Simple, beautiful, and tasty – that’s how I would describe these honey roasted carrots with garlic and thyme! This easy veggie side dish is perfect for holidays, Sunday dinner, or even a busy weeknight. Seasoned roasted carrots are tossed in a light honey glaze with savory garlic and fresh thyme.
Honey Roasted Carrots with Garlic and Thyme
These roasted, honey glazed carrots really couldn’t be easier. I like to make them with baby carrots that are already peeled and cut, but you can also use full-size carrots peeled and cut into one-inch chunks, either straight across or on a diagonal.
Honestly, I like the taste of full-size carrots a little better than the baby ones. But on a busy weeknight, or a holiday when I have a lot of food to prepare, I’ll choose the convenience of baby carrots.
Why are roasted vegetables so tasty?
Roasting with dry, high heat brings out the natural sugar in vegetables. When you cook vegetables without water, the natural sugars are allowed to caramelize. This is especially great for carrots, which are naturally sweet. This caramelization process allows a toasty brown crust to form, and mellows the vegetable’s bitterness.
Roast the carrots
Start your roasted honey glazed carrots by preheating your oven to 425 degrees. Place a rack one slot below the top of the oven. Oven roasted carrots tend to brown faster on the bottom where they are contacting the hot pan. If you move them toward the top of the oven, they will roast more evenly.
If your oven has a convection feature, you definitely want to use it for this recipe. Convection ovens are designed for browning and caramelizing food. If you use a convection oven, you may need to reduce the baking time by a couple of minutes.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Lay the baby carrots out in a single layer on the baking sheet.
Honey Roasted Carrots with Garlic and Thyme
Drizzle the carrots with a little olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands so the carrots are well coated with oil and seasonings.
Roast your baby carrots at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until they are nicely browned.
Halfway through cooking, toss the carrots by shaking the pan or tossing with a non-metal spatula, so you don’t rip the aluminum foil.
Make the honey glaze
While the carrots are in the oven, prepare the glaze. Start by stripping the leaves from a few sprigs of fresh thyme, so you have about 1/2 tablespoon of leaves. Peel two cloves of garlic. Chop the garlic and the thyme together until finely chopped.
In a medium skillet, melt the butter over medium low heat until foamy. Add the garlic and thyme, and cook gently until the garlic is lightly toasted. This will only take a minute or two. It’s easy to burn the garlic or the butter at this point, so keep an eye on it.
After the garlic is toasted, add the honey. Cook and stir for about a minute until well blended, then remove the glaze from the heat.
Toss the carrots with the honey glaze
After the roasted carrots are out of the oven, add them to the glaze, and stir. Add salt and pepper as needed.
Honey Roasted Carrots with Garlic and Thyme
If you would like, put your honey roasted carrots in a serving dish and garnish with more fresh thyme.
I hope you and your loved ones enjoy this recipe. If you make it, be sure to leave a review!
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out some of FoodLove’s other veggie side dish recipes:
Green beans with breadcrumbs, garlic, and almonds
Honey Roasted Carrots with Garlic and Thyme
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound baby carrots
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place a rack one slot below the top of the oven.
- Cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Spread the baby carrots in a single layer on the foil-covered baking sheet.
- Drizzle the carrots with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- With your hands, mix the carrots,salt, and pepper until the carrots are well coated with olive oil and seasonings.
- Bake the carrots at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes. Toss the carrots by shaking the baking sheet, or using a non-metal spatula.
- Return the carrots to the oven for 10-15 minutes until tender and browned. Check the bottoms of the carrots. The side of the carrots touching the pan will brown faster.
- While the carrots are in the oven, prepare the glaze. Strip the leaves from a few sprigs of thyme until you have about 1 ½ teaspoons of leaves. Peel 2 cloves of garlic.
- Chop the garlic and thyme leaves together until very finely chopped.
- In a medium skillet over medium-low heat, melt the butter and heat until foamy.
- Add the garlic and thyme, and cook 1-3 minutes more, until the garlic is lightly toasted. Avoid burning the garlic or butter.
- Add the honey. Cook and stir until well combined and heated through, about one more minute.
- Remove the glaze from heat. Add the roasted carrots to the pan. Stir until all the carrots are glazed.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosures: The author was not compensated by any person or company for the content of this post. The post may contain affiliate links. If you buy a product using these links, we receive a commission. This helps with the cost of publishing recipes on this website.
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