capacity, but I don’t have the dimensions.
This was a big hit! One start each for simple, quick, cheap, 2 starts for yummy.
STARS. (not sure where the extra ‘t’ came from) :)