Honey Garlic Butter Roasted Carrots | Glazed Carrots Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to roast or boil carrots? ›

Roasting really brings out carrots' best qualities. To make them, just toss carrots with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake until they're golden on the edges and tender throughout. Serve these simple roasted carrots with traditional or heavy main dishes, like standard Thanksgiving fare, lasagna or mac and cheese.

Roasting Tips

Parboiling skin-on carrots and parsnips lets you soften them without them losing too much moisture. Follow up by browning in a 375°F (190°C) oven for about 40 minutes.

If your roasted carrots are tough, they are likely undercooked.

Undercook them, and the texture is tough and dense. Overcook them, and they're dry and wrinkled. The secret is to soften the carrots slightly by boiling them briefly before roasting. The texture will be firm-tender with just the right amount of caramelization on the outside.

When to Skip Peeling Carrots. “Juicing and roasting carrots are good times to avoid peeling,” says Hilowitz. “If you are making a rustic dish, then leaving the peel on could potentially enhance the look and experience of the dish.

Or, to bring out their fresh, woody flavor, add some anise. If you're roasting your carrots, toss them in olive oil first. This will help keep the moisture in them. To bring out the sweetness in your carrots, season them with orange or lemon juice or a little brown sugar and butter.

While there's certainly space for creamy dips and soft cheeses on any snack table, when it comes to the crudité platter, it's really all about the crunch, which is why you want to keep carrots in water when you store them in the fridge so you never wind up with soggy sticks.

Try adding salt while cooking. Salt can remove the bitterness.

The next time you roast vegetables, add some cornstarch. Yes, cornstarch—that box in your pantry is the secret to a super-crispy exterior on veggies, from potatoes to cauliflower. Cornstarch is commonly used to coat proteins like chicken or beef to achieve a crispy exterior, so why not use it with vegetables?

Do you roast vegetables on top or middle rack? ›

If you have to roast veggies on two different racks, make sure you put the top rack in the upper third of the oven and the lower rack in the bottom third of the oven. This will allow the heat and air to circulate better to help get the vegetables tender and caramelized.

The natural sugars in the carrots caramelize in the oven, creating golden edges and a soft, full-of-flavor interior. A sprinkle of salt is the perfect seasoning to mellow out the sweetness of the carrots, for a salty-sweet side dish that is so good!

Carrots provide more antioxidants when boiled or steamed than when eaten raw, according to a January 2008 report in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. In fact, researchers found that boiling carrots until tender increased the concentration of carotenoids by 14 percent.

Another study showed both boiling and steaming increased levels of beta carotene. But try to cook carrots whole, as cutting can reduce nutrients by 25%. Wait and wash veggies just before cooking to preserve nutrients. In fact, cooking veggies whole is often the best choice to preserve nutrients.

What's the secret? Caramelization happens while roasting in the oven. The vegetables give up some of their water content and the natural sugars caramelize. Roasted vegetables also do not become mushy since there is no added water, so the texture is better, too.

Carrots are a particularly good source of beta-carotene, fiber, vitamin K1, potassium, and antioxidants. Plus, they're low in calories. They also have several health benefits. They have been linked to lower cholesterol levels and improved eye health.