These oven-roasted carrots with honey-mustard glaze make a perfect side dish for holiday meals. This recipe includes step-by-step instructions and tips to make the best honey-roasted carrots. A Paleo-friendly recipe.
This post has been very popular since it was originally published in 2014. I've updated it with new photos and extra information.
Carrots. Herbs. A drizzle of honey, a spoonful of Dijon and a couple of cloves of garlic are all you need to make these Roasted Carrots with Honey-Mustard Glaze. These make a fabulous holiday side dish. In fact, I call these my Thanksgiving carrots!
Carrots with mustard may sound like an odd flavour combination. If you add honey you'll have carrots with honey-mustard glaze, which is absolutely delicious! It's a sweet and tangy combination that is popular not only for chicken, (like these Honey Dijon Turmeric Chicken Thighs) but for veggies, too.
❤️ Why this recipe works
Carrots are naturally sweet, but roasting them in the oven intensifies their flavour. Adding this honey-mustard glaze puts them over the top. This dish receives rave reviews whenever I make it.
These honey-mustard carrots are an ideal side dish for any time of the year. This roasted carrot recipe makes a quick weeknight side, and it's special enough for a holiday meal. Whether it's Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, carrots are often a popular side dish for dinner.
While fresh carrots have a delicious, natural sweetness, sometimes they need "dressing up" a little. You might also like these Roasted Carrots with Honey-Ginger Glaze and these Air Fryer or Oven-Roasted Carrots with Feta and Pistachios.
🛒 Ingredients
To make the best honey-roasted carrots, start with the freshest carrots you can find. If you can't pull them straight from the ground in your garden, buying them from your local farmers' market is the next best thing.
I picked up these multi-coloured carrots at our market just because I thought they were pretty. It turns out they were even more beautiful once they were roasted and glazed and became tender and crispy in the oven.
But rainbow carrots may not be available year-round. This recipe is just as delicious when it's made with regular carrots, too. Love baby carrots? Make roasted baby carrots! Any kind of carrots will work in this recipe.
Before we get to the full recipe for these roasted carrots with honey, here are a few notes about some of the ingredients and possible substitutions you could make.
- carrots: rainbow (multi-coloured) or orange, or baby carrots. Any carrots will work!
- olive oil: as a base for the glaze.
- honey: adds sweetness and adds to the natural caramelization while the carrots are roasting.
- Dijon mustard: adds spicy tang.
- rosemary: fresh!
- garlic: fresh minced cloves add so much flavour
- salt and pepper
- parsley: for garnish. Or add freshly chopped herbs, like thyme or more rosemary.
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
- Whisk the honey-mustard sauce ingredients together.
- Peel and slice the carrots so they are approximately the same size. If they're small, you can leave them whole. If they're large, slice them in half from stem to tip. You can slice them diagonally into smaller pieces if you prefer. Like them round? Slice into circles. You can even get fancy and use a crinkle cutter!
- Toss the carrots in the sauce, making sure they're well coated.
- Arrange in a single layer on a prepared baking sheet. Either line it with parchment paper for easy cleanup or oil it very well.
- Roast in the oven, turning occasionally until the carrots are tender and the edges are caramelized.
- Remove from the oven and garnish with freshly chopped parsley and extra salt and pepper to taste.
👍🏼 Helpful tips for how to roast carrots in the oven.
To successfully roast carrots, or any vegetable, use a sturdy baking sheet. Line it with parchment paper for easy clean-up. You want the natural sugars in the vegetables to caramelize so they develop those nice browned, crispy surfaces.
If the baking dish has high sides, the heat tends to be trapped inside and the vegetables cook by steaming instead of roasting. It's best to use a baking sheet or a sheet pan.
For the same reason, make sure the vegetables aren't touching each other. Spread them out a little on your baking sheet, or use two sheets.
Toss the carrots in the honey-mustard sauce, making sure they're well-coated so they won't dry out in the oven. Feel free to get your hands in the bowl to help out!
⏰ Time-Saving Tips
If you're like me when you're preparing a holiday dinner, you like to have much of the food preparation done in advance. Here are some ways to save time in the kitchen.
- Mix the glaze ingredients together the day before.
- Scrub, peel and slice the carrots the day before and store them in a tightly-sealed container in the refrigerator.
- Then, just before you're ready to roast them, toss with the glaze, arrange on thebaking sheet(s) and put them in the oven. Chop some parsley for garnish while they're roasting.
- As an alternative, you can roast them just until they're tender-crisp, store them covered in the fridge for 2 to 3 days, then reheat them in the microwave or on a sheet pan in the oven at 350°F.
🍽 Serving suggestions
Honey-mustard carrots are delicious with a traditional dinner of roast turkey or chicken. I like to serve them with these Air Fryer Rolled Stuffed Turkey Breasts or Easy Baked Lemon Chicken.
❓Your questions, answered
Depending on their size and thickness, they'll take about 20 to 25 minutes in a hot (425°F.) oven. All ovens can be different. It's best to check your oven temperature with a thermometer. If you think it may be too hot, roast them at 400°F. instead to avoid scorching the glaze.
If you're using baby carrots, they are already peeled. If your carrots are fresh from the garden, they may only need a scrub with a vegetable brush under running water. If they're older, definitely peel them.
The number of carrots in a pound will vary according to their size, but often you'll find 12 - 14 carrots in one pound.
For a holiday dinner, you should cook about 1 to 1 ½ carrots per person. If you're using baby carrots, 1 cup (about 12) of baby carrots would be one serving. Of course, these amounts will depend on how many other vegetable side dishes you're serving, and on the appetites of your friends!
Read more about estimating amounts of vegetables to cook in this article What is a Serving of Vegetables?
Storing roasted carrots
Refrigerate any leftover carrots promptly, as bacteria can start to multiply at room temperature after two hours or so. These carrots will last in the fridge for a few days. As mentioned above, you can reheat them in the microwave or in the oven.
This recipe for honey-mustard roasted carrots is fast and easy, but it turns plain carrots into something spectacular. And don't those colours just shout, "It's Fall!"?
Enjoy!
🗒 More side dish recipes
When you make this honey-mustard carrots recipe, please leave a comment and a star rating below. I love hearing when you've made one of my recipes, or if you have a question. Subscribe to my newsletter and have new recipes delivered straight to your inbox once a week.
📖 Recipe
Roasted Carrots with Honey-Mustard Glaze
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12-15 medium carrots, multicolour or orange
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, extra virgin
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Scrub the carrots and peel if necessary. Cut larger ones in half lengthwise so that carrots are of uniform sizes and place them in a large bowl.
- In a separate container, whisk olive oil, minced garlic, rosemary, mustard, honey, salt and pepper. Whisk to combine and pour all but 2 tablespoons over carrots, coating evenly, making sure they are all well-coated. Set aside the 2 tablespoons to drizzle over the carrots once they're roasted.
- Arrange in a single layer in a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Avoid having them touch each other. Use two baking sheets if necessary.
- Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes, turning occasionally until tender and just beginning to brown.
- Garnish with the 2 tablespoons of honey-mustard sauce you saved previously. Add freshly chopped parsley and sprinkle with extra freshly ground pepper and salt before serving.
Dieter.
Made a rod for my own back here, I reckon ! Made these carrots once... now I'm making them again, by very popular demand..! Served them with a roast lamb and home made gravy lunch. It's now the ONLY way to present carrots in my kitchen. Thanks very much.......I think...!
Elaine
Thanks so much for the five stars! These carrots have been one of my most popular recipes for years!
Donna Shirk
I cut very large, dense heirloom carrots into lengthwise quarters and followed the directions. I found 425 degrees to be too hot, even though I was turning the carrots occasionally my glaze turned to charcoal. The carrots were still really good after scraping off the blackened glaze but I’m going try 400 degrees next time.
Elaine
Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Donna. It's a good reminder that all ovens can be a little different. I'm glad you're willing to try again at a lower temperature! Thanks for commenting!
Jenn
Just thought I'd let you know that this is my go-to carrot side dish! It's reliable, and everyone loves it! Thanks.
Elaine
Hi Jenn,
I agree! It's a good recipe that everyone seems to like!
Dave Sil
Made this recipe this thanksgiving. Was a great hit! No leftovers. Thank you for a easy recipe!
Elaine
Hi Dave, You're welcome! So glad to hear you liked this easy recipe!
Marcella
I've made this recipe several times--it's a regular in our house. Planning to make these for Thanksgiving again. Thanks!
Elaine
Thanks for the 5 stars! Happy to hear it's a regular in your home.
Dee
These have become one of my regular sides for Thanksgiving and Christmas! They're fabulous!
Billy
This looks great! This definitely gave me motivation to try this this week!
Flavour & Savour
Thanks! They're very easy and I always get lots of positive comments about this dish. Hope you get a chance to make these soon.
Terri Headley
I've made these several times and extremely yummy! I also add fresh thyme with the rosemary. I bake on parchment paper on cookie sheet for about 15 min., then move to my favorite Pampered chef jelly roll stone pan for another 10 min to just crisp up. So yummy!
Flavour & Savour
Hi Terri,
I'm glad you like them as much as I do! I have one of those Pampered chef stone pans, too. That's an awesome idea to use it to crisp them up! Thanks for letting me know!
Stacy
This was wonderful!! Super simple dressing to whip up and extremely flavorful. This is now added to my basics collection! Thanks for posting!
Flavour & Savour
Hi Stacy,
So glad you liked them! I actually planted 3 rows of rainbow carrots in my garden this year, just so I could make these!! Happy cooking,
Elaine