Brown Sugar Carrots with Buttered Pecans
Here’s a life hack for you: roast your carrots with brown sugar, and you'll create a side dish that steals the show. This brown sugar carrots recipe is one of my favorite fall side dishes because it’s foolproof for achieving deliciously tender carrots with perfectly caramelized, crispy edges. Let me show you how it’s done!
Ingredients
- 2 lb carrots
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- ½ teaspoon EACH: salt, pepper, and cinnamon
- Optional: minced parsley, to serve
Spicy Buttered Pecans
- 1 teaspoon butter
- ¼ cup raw pecans, roughly chopped
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the carrots into 2-inch segments and then cut each of them in half lengthwise.2 lb carrots
- In a 9x11 inch baking dish, mix the carrots, butter, brown sugar, garlic, salt, pepper, and cinnamon.2 tablespoons butter, ¼ cup brown sugar, 2 cloves garlic, ½ teaspoon EACH: salt, pepper, and cinnamon
- Roast the carrots for 30-35 minutes, tossing twice during cooking. They are done when the carrots are soft, and the glaze looks caramelized and sticky.
- To make the topping, melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the pecans and cook, stirring frequently, until they turn darker and smell fragrant. Stir in the cayenne pepper.1 teaspoon butter, ¼ cup raw pecans, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Mix the carrots and the glaze in the baking dish and then transfer them to a serving dish and sprinkle with the pecans and a little minced parsley.Optional: minced parsley
Notes
Carrots: For this recipe, I usually peel the carrots. But if it's summer and the carrots are really fresh, you can skip peeling them. Baby carrots also work!
The topping: The carrots are delicious without the pecans, but I think they take the recipe to the next level. If you don't want to saute them in butter, use chopped roasted pecans.
The glaze: Usually, the glaze thickens up enough to lightly coat the carrots, but some carrots release more water than others and can occasionally make the glaze a little runny. If that happens, push all the carrots to one side of the baking dish and put it back into the oven for 5 minutes. The glaze will thicken up right away.
Serving: 1 = 1/6th of the recipe, Calories: 167kcal, Carbohydrates: 24g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 12mg, Sodium: 336mg, Potassium: 520mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 16g, Vitamin A: 25434IU, Vitamin C: 9mg, Calcium: 64mg, Iron: 1mg