If you’re looking for a colorful side dish to serve at Thanksgiving, look no further than these maple glazed roasted rainbow carrots! They’re roasted to perfection and perfect alongside all of your other Holiday favorites.
Thanksgiving is *almost* here and I am SO excited to make all of my favorites. Mashed potatoes, turkey, sweet potato casserole, sangria, and more.
I always like to have a variety of veggie options on Thanksgiving, and this particular recipe is perfect for picky eaters since carrots are sweet and more mild in flavor than other veggies.
My favorite way to cook carrots to really bring out the flavor is to roast them. There are a million and one flavor possibilities with roasted carrots, but these maple glazed roasted rainbow carrots are among my favorite.
They’re salty but sweet, incredibly easy to make and add a beautiful pop of color to any dinner table. They’re also delicious with honey instead of maple syrup for a different flavor profile. Try my air fryer carrots next!
How to roast carrots
PEEL CARROTS. Peel the carrots and chop off the tops if desired. I left part of the green bits on because I like the way it looks, but totally up to you!
ADD TO TRAY. Add to a large baking dish or tray. You can also opt out of peeling the carrots, just give them a good scrub if you keep the skin on.
MAKE SAUCE. Whisk together all remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Pour the sauce over the carrots and toss with your hands to evenly combine.
ROAST. Add to the oven and roast for 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of your carrots and how soft you like them. The longer you roast, the softer the inside will get.
The thicker your carrots, the longer you’ll need to roast them for. I roast until they are easily pierced with a fork, but if you like more crunch, take them out before that point.
SERVE. Garnish with pomegranate, chopped parsley, crushed pistachios and feta. I like to serve them over hummus, but they are delicious just as is!
The best method for cooking carrots
Roasted carrots have the best texture, and the flavor is amazing. Roasting draws out the natural sweetness and you get a nice caramelized flavor.
Plus, you can opt to keep them more firm in the center or get them really soft by simply roasting for longer.
In my opinion, they’re so much better than boiled carrots! Boiling carrots will soften them, but it won’t bring out the richness in flavor that roasting does.
Serving Suggestions
I love these carrots on Thanksgiving, but they’re honestly perfect any time of year with any dinner. They’re great with a roasted chicken and rice, or alongside my lentil soup for a healthy plant based dinner.
Since I always recommend dessert, my sweet potato pie bars really round out the Fall flavors here!
Do they keep?
These roasted rainbow carrots are definitely best served fresh, but if you have lots of leftovers, they’ll keep in the fridge for about 2 days.
Oddly enough, I really like them cold with hummus, but you can easily warm them up in the oven for about 10 minutes if you prefer.
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Maple Glazed Rainbow Roasted Carrots
by: claire cary
Ingredients
- 2 pounds rainbow carrots peeled
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 heaping tbsp grainy mustard
- 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 2 tsp minced garlic about 3-4 cloves
- ~1/4 tsp salt or more to taste
- ~1/4 tsp fresh black pepper
- Chopped pistachos, pomegranate, feta and parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Peel the carrots and chop off the tops if desired. I left part of the green bits on because I like the way it looks, but totally up to you!
- Add to a large baking dish or tray. If your carrots are big (mine were pretty thin so I kept them whole) slice them into strips.
- Whisk together all remaining ingredients in a small bowl.
- Pour the sauce over the carrots and toss with your hands to evenly combine.
- Add to the oven and roast for 35-50 minutes, depending on the size of your carrots and how soft you like them. The longer you roast, the softer the inside will get.
- The thicker your carrots, the longer you'll need to roast them for. I roast until they are easily pierced with a fork, but if you like more crunch, take them out before that point.
- Garnish with pomegranate, chopped parsley, crushed pistachios and feta. I like to serve them over hummus, but they are delicious just as is!
Eliza says
Absolutely excellent and so easy. Used a bag of rainbow baby carrots because it’s what I had in the fridge. Halved the recipe, used liquid aminos instead of soy sauce, and cannot agree more on the old style mustard being a must. Me and my one year old baby ate the entire bag ourselves! 😜
Claire Cary says
So happy to hear that! Thanks, Eliza!