These Caramelized Carrots have a tender texture with an almost candy-like glaze. They are an easy dish for Easter or any night of the week. They are always gobbled down with enthusiasm as we love carrots in our home.
Want more carrot dishes? Then try our Pan-Fried Carrot and Parsnip Recipe, Carrot Ginger Soup, Honey Glazed Dijon Roasted Carrots, Marinated Carrot Salad, or Cranberry Apple Slow Cooker Carrot Recipe.
This classic side dish recipe is wonderful with ham, mashed potatoes, and other fixings for Easter, Thanksgiving, or for the holidays. They are super easy to make when you may have other dishes that require more time and effort.
Carrots are a crunchy, healthy vegetable that is a good source of beta carotene, fiber, vitamin K1, potassium, and antioxidants. They are also filled with lots of minerals and fiber. Noshing on carrots can help you lose weight too as they are low in calories. A cup of carrots only has 50 calories. That is some good nutritional information for the lowly carrot.
Helpful Items For This Recipe
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What is in Caramelized Carrots?
This glazed carrot recipe uses simple ingredients to make a flavor-bursting recipe. I love it when vegetables have a lovely caramel on them, it really does add too much to a simple dish. When growing up our carrots maybe had butter, salt, and pepper but that was it, Adding a bit more flavor with butter and brown sugar makes all the difference. You can add a combination of butter and honey or butter and maple syrup too.
For this recipe, I like using whole large carrots as opposed to baby carrots. Baby carrots I like to use for a quick weeknight meal instead. Make sure your carrots are cut in nice uniform pieces, this will help to cook them evenly.
Ingredients
2 lbs. carrots, peeled and sliced into 1-inch pieces
2 tbsp salted butter
3 tbsp brown sugar
Pinch of sea salt
How to Make Caramelized Carrots
For this recipe for brown sugar glazed carrots, they are made on the stovetop as opposed to roasting them in the oven. This is nice if you have the oven in use already for a big bird or roast.
Place the sliced carrots in a small pot and add water to just cover the carrots.
Boil the carrots until cooked, they should still be firm, about 8-10 minutes.
Drain the carrots and set aside.
In a medium non-stick pan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots and stir to coat the carrots with the butter.
Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved.
Continue to cook the carrots over medium-high heat stirring occasionally until the sugar begins to caramelize on the carrots, about 7-10 minutes. Let the carrots get a good caramelization without stirring too much.
Remove from the heat and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and parsley.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
Can I make Glazed Carrots in Advance?
Yes, you can make these carrots ahead of time or you can boil them and then reheat them in the pan to caramelize. If doing so then boil for one or two minutes less.
You can peel, cut, and store your carrots up to 3 days ahead of time too. Just store them in an airtight bag or container.
Adding in a little warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger would have this vegetable fall and winter-ready for the holidays.
I always have one simple side dish that isn’t laden with tons of heavy ingredients for a big dinner I have made these and they are perfect for holiday buffets too.
Other Great Carrot Recipes
Here are some delicious recipes using the plain old carrot and bringing it to a new level. Some recipes are savory and then we take you to the sweeter side of things with desserts, muffins, cookies, and more. I want to share with you our brand new carrot cake recipe too which I think is amazing.
The one thing you have to say about carrots is that they are versatile. They lend themselves to every culture and move from savory to sweet easily. They are a vegetable that we always have at the ready in our refrigerator.
Easy Pickled Carrots – a great way to preserve carrots and to eat any time.
Marinated Carrot Salad – this classic salad I grew up with.
Feta Roasted Carrot Recipe – a little Mediterranean spin for a side dish.
Creamy Vegan Moorish Spiced Roasted Carrot Soup – a vegan option for carrot lovers.
Cranberry Sage Carrots – for carrot lovers in the fall.
Carrot Curry Soup – deep warm flavors abound in this soup.
Carrot, Parsnip, and Lentil Casserole – this has been a very popular complete vegetarian meal.
Carrot Recipes On The Sweeter Side
Best Carrot Cake Recipe – if you love a carrot cake that is full of wonderful ingredients like pineapple, coconut, and walnuts then this is the recipe for you.
Zucchini Carrot Breakfast Muffins – these muffins are super healthy and choked full of great flavorful ingredients.
Carrot Cake Cookies – these are a delightful change up from cake and are fun to make.
Easy Carrot Snack Cake – don’t want all the bother of a layered cake then this easy cake is for you.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes – another way to love your carrot cake.
Pin it HERE!!
Pin it HERE!!
Caramelized Carrots
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. carrots peeled and sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- Pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Place the sliced carrots in a small pot and add water to just cover the carrots.
- Boil the carrots until cooked, they should still be firm, about 8-10 minutes.
- Drain the carrots and set aside.
- In a medium non-stick pan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots and stir to coat the carrots with the butter.
- Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved.
- Continue to cook the carrots over medium high heat stirring occasionally until the sugar begins to caramelize on the carrots, about 7-10 minutes. Let the carrots get a good caramelization without stirring too much.
- Remove from the heat sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and parsley.
Comments & Reviews
Mert says
LOVE LOVE COOKED CARROTS! I think that carrots are the most under used vegetable out there! Have been making these for over 50+ years now, switching the brown sugar to a brown sugar substitute as I have Type 1 insulin dependent diabetes for 63 years now. With the introduction of the air fryer, of which my husband took control of and is a whiz, he can cook baby carrots very tender, within minutes, then of which he hands them over to me for the final glazing. YUMMMMMMMM! Sometimes we just cook and butter them, adding dill weed …Yum too! I add grated carrots to almost everything I make, including my homemade sauerkraut!
Tara Noland says
I am a big carrot fan also. One of my go to veggies!!