Honey-Lime Roasted Carrots
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A simple recipe for tangy-sweet roasted carrots that celebrates my favorite humble vegetable! Tossed with olive oil, honey, spices, fresh lime, herbs and crumbled soft feta cheese, this is a back-pocket recipe you’ll make over and over.
My technique for roasted carrots makes tender, sweet carrots with the best combination of sweet and tangy flavors. It’s the best way to elevate everyday, humble carrots — I hope they’ll become one of your favorite vegetable recipes.
It’s no secret that carrots are one of the most affordable vegetables you can buy, and they’re available in just about every grocery store. Even in kitchens where little actual cooking goes on, you’ll probably find some carrots forgotten in the back of the fridge.
Next to stovetop-cooked glazed carrots, roasting baby carrots wih olive oil, spices and a bright hit of lime juice is the perfect way to enhance their natural sweetness.
Ingredients you need
- Carrots: Bunches of carrots with their fresh greens attached are ideal if you can find them. Bagged carrots without the tops are fine too, but I highly recommend seeking out the freshest ones possible. That means carrots that don’t have visible cracks and/or hairy roots growing on them, which is a sign they’ve been in storage for a while.
- Spices: I use basic pantry spices to perk up the flavor of roasted carrots. They’re naturally-sweet taste pairs beautifully with cumin, smoked paprika and coriander.
- Honey: Use a bit of honey, or maple syrup to complement the carrots.
- Lime: Fresh lime juice add that pop of acidity to contrast with the sugars in the carrots and honey.
How to roast carrots:
These whole roasted carrots couldn’t be simpler to throw together. Here are the basic steps:
1. Peel the carrots and trim off the stem ends. Keep them whole if they’re smaller than 1-inch diameter. 2. Arrange the carrots in one layer on a baking sheet (line with parchment if you like). Toss with oil and seasonings by gently shaking the pan back and forth, or tossing with a pair of tongs. 3. Carrots roast best in a moderately hot oven, preheated to 425 degrees. Cover them with foil and bake 15 minutes, then bake uncovered until the edges are browned.
- The trick to the achieving the best texture in roasted carrots is to cover them with foil for half the roasting time. This helps them steam and soften so they don’t burn on the outside before they’re tender all the way through.
- Test the carrots for doneness by gently poking with a skewer or point of a small knife — they should be tender at the center.
During roasting, the natural sugars in carrots concentrate. That sweetness pairs so perfectly with bright fresh lime and honey.
Raw carrots make a crunchy, nutritious snack and fantastic julienned carrot salad.
Honey-Lime Roasted Carrots
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (680 g) carrots, peeled and trimmed
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon paprika, smoked or plain
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) honey, or maple syrup
- 1 lime, sliced in half
Serving garnishes
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- Chopped fresh herbs such as cilantro, basil or parsley
- ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese, optional
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 (200 C) degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper for easier clean up.
- Trim the leafy tops off the carrots if you like (you can use them to make pesto if you enjoy their flavor). Slice the tapered, slimmer ends off the carrots. Slice the larger top part of the carrots in half lengthwise so they roast evenly.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the carrots and sprinkle evenly with the salt and spices. Add the honey and toss the carrots around to coat them in the seasonings. Put the lime halves on the pan, cut side down.
- Cover the baking sheet with a piece of aluminum foil.
- Roast 15 minutes. Remove the foil and give the carrots a quick stir. Continue roasting 10-15 minutes, until they're are just tender when poked with the tip of a small knife and the edges are golden brown. Squeeze the roasted limes over the carrots and scrape up any caramelized juices.
- To serve, transfer the carrots and pan juices to a serving plate. Sprinkle the green onions, herbs and feta cheese over the top.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- The trick to the achieving the best texture in roasted carrots is to cover them with foil for half the roasting time. This helps them steam and soften so they don’t burn on the outside before they’re tender all the way through.
- If your carrots are larger than 2-inches in diameter, be sure slice them in half vertically so all the pieces roast evenly.
- Test the carrots for doneness by gently poking with a skewer or point of a small knife — they should be tender at the center.
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
This is my favorite way to roast carrots!
Yay!
Hi, I wonder if I missed something here. Thought I followed all instructions precisely but for some reason all that lovely marinade for the carrots burned and blackened. Did anyone else have this occur? The only step I did differently is that I used tin foil (sprayed with oil) instead of parchment paper, because although the instructions on my box of parchment paper say it can be used up to 400 degrees, it always starts burning in my oven if its over 375. Could the tin foil have caused my marinade to burn like that? Due to the “loss” of all that yummy sauce, the carrots, while properly cooked, didn’t have nearly as much flavor as I’d hoped. If I can figure out what went wrong, I’ll definitely try this again!! Thanks.
Hi Deborah – Oh no! Sorry to hear you had trouble. Foil does cause faster browning because of the reflective surface. Also, it’s possible your baking sheet was too large for the amount of carrots. Also, check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer as it can run hotter, especially as you say parchment paper burns in your oven.
I liked this flavor combination, though my carrots weren’t terribly sweet ones, so I did double the maple syrup. Next time I will omit the zest because it brought a bitterness to the dish I didn’t like (and I normally love citrus zest in recipes, just not this time). I will definitely add this to my rotation.
These look beautiful and delicious.
Wow, beautiful carrots! I love the design of your blog! I’ll be back to see what other tasty recipes you come up with!! I just had to come back and tell you what a smashing success these were. I cut my not-as-cute-as-yours carrots into 3-inch slender sticks and roasted them. We had them with salmon fillets simply baked with shallots and lemon on top. (In the same oven, for the last 10 minutes with carrots.) They were perfect together! This is a definite keeper. Loved them!!
i am thinking of cooking a large batch will i be able to freeze leftovers
Ok These carrots taste great..Thanks
I am thinking of cooking a large batch will i be able to freeze leftovers
I made this dish for our family dinner gathering this weekend and not only was it easy to make but delicious. Not one carrot was left on the sheet and I made extra! Thanks for the recipe – I will be making this often.
wow !! this baby carrots looks so yummy ! 🙂
These carrots taste great. I shared this post on my blog’s facebook and twitter pages.
https://www.facebook.com/HomeIsWhereIBelong
Many thanks Julie! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
I found the receipt this morning on pinterest and I try this for lunch, I have only big carrots, but it is delicious even with bigger ones
thanks for sharing 🙂
These look incredible, I am definitely going to try this recipe! Thank you.
Fabulous dish! Served it with Vindaloo Mahi Mahi, Mango, Avocado & Red Pepper Salsa and Steamed Green Beans…will make again very soon.
This recipe looks delish…..can’t wait to try it.
PS. very nice picture of yourself….very natural.
This recipe looks delish…..can’t wait to try it.
Hi Jenn. So sorry about that! I just installed a new design for the site and still working on getting all the recipes in the new template. I’ve added the recipe back and now it’s printable! Cheers.
We made these and loved them! A tad sweet, but not too much, plus not too soft. Awesome 🙂