Delicious maple glazed carrots are buttery and tender and sweet, caramelized to perfection with a gentle heat and warm inviting spices that make a sensational easy side dish for any occasion from holiday feasts to weeknight dinners.
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Why We Love These Glazed Maple Carrots
- Minimal effort, maximum flavor. It's the perfect side dish to liven up any meal. They’re bright and vibrant and sweet, and they pack a zing, a zip, and gentle heat thanks to ginger, warming spices, and chili powder.
- All this recipe needs is a quick saute to achieve carrots that are cooked but not overcooked. No one wants lifeless, mushy carrots in their lives.
- Even picky eaters love this dish tender carrots and a rich buttery sweet glaze? This is a great way to get the whole family eating more veggies.
- These carrots are perfect for holiday meals and dinner parties or whenever oven space is at a premium. This is a fast, stove-top side dish that comes together fast and will still taste great if it sits out for 10 to 15 minutes while your main course is finishing up. Although these carrots will still taste great at room temperature, you can simply cover the serving platter with some aluminium foil if you’d like to keep them warm.
Ingredients
- Carrots: If you can, try to source whole carrots that are roughly the same size. Rainbow carrots would be particularly stunning. Either way, we’re aiming for minimal prep here - peel and slice in half. If you’re using organic carrots, you don’t even have to peel them – just a good scrub and you’re good to go!
- Butter: I used unsalted butter just to control the amount of saltiness. If you cook with salted, just be careful with the amount of salt you use.
- Maple syrup: Not just for pancakes - speaking of, use pure maple syrup and not imitation or pancake syrup for this recipe.
- Spices: Warming cinnamon and vibrant, smokey chipotle powder come together for the perfect flavor medley. A little garlic powder - we’re not using fresh garlic simply because I don’t want to have to worry about burning anything when I’m cooking for a crowd.
- Seasoning: Salt and freshly ground black pepper - because you can taste as you go, I’ll say to season them to taste, but I used a teaspoon for 2 pounds.
- For garnish: Try using some fresh parsley, mint or cilantro. They all pair beautifully with carrots.
Maple-Glazed Carrots Recipe Variations
If you’re hosting a gathering, you can never go wrong with a little extra flair in the flavor department. Maple and carrots are the perfect combination, but you can up the wow factor of this delicious side dish with any of these add-ons or variations:
- Add a few sprigs of fresh thyme (or any fresh herbs, like rosemary or sage) to the butter to elevate the flavors of this dish.
- Add crumbled candied bacon bits for a salty, umami packed crunch that contrasts with the natural sweetness of the carrots.
- Top with pomegranate for bright pops of festive flavor.
- Swap chipotle for a little smoked paprika if you aren’t a fan of spice. If you like spice, but don't have chipotle on hand, you can swap for up to half to one teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
- Honey can be a delicious substitute for maple syrup if you prefer its flavor. However, it won't be suitable for your vegan guests, so keep that in mind. You can also use brown sugar to sweeten the carrots in this easy recipe.
- You can use baby carrots if that’s what you’ve got, you’ll just need to adjust the cooking times since the baby carrots will cook much, much faster.
How to Make Glazed Maple Carrots (in 3 Easy Steps)
- Cook carrots. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, place carrots in a single layer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are tender and butter is browned, 8 to 10 minutes. If the pan gets dry, turn down the heat an deglaze with a few tablespoons of chicken stock as needed.
- Toss in sweet maple glaze. Stir in the ¼ cup maple syrup, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, and ½ teaspoon of chili powder (adjust this to your own spice tolerance) and cook until the carrots are coated in the buttery glaze and slightly caramelized and are just shy of fork tender, about 4 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper and then taste and adjust the level of spice if needed.
- Serve. Divide the carrots among 4-6 plates and serve.
Tips & Tricks
- You’ll want your carrots to be uniform in size. When shopping, try to pick a bunch that are uniform in size, however if you have a few larger carrots, you can quarter those to even things out.
- Be mindful of the cooking time to avoid overcooking. Check for doneness by testing the carrots with a fork—they should be tender but not mushy.
- Butter has a lower smoke point than olive oil, so if you’re the impatient type, you can use half butter and half olive oil to prevent burning your butter.
- If you’re using organic carrots, you don’t even have to peel them. Just a quick rinse and scrub, and you’re good to go!
- This recipe should be enough to feed 6 as a side dish, but if you need more you can easily double this recipe. Just make sure they have enough room in the pan.
- For easy cleanup, serve the carrots in the same pan you cook them in.
More Cozy Holiday-Inspired Recipes
If you enjoyed these Maple Glazed Carrots, check out a few of our other holiday-inspired dishes -- perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas Dinner, or any holiday meal:
- Roasted Butternut Squash Gratin
- Boursin Mashed Potatoes
- Everything Bagel Bite Rolls
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pavlova Nests
- Dirty Chai Tiramisu
📖 Recipe
Maple-Glazed Carrots
Delicious maple glazed carrots are buttery and tender and sweet, caramelized to perfection with gentle heat and warm, inviting spices that make a sensational side dish for any occasion.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter or half olive oil and half butter
- 2 pounds medium carrots trimmed, peeled, halved lengthwise
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon chipotle powder or chili powder or red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- Garnish: 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro mint or combo of both
Instructions
- Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are tender and butter is browned, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Stir in the ¼ cup maple syrup, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, and ½ teaspoon of chili powder (adjust this to your own spice tolerance) and cook until the carrots are coated and slightly caramelized and are just shy of fork tender, about 4 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper and then taste and adjust the level of spice if needed.
- Divide the carrots among 4 to 6 plates and serve, garnished with a bit of chopped mint, cilantro, or parsley.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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