It’s hard to complete the perfect Thanksgiving dinner without some amazing sides, right? I don’t know about you, but I am all about the side dishes on Thanksgiving… and Christmas…..and Easter.
The turkey can wait! I want the stuffing, vegetables, and cranberry sauce! For the last couple of years, we haven’t sat down to a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner without these Maple Roasted Carrots, and they are amazing!! Now, I realize carrots might not seem like a star dish, but these perfectly roasted, sweet carrots with hints of fresh thyme are a winner!
Simple Maple Roasted Carrots
I love roasted vegetables because it brings out such wonderful sweet flavors, crispy texture and deliciousness! Roasting takes this somewhat borning vegetable and makes it burst with flavor! This recipe takes only about 5 minutes to put together and then into the oven they go! This 5 ingredient dish can complement just about any main dish, and with the warming herb thyme, its great for fall/winter months!
Tips on Roasting Carrots
- I like to set my oven on 400 when I’m roasting vegetables. It seems to be the perfect temperature to bring out those sweet flavors and give that bit of crispness that we all love!
- Make sure to roast your vegetables in a single layer on your sheet pan without piling the vegetables on top of one another. This allows for everything to roast evenly!
- When your coating the carrots with all the seasonings, be sure that everything gets coated evenly. If it makes it easier you can toss the carrots in the seasonings in a bowl and then transfer them to the cookie sheet.
- Because of roasting the maple roasted carrots at a high temperature be sure that the maple syrup doesn’t run into the corners and sides of the pan where it will burn easily, you can avoid this by using parchment paper, which is also nice for easy cleanup!
- Not all batches of carrots will cook for the same amount of time because of different size carrots. You will know the carrots are done when you can pierce them easily with a fork and they are tender!
Variations
- I used mini whole purple and orange carrots, but if you can’t find carrots like these, you can also use whole orange carrots. If your carrots are big around it will be best to cut them long ways down the middle so they will roast correctly and get tender and a bit crispy. Baby pre-cut carrots could be used but I don’t recommend them because they don’t seem to have as good of a flavor.
- Don’t have maple syrup? You could sub the maple syrup for honey or even brown sugar diluted with a little water!
- I love fresh herbs, but if you don’t have fresh thyme on hand you can use dry. Fresh rosemary would also pair well in this dish!
Carrots are healthy too!
- Carrots are full of vitamin A, K, C, biotin, potassium, and fiber!
- Carrots are also great for skin, eyes, and teeth!
For other Holiday side dishes check out Brussels Sprouts with garlic brown butter!
Maple Roasted Carrots
Ingredients
- 2 bunches mini carrots different colors or all orange
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dry thyme
- ¼ teaspoon of both sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Wash and cut ends of carrots off. (if you have the carrots with the long stems, I like to leave about a half inch of green for looks.)
- Toss carrots evenly with oil, maple syrup, thyme, salt and pepper.
- Roast about 25-35 minutes depending on the size of your carrots. They are done when tender when pierced with a fork and a little browned and wrinkly.
- Remove from the oven and plate. Drizzle with a small amount of maple syrup and a few leaves of fresh thyme!
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