These easy Honey Roasted Carrots prove that patience pays off, just like in the book The Carrot Seed. Leaving them whole and letting them slowly roast and glaze in the oven transforms them into a tender, sweet side that the whole family will love.
It's finally spring here in New England, and the first place you'll find me as soon as the ground thaws is out in the garden. I spend my winters poring over seed catalogs, carefully marking up garden layouts on graph paper, and dreaming of digging in the dirt. If you've ever lived in a cold climate, you'll know that that first warm day of the season spent outside is like nothing else.
Planting seeds is a pretty radical act of hope, if you ask me. When you grow a garden, you have to believe and trust in a future that's beyond your control. There's no guarantee that anything will germinate, much less turn into the prize-winning vegetables of your dreams. But with patience and some stubborn determination, your garden might just surprise and delight you, just like in The Carrot Seed.
About The Carrot Seed
Husband-and-wife team Crockett Johnson (illustrator, 1906-1975) and Ruth Krauss (author, 1901-1993) published The Carrot Seed in 1945, and it's been in continuous print ever since. The story is incredibly simple: a boy plants a carrot seed, everyone tells him it won't grow, but it does. At just 101 words, it's a short-and-sweet ode to defiant optimism and dogged determination.
Ruth Krauss wrote almost four dozen books for children over the course of forty years, several of which were illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Their collaboration on A Hole Is to Dig (1952) helped to launch Sendak's career. He characterized Krauss as a giant in the world of children's literature, saying: "Ruth broke rules and invented new ones, and her respect for the natural ferocity of children bloomed in to poetry that was utterly faithful to what was true in their lives."
You'll probably recognize Crockett Johnson's distinctive illustration style from Harold and the Purple Crayon, which he wrote and illustrated in 1955. I've always liked to think that four-year-old Harold grew up to become the little boy in The Carrot Seed, who still employs some magical thinking.
Recipe Inspiration
Everyone kept saying it wouldn't come up. But he still pulled up the weeds around it every day and sprinkled the ground with water. And then, one day...
—Ruth Krauss, The Carrot Seed
After many weeks of waiting, watering, and weeding, the boy in the story does indeed grow a carrot. Pulling a whole carrot out of the ground is a delightful experience—you never really know what you're going to get on the other end, but it's always satisfying. If you've never done it, I highly recommend.
So, for this recipe, keeping the carrots whole—almost like you just pulled them out of the ground—made the most sense to me. Plus, carrots can be tricky to for kids to cut, especially if they're the larger side, since they roll around a lot and have thicker and thinner ends to deal with. By keeping the carrots whole, all kids need to do here is practice their peeling, which is a great skill to learn.
My absolute favorite peeler is this Y-shaped Kuhn Rikon Swiss peeler (not an affiliate link, I'm just a fan!). It's inexpensive, easy for kids and grown-ups to hold and work with, stays sharp forever, and comes in a zillion fun colors. I've given this peeler as a stocking stuffer to multiple people in the past—I feel that strongly that everyone should have one! Using it will make peeling just about any veggie quick and easy for chefs of all ages.
Roasting carrots transforms them from crunchy and vegetal to tender and sweet. To build on that natural sweetness, I added a mix of honey and butter to a baking dish along with the peeled carrots, which transformed into a bubbly, sticky sauce in the oven. Even carrot skeptics will be convinced by the sweet, shiny honey glaze the carrots take on by the end of roasting.
Because these carrots are roasted whole, it takes some time for them to cook all way through on their thick ends. To speed things along, I wrapped the baking dish in foil and let it cook for a while in the oven. Once the carrots were mostly tender, I unwrapped the dish and popped it back in the oven to let the sauce thicken up and turn golden brown and bubbly.
The resulting carrots are so simple and so undeniably carrot-y that they're the perfect showcase for the vegetable. They're a versatile side dish for just about anything (try them with some Juicy Yogurt Baked Chicken or some Oven-Baked Meatballs to make it a meal!) and are very hands-off once they're roasting. Yes, they take some patience while you wait for them to cook through, but like all good things, they're worth the wait.
Ingredients You'll Need
To make these Honey Roasted Carrots, you'll need:
- Carrots: You'll need 8 carrots that are about the same size to ensure they cook through at a similar rate. Medium-sized carrots (about 1 to 1 ½ inches in diameter at their thick ends) work best here. Use rainbow carrots for even more fun color!
- Honey: A couple tablespoons of honey bring out the natural sweetness of the carrots. You can also use maple syrup instead, if you prefer!
- Butter: A few scattered pieces of butter melt and mix with the honey and the carrots' juices in the oven, forming a luscious sauce.
- Salt and Pepper: A sprinkle of each round out the flavor.
How to Make Honey Roasted Carrots
The full recipe with detailed timing and instructions for these Honey Roasted Carrots is below, but here are some key moments to look out for along the way:
- Peel the carrots: Use a vegetable peeler to peel the carrots, working from the thick end to the thin end and pulling the peeler away from you as you remove the peels in long strips.
- Add the butter and honey: Place the carrots in a baking dish, scatter the butter pieces over them, then drizzle them with the honey. Sprinkle them evenly with the salt and pepper.
- Roast, covered, then turn: Wrap the dish in foil and roast until mostly tender. Remove the foil and use tongs to turn the carrots over in the sauce.
- Roast, uncovered, until tender: Roast, uncovered, until the thick ends of the carrots are all the way tender when you poke them with a fork.
Why This Recipe Is Great for Kids
I've spent years writing cookbooks and creating recipes that are safe, fun, and engaging for kids and home cooks of all ages. Here are some key features of this recipe that make it perfect for kids and families to make together at home:
- Young chefs who are still beginners with their knife skills can focus on using a vegetable peeler in this recipe, and only need a knife to cut off the ends of the carrots (or a grown-up can help with that part).
- Kids can assemble everything for the carrots and their glaze right in the baking dish, with no stovetop component.
- There are good stretches of downtime in this recipe once the carrots are in the oven, so kids can take a break as needed. This is a good time to clean up, set the table, or go play or read—just don't forget to set a timer!
Let's Cook!
Gather your equipment, measure your ingredients, and get cooking with this kid-friendly recipe! If you loved making it together, please leave five stars and share your stories in the comments.
Honey Roasted Carrots
Good To Know
- Since these carrots are roasted whole, it’s important that they’re all of a similar size so they all cook at the same rate. Carrots that are 1 to 1 ½ inches in diameter at their thick ends work well here.
- You can make this recipe with regular orange carrots or you can use rainbow carrots for even more fun and color.
- You can use pure maple syrup instead of the honey in this recipe, if you prefer.
- If your carrots have their leafy tops attached, you can eat those, too! Cut them off from the carrots and wash them well, then chop the soft, feathery parts into small pieces and sprinkle them over dishes like you would parsley, or add them to a salad.
Equipment You'll Need
- Cutting board
- Vegetable peeler
- Chef's knife
- 9x13-inch baking dish
- Aluminum foil
- Serving platter (optional)
Measure Your Ingredients
- 8 medium carrots (about 1 ½ pounds)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
Let's Cook!
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- 8 medium carrotsWorking one at a time, hold each carrot by its thick end and place the tip on a cutting board. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the peels in long strips, working away from you from the thick to the thin end and turning the carrot until all of the peel is gone. Lay each peeled carrot on the cutting board and use a chef’s knife to trim off the tops and bottoms.
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, 2 tablespoons honey, ½ teaspoon table salt, 1 pinch ground black pepperPlace the carrots in a 9x13-inch baking dish in an even layer. Scatter the butter pieces over the carrots in the dish, then drizzle them evenly with the honey. Sprinkle evenly with the salt and pepper. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil.
- Place the baking dish in the oven and roast, covered for 30 minutes.
- Use oven mitts to remove the baking dish from the oven and place it on the stovetop or a cooling rack. Carefully remove the foil (peel it up from the end furthest away from you to protect yourself from the steam). Use tongs to turn each carrot over, making sure they’re all well-coated in the sauce.
- Use oven mitts to return the baking dish to the oven and continue to roast, uncovered, until the carrots are tender when poked in their thick ends with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes. (Be careful when poking; the dish will be hot!)
- Use oven mitts to remove the baking dish from the oven and place it on the stovetop or a cooling rack. Let cool for 5 minutes, then use a rubber spatula or serving spoon to carefully stir the carrots so they’re well-coated in sauce again.
- Serve the carrots right from the dish or transfer them to a serving platter, spooning any extra sauce over the top.
Conversation Starters
While your carrots roast and when you sit down to enjoy them together, talk about what it was like to make the recipe and the themes in The Carrot Seed. You can help young readers make connections to the book and share your own answers, ideas, and stories with them with the following prompts:
- In The Carrot Seed, lots of people tell the little boy that his carrot seed probably won't grow into a carrot. Why do you think they told him that? Was he right to keep hoping that the carrot would appear?
- Have you ever grown a carrot or another vegetable from a seed? What did you grow, and what was it like to wait for it to grow?
- Have you ever had to wait a long time for something to happen? What did it feel like when you were waiting, and when it finally happened?
- What did the carrots look and feel like before, during, and after cooking this recipe? How did the carrots change over time?
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