Why you’ll love them
Transform humble carrots into the most addictive side dish, or even snack, with this maple roasted carrots recipe. Perfect for holiday entertaining like thanksgiving dinner and quick and easy enough for a weeknight side dish.
- Tender roasted baby carrots with caramelised edges.
- They taste a little sweet and a little savoury all at once.
- Wholegrain mustard adds a little kick and is perfectly suited to both carrots and maple syrup.
- Special enough for a holiday dinner side dish but easy enough for a weeknight.
- Preparation takes about 10 minutes, then just roast them turning from time to time.
Just a hint – make more of these gorgeously sweet roasted carrots than you think you’ll need. The batch you see here was half devoured, by me alone, within 10 minutes of taking these shots.
These oven roasted baby carrots are seriously addictive. Carrots being naturally both sweet and savoury are taken to spectacular heights with this quick sweet and savoury glaze.
Complete your side dish line up with this easy cheesy potato bake or the perfect roast potatoes.
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Tools you’ll need
- Rimmed baking sheet
- Aluminium foil
- Vegetable peeler
- Mixing bowl for the glaze
- Mini whisk or just a spoon to whisk the glaze together.
Ingredients for maple roasted carrots
Detailed quantities and directions in the recipe card below.
- Carrots: Also referred to as baby carrots, I use dutch carrots for these. Often sold with the green carrot tops still intact, dutch carrots are thinner than regular carrots. You can use regular larger carrots, but it would be best to cut them down in size to match that of the baby carrots so the cooking time works.
- Pure maple syrup: The main flavouring in this recipe is maple syrup. It goes well with carrots but you could also swap it for honey.
- Wholegrain mustard: A mild to medium heat seeded mustard, wholegrain mustard adds the perfect light flavour kick.
- Apple cider vinegar: This adds just a little acidity to balance out the sweetness. You could also use white wine vinegar.
- Butter: Just a little butter is all that’s needed to add a big flavour boost for the glaze. You could replace this for olive oil if you prefer. If you wated to keep these maple roasted carrots vegan, you could swap the butter for extra virgin olive oil.
- Brown sugar: A little brown sugar helps to get extra caramelised edges to the carrots.
- Cracked black pepper: This is optional but I love the flavour and touch of spicy heat it adds.
- Sea salt flakes: Once they’re baked, sprinkle just a little flaky sea salt over the top of the roasted carrots.
You can also add some fresh herbs if you like. A little fresh rosemary during the cooking will add a wonderful aroma and savoury herb flavour to the oven roasted baby carrots. Fresh parsley at the end will add a lovely freshness. The carrot tops broken up over the top also looks pretty.
Try this crispy prosciutto crumbled over the top at the end for a little salty crunch.
How to make roasted carrots
Mix together a simple glaze and toss the carrots through, then roast. Sounds simple? It is!
See the recipe card below for the full recipe details.
- Prepare the carrots: Chop the tops off the carrots, leaving just a small tuft of green at the top. Chop away any long root at the bottom. Wash the carrots then dry and peel them (optional). Place carrots in a single layer onto a foil lined rimmed baking sheet (photo 1).
- Make the buttery maple syrup glaze: In a small bowl combine the glaze ingredients (photo 2). Mix them together well.
- Glaze the carrots and roast: Pour the glaze over the carrots (photo 3) then give them a good toss around to coat (photo 4). Roast for 50-60 minutes, turning them every 15 minutes.
- They should be beautifully fork tender by this stage and ready to devour so transfer them to a platter and serve.
Top Tip: Keep an eye on the carrots as they come to the end of their cooking time. By this point, the glaze will be getting very thick and sticky and can burn quickly.
I serve mine with a some little torn bits of carrot tops but you could use parsley. You could also make a pesto out of the carrot tops (just like this celery leaf pesto) and drizzle that over. You could also try some red pepper flakes or fresh thyme leaves.
What to serve with roasted carrots
I mentioned at the top of the post, a couple of sides that would be great alongside these maple roasted carrots – easy cheesy potato bake or the perfect roast potatoes. Creamy mashed potato would also be lovely. This air fryer corn on the cob is another really easy side dish that would work well.
As for main dishes, I can’t think of anything more perfect than this slow cooker turkey breast for the most amazing holiday dinner.
Eat your leftover carrots with this leftover turkey pasta bake or just snack on them at will.
I can happily eat a whole plate of these for lunch on it’s own too. Add a few flaked almonds over the top for a little crunch.
How to store them
If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, store them in an airtight container, in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Imagine these gorgeous, glazed, sweet and sticky roasted baby carrots for Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter dinner. Being so simple to prepare though, these are a delicious side for any time. They’re great served alongside this crispy oven roasted pork belly.
Did you try this mustard maple roasted carrots recipe, please take a moment to leave a rating and comment below.
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Ingredients
- 2 bunches dutch / baby carrots about 20 baby carrots
- 2 tablespoons melted butter (30g / 1oz)
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar (notes 1)
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard (notes 1)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- Flaky sea salt
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C / 395F / 180C fan forced. Line a rimmed baking sheet with 2 layers of aluminium foil.
- Chop the greens off the carrots, leaving a little tuft at the top. Wash and dry the carrots well. Peel if desired.
- Place the carrots onto the prepared tray in a single layer.
- In a small bowl or jug whisk together the glaze ingredients – melted butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, wholegrain mustard, vinegar and black pepper – then pour over the carrots, turning them to coat all over.
- Bake 50-60 minutes turning and brushing with the glaze every 15 minutes until cooked through and caramelised. Keep a close eye on them as soon as they begin caramelising so they don’t burn.
- Transfer to a platter and sprinkle over sea salt if desired.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Many other countries, including the US and UK, use a 15 ml tablespoon.
- You can use coloured carrots too or even regular sized carrots. For larger carrots, make sure to cut them down to size, to allow them to cook in the same time so the glaze doesn’t burn.
- Try serving these at your next holiday gathering with this slow cooked turkey breast.
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7 Comments on “Maple Roasted Carrots”
Delicious! Easy and good— the whole family loves this dish.
So happy to hear this, Rosemary. Thank you so much for dropping back to review 🙂
Cannot use butter. Is it better to use margarine or olive oil?
Hello Debby. I think both would work fine so it really just comes down to a flavour preference for you.
Spectacular
These carrots looks so glorious and beautiful Marie! I love the use of maple and mustard for a well-balanced sweet and savoury flavour.
Thanks so much Ben. It’s a great flavour combo.