This Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots recipe is made with the perfect mixture of butter and brown sugar, not too sweet, but sweet enough for you to enjoy it without the extra added sugar. They are so easy to make, very affordable and go well with so many dishes during the holiday or busy weeknights.
Glazed carrots are a popular side dish served a lot in the U.S especially during the holiday season. These Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots go well with proteins like chicken, steaks, turkey and so much more!
If you’re looking for other delicious sides to add to the menu, also try my Oven Baked Brussel Sprouts or my Easy Mashed Sweet Potatoes!
Why you’ll love these Roasted Glazed Carrots
- Delicious! These sugar glazed carrots are perfectly sweet with such a lovely texture.
- An easy side dish. The prepping time is less than 10 minutes at the most if you are using large carrots that need to be peeled and cut. But it takes less if you are doing the glazed baby carrots because the carrots is ready to go and are much smaller.
- A popular holiday side. These glazed roasted carrots are perfect for the holidays and go with so many festive mains.
- Kid and adult friendly. My kids love carrots/ carrot recipes so this is one of their favorite side dishes! Whether you make this recipe for the holiday or on one of your busy weeknight, I am sure your family will absolutely love it along side your poultry, meat or seafood dishes!
Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots Ingredients
- Carrots– you can use large carrots or baby carrots. I prefer large carrots for this recipe. Try to pick one carrots that are almost the same size so they cook evenly.
- Brown Sugar– what makes this dish so special is the sweetness from the brown sugar. If you don’t like brown sugar, you can use maple syrup.
- Butter-use unsalted butter only, because salted butter with reduce the sweetness of the dish, and we didn’t add a lot of sugar to begin with.
- Oil– (any kind, preferably light tasting olive oil)
- Cinnamon- this is optional for flavoring if you like.
How to Make Glazed Carrots
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Prep the carrots – Peel and slice the carrots into similar size.
- Parboil- Par-boil the carrot for 5 minutes and then discard the water. Rinse with cold water.
- Coat the carrots – Place in a shallow bowl, add the carrots and pour over the melted butter, oil and brown sugar.
- Bake – Bake in a pre-heated 400 F oven for 10 minutes, then toss the carrots. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, or until tender and golden. Cook time will depends on the size of your carrots. This cook time is based on 1 inch thick carrot slices.
- When cooked through, remove and let it rest for a few minutes then garnish and serve.
Tips to Make Glazed Carrots with Brown Sugar
- Use a preheated oven.
- Cover to cook with foil wrap if you like your carrot extra tender but cook uncovered for 5-10 minutes to obtain the grown glaze.
- Try to chose a bag where the carrots are about the same thickness so they can cook evenly when you bake.
- If the carrots are thicker towards the end you can always cut it in half to reduce the thickness.
- You can also slice the carrots into coins, they’ll take less time to cook.
- If you want them to cook faster, you can always par-boil the carrots before baking.
- Toss the carrots halfway through cooking.
- You can substitute honey or maple syrup for the brown sugar. Odd one to the brown sugar if you like them extra glazed.
- Sprinkle on some fresh parsley for a pop of freshness – plus it looks lovely!
Frequently Asked Questions
It is not essential but really does help! Butter burns at a higher temperature than oil but adds loads of flavor and a lovely richness to the carrots, as well as bringing out the sweetness.
It takes abut 20-25 minutes to roast carrots. If you par-boil them, they will take less time.
Absolutely. But personally prefer that you cook the carrots in the oven when you are ready to eat it. If you need to prep ahead, you can peel the carrots and cut them, parboil the day before to help minimize prep time the day of cooking.
These little orange beauties go well with all kinds of main dishes. Here are some ideas:
Garlic Butter Mushroom Chicken Bites
Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken
Grilled Harissa Chicken Thighs
Grilled Greek Chicken Skewers
Lemon Chicken Piccata
Store glazed carrots in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Heat leftovers in the microwave or on the stove over medium-low heat with a dash of butter and extra brown sugar.
I am not a fan of freezing cooked veggies but you technically can. After cooked and cooled, place portions in freezer bags and freeze for up 3 months.
How to Cook Sugar Glazed Carrots on Stovetop
If your oven is occupied at the time you want to prepare the glazed carrots, you can always cook them on your stove top.
- First par-boil the carrots for 5 minutes and discard the water.
- Then sauté the carrots with a little bit of oil on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until tender and has brown glaze.
- Add in a couple tablespoons of butter and the brown sugar. Stir well and cover to simmer for a few more minutes until the carrots are caramelized and tender.
- Allow to cool for a couple of minutes and then serve. Garnish with some chopped parsley.
More Delicious Side Dish Recipes
- Easy Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Roasted Garlic Mushrooms
- Oven Roasted Parmesan Herbed Potatoes
- Oven Roasted Baby Potatoes
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this delicious Brown Sugar Roasted Carrots recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it and share it with your friends and family!
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Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. carrots peeled and uniformly sliced
- ¼ cup brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup butter unsalted, melted
- 1 tsp. olive oil light tasting
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. cinnamon optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Peel and slice the carrots into similar size. About 1 inch in length.
- Par-boil for 5 minutes. Discard the water and rise with cold water.
- Place in a shallow bowl and pour over the melted butter, oil and brown sugar. Mix to coat well. Transfer to a cooking dish.
- Bake in a pre-heated 400 F oven for 10 minutes, then toss the carrots. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes until tender, cooked through and golden glazed.
- Remove from the oven and allow carrots to cool for a couple of minutes, then transfer onto a serving dish.
- You can garnish with fresh chopped parsley if you like.
Notes
- Use a preheated oven.
- Cover to cook with foil wrap if you like your carrot extra tender but cook uncovered for 5-10 minutes to obtain the grown glaze.
- Try to chose a bag where the carrots are about the same thickness so they can cook evenly when you bake.
- If the carrots are thicker towards the end you can always cut it in half to reduce the thickness.
- You can also slice the carrots into coins, they’ll take less time to cook.
- If you want them to cook faster, you can always par-boil the carrots before baking.
- Toss the carrots halfway through cooking.
- You can substitute honey or maple syrup for the brown sugar.
- Sprinkle on some fresh parsley for a pop of freshness – plus it looks lovely!
Do you use light or dark brown sugar?
I used light brown.
I wish I could make good tender honey brown sugar glazed carrots.. My carrots are not glazed but are very runny. I can only eat tender carrots. What am I doing wrong?
Adding more sugar always makes the glaze thicker.
Really yummy!! I used the crinkle cut carrot chips and it came together really fast. We will be having this for Easter!!
Thanks so much!!
Happy to hear you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review.
Very easy and delicious
Hi Bianka,
Thanks for leaving a review. Happy to know you enjoyed the recipe.
This recipe went head to head with a stove top maple syrup glazed version with sugared almonds tonight to see which one I’ll be making for Easter dinner. We loved the easy prep and taste of this version, although we found it took more like 60 minutes of cook time to get our carrots to the right texture. And we’re adding the almonds as a to this recipe. So yummy & now I’m all ready for Easter dinner. Thanks!!
Thanks so much for the review Annie! Glad you enjoyed it.
There is no mention of where to use the oil? And what kind of pan you use in the oven? I assume you toss the carrots in the oil as well, and place them in a baking sheet? A lot of guess work for someone who has never made this., I am winging it.
Hi Karen,
Thanks for pointing that out. It goes in with the melted butter. I adjusted the instructions.
I like it when carrots are soft when eating. Are they going to come out soft?
The more you cook, the softer they will be. You can always also cover the carrots with foil wrap and they will steam and soften faster. But you need to cook uncovered to get the nice brown glazed color.
Is this easy to make ahead? Like if I make it, once it cools can I store in the fridge and will it reheat ok the next day?
Hi Michele,
I definitely can be made before hand but it might not have the fresh crunch and texture as when you make it fresh.
My favorite side dish
I must try this recipe. thanks for sharing
Does the nutrition guide have a serving size or is it for the whole recipe?
Hi Jess, that’s for one serving.