Hot Honey Roasted Carrots with goat cheese, thyme and hot honey agrodolce are a perfect accompaniment to serve on the side of many different dishes all through the year. This super versatile sweet and spicy baked carrots with honey side dish recipe can be made with any seasonal root vegetables like radishes, parsnips, beets and more.
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Baked carrots with honey
These roasted carrots are not your typical baked carrots with honey recipe.
This roasted carrot recipe is based on a dish called Hot Honey Roasted Roots from McGlinn’s Public House in Wenatchee WA. McGlinn’s Roasted Roots dish is served with roasted radishes and beets as either an appetizer or warm salad.
And I developed this version with carrots and hot honey agrodolce for Genuine Skagit Valley as a part of my partnership with Genuine Skagit Valley to showcase the versatility of what’s available at Skagit Valley farm stands. The jalapenos and carrots were grown locally at Boldly Grown Farms and cheese is Sally’s Best spreadable sheep cheese from Harmony Field. This cheese is only available for a short time so I use it when I can. But any soft cheese like feta or goat cheese is perfect counterpoint to the spicy and tangy agrodolce sauce.
Agrodolce is simply a sweet and sour vinegar based condiment or sauce that is often made with sugar and vinegar. It may sound fancy but really my version is just honey simmered with peppers and vinegar until syrupy.
It hits all the flavor notes when poured over perfectly roasted carrots.
Tangy hot honey agrodolce, sweet roasted carrots and dollops of creamy goat cheese with fresh herbs. Seriously this is one showstopping (but simple!) carrot side dish recipe.
I love to serve it during the week to my family with quinoa or rice and a simple protein like baked chicken thighs.
But it’s also a beautiful side dish to serve with ham at Easter or with turkey on Thanksgiving.
Ingredients
- Carrots – use whole carrots or slice larger carrots in half lengthwise. If carrots with the greens still on are available, use those, otherwise use whatever carrots you have. If substituting smaller pieces of carrot increase the temperature to roast carrots at 400 degrees for only 25 minutes instead. You can also use any other root vegetable in this recipe. The best root vegetables for roasting are potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and beets. Or use radishes, brussel sprouts or squash.
- Honey – you can use bottled hot honey if you have already purchased it but but it’s so easy to simply warm some honey with peppers (either fresh or dried) to make your own quick hot honey at home.
- Jalapeno peppers – or substitute other fresh peppers or dried peppers. Any chile peppers you have can be used to make homemade hot honey.
- Apple cider vinegar – use apple cider vinegar to make the simmered vinegar sauce, or agrodolce. Or use whatever light vinegar you have available.
- Goat cheese – tangy goat cheese is great with roasted carrots. But you don’t have to make roasted carrots with goat cheese. You can use any creamy cheese you have on hand. Try roasted vegetables with feta, cottage cheese, ricotta, burrata or parmesan cheese instead.
- Thyme – fresh thyme or dried thyme adds an herby counterbalance to the sweet roasted carrots and honey.
- Olive oil – for the roasted carrots
- Salt and black pepper
- Optional – Pea shoots can be found in some grocers and at local farm stands in spring. And can be omitted when unavailable. Or substitute spicy arugula leaves, fresh parsley or more thyme instead.
Step by step instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare carrots. You can cook carrots with the skin on. Unless the skin is especially thick there really is no need to peel carrots before baking. It is just for presentation. Instead simply wash carrots, scrub well and trim carrot top greens to just about 1″. Baking carrots with the greens still on makes for a stunning plating and presentation. But carrot tops are edible as well. Toss in olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper.
- Place carrots on a parchment lined baking sheet to ensure that they do not get too roasted over the long slow roast. For more browned crispy roasted carrots roast directly on an unlined baking sheet instead.
- Roast carrots in preheated oven until beginning to soften, 25 minutes. Stir then continue roasting until completely tender and just beginning to brown, about 20-25 minutes longer.
- While carrots roast make hot honey agrodolce. Slice jalapenos and place in a medium saucepan with honey. Add only a few jalapeno slices for less heat. After about 3 minutes when honey is thinned and jalapenos are sizzling carefully add vinegar and continue cooking over medium heat until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. You will know that the agrodolce is done with the bubbles pop louder and more vigorously. Remove from heat. Remove the candied jalapeno slices and reserve for another use.
- Immediately pour hot honey agrodolce over roasted roots and toss to coat.
- Add crumbled cheese and thyme leaves and garnish with pea shoots, if available, or baby arugula leaves, cilantro or parsley. Drizzle with more hot honey sauce if desired, or serve the remainder on the side.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
How long to roast whole carrots?
It takes about 45-50 minutes to bake whole carrots at 350 degrees, depending on the size and thickness of your carrots.
Some oven roasted carrots recipes call for a high heat from 400 degrees and even up to 425 degrees and roasting for anywhere from 20-40 minutes.
I’ve tried this recipe at all different temperatures and baking times. Baking carrots at 400 or 425 works great for carrots that are thinly sliced or cut into small pieces. But I’ve found that roasting at a higher temp tends to roast whole carrots too much too quickly leaving them charred on the outside before they are fully cooked through and tender on the inside.
Instead roasting whole carrots at a lower temperature of 350 degrees produces a perfectly baked carrot that is evenly roasted and not charred.
Yield
2 pounds of carrots serves roughly 4-6 people as a side dish.
To make roasted carrots for a crowd at larger dinner parties (and holidays like Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving) simply increase the serving size in the recipe card below.
How to serve
Serve this side dish recipe in the summer as a side dish for salmon or steak dinner, or on busy weeknights with roasted chicken.
Serve roasted carrots with ham at Easter, or as an easy thanksgiving side dish idea.
It also makes a hearty vegetable forward main dish. I suggest adding a bed of tangy greek yogurt, whipped feta or labneh dip, a hefty serving of grains (like quinoa or rice) and some toasted nuts on top to finish.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carrots
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 small jalapeno pepper or ½ a medium pepper
- ¼ cup goat cheese crumbled
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or ½ teaspoon dried
- ¼ cup pea shoots or baby arugula
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Meanwhile, prepare vegetables. Peel carrots leaving a 1-1 ½” of green tops, if desired, as a garnish. Slice larger roots in half lengthwise and leave small carrots whole. Then toss in olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper before placing evenly on a parchment lined baking sheet.2 pounds carrots, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Roast carrots in preheated oven until beginning to soften, 25 minutes. Stir then continue roasting until completely tender and just beginning to brown, about 20-25 minutes longer.
- While carrots roast slice jalapenos and place in a medium saucepan with honey. Add only a few jalapeno slices for less heat. After about 3 minutes when honey is thinned and jalapenos are sizzling carefully add vinegar and continue cooking over medium heat until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. You will know that the agrodolce is done with the bubbles pop louder and more vigorously. Remove from heat. Remove the candied jalapeno slices and reserve for another use.½ cup honey, 1 small jalapeno pepper, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- Immediately pour hot honey agrodolce over roasted roots. Add crumbled cheese and thyme leaves. Garnish with pea shoots if available or spicy baby arugula and serve warm.¼ cup goat cheese, 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, ¼ cup pea shoots
Nutrition
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