Honey Butter Glazed Carrots Recipe
Honey Glazed Carrots recipe is quick and easy to make with just a few ingredients that you likely already have on hand! They’re cooked on the stove-top to sweet, buttery perfection with honey, butter, and just a touch of fresh lemon.
Enjoy more of my favorite carrot recipes like Balsamic Carrots and Honey Roasted Carrots.
Table of Contents
If you’re looking for a vegetable side dish that both kids and adults will eat, glazed carrots is the way to go! Carrots have a natural sweetness, so kids usually like them. And when you cook them with butter and honey, they truly become irresistible.
Carrots are full of vitamins and nutrients like beta carotene, fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin K, potassium, and antioxidants. Even cooked butter and honey, carrots still provide great health benefits!
Our holiday table is not not complete without these beautiful honey glazed carrots. Sometimes I add fun ingredient like lemon, orange, cinnamon, or cayenne pepper. Each additional ingredient takes the flavor of the carrots to a whole new level. Orange or lemon are typically my favorite add-ins, but when I want to add some heat, cayenne pepper is the way to go. Combine cayenne pepper with orange for s spicy orange twist.
How to Make Honey Glazed Carrots
Prepare the carrots. Wash and peel the carrots. Then, cut them on the bias at about a 45° angle. Make sure all of the slices are about the same size so they cook evenly!
Cook the carrots. Add olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add the carrots, season with salt and pepper, and cover the pan. Cook for just about 5 minutes.
Add final ingredients. Flip all of the carrots over. Add butter, honey, lemon juice, and parsley. Once the butter melts, stir it all together and let simmer until the carrots are tender. Stir once in a while.
PRO TIP: You can cook carrots a little softer or a little crunchier, according you your personal taste.
Tips for the Best Honey Butter Glazed Carrots
- When cutting carrots, make sure that they are as uniform in size as possible to ensure even cooking.
- If using young carrots, you won’t need to peel them but wash them and scrub the thin outer layer of the skin.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan! This will ensure even cooking and you can get some sear of the carrots if you’d like.
- If you want to get some sear on your carrots, let them cook without moving or tossing for about 5 minutes. This will ensure some beautiful browning on the outside.
Additional Flavors
- Feel free to add some nuts like chopped almonds or pecans.
- If you want to add some seasonal flavor, try fall spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
- For those who like a spicy touch, add a pinch of cayenne pepper. The spice will work great with the sweetness of honey.
- You can finish cooked glazed carrots with a squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of fresh ginger, or squeeze of orange juice.
- If you want stronger lemon or orange flavor, mix in lemon or orange zest during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
Make Ahead and Reheating Instructions
You can simply wash, peel, and cut carrots ahead of time. Place cut carrots into a zip-lock bag and keep it in the fridge for a day or two before cooking.
Even though carrots only take about 20 minutes to cook, you can still make them ahead of time. Cook carrots a day ahead and store in a plastic container with an airtight lid.
To reheat cooked carrots, you can use a microwave or in a pan on the stove. In a microwave, make sure to reheat them in a microwave-safe container and covered with a microwave lid or another plate. In the pan, reheat over medium heat, covered with a lid, just until heated through.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! You can easily use baby carrots to make pan-roasted glazed carrots, but you have to make sure they are close to the same size. This means if you have thick carrots in the mix, you would need to cut them in half, length-wise.
Let the cooked carrots cool to room temperature before transferring into an airtight storage container. Pop them in the fridge for just 1-2 days before reheating in the microwave or back in the pan.
This veggie side dish helps balance heartier main courses like Lamb Chops and Beef Tenderloin. It also plates well beside entrees like Roast Chicken and Garlic Pork Loin. Since it’s a sweet side dish, I don’t recommend pairing it with another sweeter side dish! Think more along the lines of savory sides like Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Mushrooms.
More Vegetable Side Dish Recipes
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Stovetop Glazed Carrots Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb carrots
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp fresh minced parsley (half the amount if using dried)
- salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Wash carrots and peel them before cutting.
- Cut carrots on the bias, at about 45 degree angle, and make sure the all the slices are the same thickness so it cooks evenly.
- Preheat a cooking pan that is big enough to cook the carrots without overcrowding them too much over medium heat. Add some olive oil and spread carrots evenly all over the cooking pan, cut side up. Season with salt and pepper, cover the pan, and let carrots cook for about 5 minutes.
- Flip carrots over and add butter, honey, lemon juice, and parsley
- Once butter is melted, stir everything together and let it simmer until carrots are tender. Stir carrots once in a while. (You can cook carrots a little softer or a little crunchier, according you your personal taste.)
- Note: feel free to double the recipe if needed, for a bigger crowd.
Notes
- Remember, you can cook carrots a little softer or a little crunchier, according you your personal taste. Simply cook them a few minutes more or less for your perfect softness.
- When cutting carrots, make sure that they are as uniform in size as possible to ensure even cooking.
- If using young carrots, you won’t need to peel them but wash them and scrub the thin outer layer of the skin.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan! This will ensure even cooking and you can get some sear of the carrots if you’d like.
- If you want to get some sear on your carrots, let them cook without moving or tossing for about 5 minutes. This will ensure some beautiful browning on the outside.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in November 2019.
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
I make this every year on Easter and everyone always loves them.
I don’t like honey, what else can I use?