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Honey Roasted Carrots

5 years ago
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Honey Roasted Carrots are sweet, caramelised, and irresistibly golden – roasted until tender with crisp, slightly charred edges that bring out their natural flavour. A drizzle of honey adds just the right amount of glaze, while a sprinkle of salt and fresh herbs finishes them perfectly. I love serving these as a side to roasts, grilled meats, or tossed through grain salads. Simple, vibrant, and always a crowd favourite.

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Yield: 4

Honey Roasted Carrots

roasted carrots
5.0 Stars (3 Reviews)

Honey roasted carrots are one of those sides I never get tired of. I roast them until they’re tender and caramelised, with just enough honey to bring out their natural sweetness and a little butter for richness. Sometimes I add thyme or a splash of vinegar for balance, but they’re just as lovely kept simple. They work with roasts, grilled meats, or even tossed through a grain salad. Warm, sweet, and comforting – they’re always a favourite at my table.

Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 5 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 300g dutch carrots
  • Large pinch of sea salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 150C.
  2. In a large, ovenproof skillet, melt together the oil and honey over medium heat.
  3. Add the garlic and carrots and toss through the runny honey, and then season with salt.
  4. Transfer the skillet to the pre-heated oven and roast for 45 minutes, or until tender.

Notes

  • You can cook these alongside your roast dinner for 30 minutes at 200C.

What I Cook With

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 104Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 77mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 2gSugar: 16gProtein: 1g

Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

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© Bry
Cuisine: British / Category: Sides
roasted carrots

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Honey Roasted Carrots Recipe

roasted carrots

Why Honey Roasted Carrots Deserve a Spot on Your Roast Dinner Table

I think we can all agree that sometimes a Sunday roast can start to feel a little same-ish. Same chicken, same roast potatoes, same soggy veg if you’re not careful. And don’t get me wrong, I love the comfort of the classics. But sometimes you just want to zhuzh it up a little. Add something that gets people reaching for seconds, even when they’re already stuffed. That’s exactly what I’ve done with these simple, but downright delightful, honey roasted carrots. They’re sweet, slightly sticky, with just the right hit of savoury. A little something to make the plate feel special again.

I’ve always been a carrot girl. To be fair, I’ve always been a vegetable girl – especially roast veggies. And I especially love using rainbow Dutch carrots for the colour they bring to the table. But honestly, any carrots will do. I’ve made this recipe with everything from bagged supermarket carrots to Chantenay when I can get my hands on them. The petite ones always feel a bit fancy, even if they come in a plastic bag. And if I’m cooking a roast joint, I’ll often chuck the carrots underneath to soak up all that roasting juice and get lovely and caramelised.

Don’t worry too much about oven temperature either. I normally roast these low and slow to retain that natural sweetness, but they’re totally forgiving. If you’ve already got your roast cranking away at 200C, just pop them in alongside for about 30 minutes and you’re golden. Carrots are chill like that – they don’t mind sharing the spotlight and they’re not fussy. Which is exactly the kind of vibe I want on a Sunday.

Making the Roast Feel a Bit More Magical

Growing up, we had a proper roast dinner every other Sunday. Like clockwork. It wasn’t fancy or especially delicious, but my mum really did her best with three chaotic kids tearing around the place! The sprouts were over-boiled, the potatoes were more like hard little hockey pucks than fluffy roasties, and there was always some part of the chicken well overcooked. But you know what? The crackling was always perfect when we had pork. The chicken skin crisped just right. And the stuffing, when she made it, was the thing I’d come back for thirds of. And then. Oh my god. The gravy. Her gravy.

That gravy was something else. Made in an ancient cast iron roaster that’s probably still sitting at the back of her cupboard. She’d start it with the pan drippings and a roux, whisking it to glossy perfection like she was conducting a symphony. Even now, I dream of that gravy. I’ve never made anything that comes close, and I don’t think I ever will. It’s the taste of home. And while the rest of the roast might not have hit the mark every time, that gravy made up for every dry bite of meat and every sad potato.

So when I say my roasts are traditional, I don’t mean traditional in the Sunday-best, crisp tablecloths kind of way. I mean traditional from my little Sydney home, with all its chaos and charm. I try to bring the best bits forward. The crackling. The stuffing. And yes, the honey roasted carrots because new traditions have to start somewhere. Maybe not part of my childhood roast, but absolutely part of the roasts I love now. The bits that make it feel like more than just a meal – the bits that make it a memory.

roasted carrots

Low Effort, High Reward (aka My Favourite Kind of Recipe)

I’m not really one for complicated recipes with thirty steps and a prep list that reads like a novella. If I wanted to faff around for three hours and cry over burnt parsnips, I’d go on MasterChef. I want recipes that make me look like I tried hard when really, I didn’t. Honey roasted carrots are that kind of recipe. Whack them in a tray, drizzle with a bit of oil and honey, season, and you’re good to go. If you’re feeling extra, a bit of butter and fresh thyme takes it up a notch. But honestly, they don’t need it.

One of my favourite little tricks is using the carrots to prop up the roast. Not only do they help the heat circulate better, they end up soaking in all that savoury goodness. The result? Utterly delicious, slightly sticky, and rich in flavour without needing much input from you. You can roast them in the same tray as your meat or do them separately if you’re more of a “keep it tidy” kind of cook. Either way, they’ll be the kind of side dish that people talk about after the plates are cleared.

And look, even if your roast dinner doesn’t turn out perfect, no one’s going to notice if you’ve got a couple of things on the table that really shine. That’s the beauty of a roast. It’s not about perfection. It’s about warmth and comfort and the feeling of being fed well. These carrots do all that, without making you sweat in the kitchen.

Ingredients Breakdown

For these honey roasted carrots, you really don’t need much – the beauty is in the simplicity. I usually go for rainbow Dutch carrots or Chantenay because they look gorgeous on the plate and have that lovely natural sweetness. And I can cut off the tops to make pesto! But if you’ve only got regular carrots, peel and chop them into batons or rounds. No fuss.

Olive oil and honey form the base of the glaze. Use a good quality honey if you’ve got it, but don’t stress if it’s just from the supermarket. It’s the sweetness and stickiness you’re after, not anything fancy. I sometimes add a knob of butter for richness or a pinch of thyme if I’ve got some hanging around. Salt and pepper, obviously. And if I want a bit of zing, a squeeze of lemon or splash of balsamic right before serving.

The cooking time depends on the size of your carrots and how hot your oven is. Low and slow at 160C gives you a really lovely result after about 45 minutes. But they’re totally fine cooked at 200C for 25 to 30 minutes if they’re sharing space with your roast. Just keep an eye on them so they don’t burn. They should be tender, lightly caramelised, and a little bit sticky. That’s when you know they’re done.

I also like to use Chantenay carrots in this recipe for their petite sweetness. Though truth be told, any type of roasted carrot is a fan favourite in my home. We especially love cooking them beneath the roast joint. That is to say, in the same pan as the roast, propping up the joint to help air circulation. The carrots then absorb so much flavour from the roast joint and form a wonderful caramelisation that makes them an especially delicious treat.

Now, I know a roast dinner with all the trimming can seem a little overwhelming. Trust me, I’ve been there too! It was until I was well into my 30’s that I felt confident preparing and cooking a roast dinner. And ever since, I have perfected the art – or so I’d like to think! If you’re worried about your roast dinners, not quite turning out, it’s important to remember that gravy covers many sins!

roasted carrots
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Bry is the food writer and recipe developer behind Cooking with Bry, a recipe platform built on nearly thirty years of cooking experience and over 215 original recipes spanning classic Australian, British, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. She grew up in Western Sydney, where food was never just food. It was Aussie barbecues in the backyard, Middle Eastern bakeries down the road, and Mediterranean kitchens that treated every meal like an occasion. That early, immersive exposure to bold and diverse flavours shaped her palate and her cooking instincts in ways that underpin every recipe she develops today. She spent seven years living in the UK across London and Glasgow, deepening her understanding of British comfort food and traditional European cooking before returning to Australia via Adelaide, the country's undisputed foodie capital, where a passion for exceptional produce and honest, ingredient-led cooking only grew stronger. She's now based in Brisbane, developing and testing all of her recipes from her home kitchen. All of that, Western Sydney, the UK, Adelaide, Brisbane, and everywhere in between, feeds directly into what she cooks and how she writes about it. Her recipes pull from the traditions she knows most deeply, the food that feels like home, and are developed with the home cook firmly in mind. Honest, unfussy, and built around flavours that actually work.
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