Spicy Honey Roasted Carrots
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Honey Roasted Carrots (or candied carrots, as we like to call them) are a sweet and delicious vegetable side dish. The easy-to-make carrots are coated in a honey glaze, then roasted until tender and caramelized. They are totally delicious!
You guys, these honey roasted carrots. Every time I make them, I find myself wondering why I don’t have a giant plate of them in front of me right now. They’re that good. I like carrots just fine, but let’s be honest — most of the time they’re just… carrots.
Honey roasted carrots are a completely different story. They turn sweet and sticky in the oven, almost like candy in vegetable form, and somehow disappear faster than anything else on the table. I’ve absolutely eaten my entire serving straight from the pan while standing at the counter, and yes, they’re 100% kid-approved, too. I may have even used them as a bit of dinner-time motivation once or twice.
What I love most is how effortlessly impressive they are. A simple bag of carrots transforms into something glossy, golden, and company-worthy with minimal effort. I usually roast them alongside pork chops or chicken thighs, toss together a quick green salad, and dinner is on the table in about 30 minutes — easy, cozy, and completely irresistible.
Another sweet carrot recipe you may enjoy is my brown sugar carrots with buttered pecans.
Tips for making the best honey-glazed carrots
The first tip is all about making your life easier. If you have a large ovenproof skillet, you can make these in one pan. Read: fewer dishes! This is the skillet that I have and love. A cast-iron skillet would also work well!
- Choose medium-sized carrots. For this recipe, I use carrots sold in bags. If you buy carrots with their tops still on, you’ll need to reduce the cooking time because they tend to be smaller.
- I always opt for the broil option because I love that the carrots get dark and roasted-looking. Be careful not to burn them, especially if your oven broils above 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Make sure not to skip the step of finishing them on the stovetop. When you pull them out of the oven, they’ll look done. But letting the sugars caramelize for a few minutes really makes the dish. Just make sure not to walk away from them while you do this, as the sugar burns easily. A couple of minutes will do the trick!
Is this spicy candied carrots recipe family-friendly?
Yes! At least I think so. But we do like spice. When I make these, I always use 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne. It gives the carrots a nice touch of spice. The sweetness of the carrot tempers the spice, keeping it from being overwhelming.
If anyone at your table is sensitive to spice, reduce the cayenne to ⅛ teaspoon. You can even omit it entirely if you know spice won’t go over well at your table. Even if you opt to go without the spice, these carrots will still be delicious.
Spicy Honey Roasted Carrots Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter or oil
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ¼ teaspoon each: sea salt and pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more if you like heat)
- 2 lbs. carrots (about 12 medium, cut into 2-inch lengths)
- Minced chives (to garnish)
Instructions
- Turn your oven on to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt the butter in a large ovenproof skillet (see notes) over medium-high heat. Add the honey, salt, pepper, and cayenne and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Add the carrots and toss to coat in the sauce.1 tablespoon butter or oil, 3 tablespoons honey, ¼ teaspoon each: sea salt and pepper, ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 2 lbs. carrots
- Place the carrots in the oven and cook for 20 minutes. If you’d like some dark spots on your carrots, broil for the last 2-3 minutes. Be careful as they burn quickly.
- Remove the pan from the oven and continue to cook the carrots for 2 minutes over medium-high heat on your stovetop to caramelize the honey. Once the sauce just barely starts to darken, remove the pan from the heat.
- Sprinkle with some minced chives and serve.Minced chives
Notes
Nutrition
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I love using this recipe (not my 1st time). I literally just made enough for 16 (Thanksgiving). I used 1/4 tsp of cayenne instead of 1/2 tsp for 16-servings. I love the warmth of the cayenne (definitely warm, but not hot, imo). However, I should have used only 1/8 tsp since I don’t the heat tolerances of the rest of the group. I used unsalted butter, but I think I should have used salted butter (for my tastes). I scaled the recipe for 16 servings and needed 8 lbs of carrots. This seemed like A LOT. As I was loading my big cast iron that I was cooking in, I chickened out and only used about 6 lbs. I know better: carrots shrink when they cook. I should have stuck to 8 lbs because my net volume seems a little short after putting my finished carrots into a 4 qt crockpot for transporting to my brother’s for dinner this afternoon. The servings should work out though: I know some guests will skip the carrots because they’re afraid of the heat. Leaves more for me: they look and taste awesome, as always!
I love that you made these for your big Thanksgiving dinner!
Can you work garlic into this recipe??
I think so! I would mince it super small (or even better, use a microplane) and add it to the glaze.