Glazed Carrots
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Glazed Carrots are made with a buttery brown sugar and maple glaze. They are a simple side dish that’s absolutely bursting with flavor. This recipe is made on your stovetop in one pan but be sure to check out the post for tips on making them in your microwave in a pinch!
This glazed carrots recipe makes a great side dish for almost any meal. It’s a staple that I remember well from my childhood: Sunday night dinners were almost always baked chicken breast with an array of vegetables to chose from, including glazed carrots, roasted brussel sprouts and homemade cranberry sauce.
How to Make Glazed Carrots
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I’m not sure exactly where in my journey to adulthood I made the switch from vegetable hater to vegetable enthusiast, but here we are, with me raving about glazed carrots. Somewhere between the ages of 18 and 28, the days got long and hectic and somehow I became the one needing to get dinner on the table every night (and after a while fast food French fries just don’t cut it anymore). I am such a huge fan of this recipe for glazed carrots and it has become a fast favorite in my household. I think it deserves a spot on the “Favorites” list in your own as well. It truly isone of the very best glazed carrots recipes you’ll find!
Coated in a subtle buttery, brown sugar/maple glaze and seasoned simply with salt and pepper, these glazed carrots aren’t just delicious, they’re also incredibly easy to make. I love serving them with a lean protein and a slice of my favorite cornbread for dinner — a foolproof and satisfying meal.
How Do You Make Glazed Baby Carrots?
You can use this recipe to glaze any carrots (see recipe for slicing instructions) but baby carrots save a few steps because they are already just the right size and are peeled and ready to begin cooking. The steps to glaze them are simple:
- Combine carrots, water, butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup in a skillet.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, then cover and cook until your baby carrots are tender when pierced with a fork.
- Remove lid from your skillet and cooked until carrots are glazed.
How Do You Make Honey Glazed Carrots?
You can make brown sugar honey glazed carrots by substituting the maple syrup in this recipe with honey instead. Feel free to use light or dark brown sugar.
More Terrific Side Dishes
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Green Bean Casserole
- Crock Pot Stuffing
- Roasted Root Vegetables
Can I Make Glazed Carrots in the Microwave?
While I recommend making these super easy glazed carrots on the stovetop, in a pinch you can certainly make them in the microwave instead.
The best way to do this is to place your carrots in a microwave-safe dish (I like to use a glass casserole dish with a lid). Fill the dish with about 1/2-3/4″ of water, cover, and microwave for 6-7 minutes or until carrots are tender when pierced with a fork.
Drain the water and immediately add butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, salt and pepper and replace the lid over the casserole dish. Allow the butter to melt for about 1-2 minutes and cook stirring everything very well, then serve.
The glaze is usually not as thick when made in the microwave but the taste is still wonderful and I’ve done this many times when I’m in a hurry (or too lazy to pull out my skillet!). Enjoy!
Glazed carrots is a flavorful side dish recipe and so simple to make! This recipe can be doubled to feed a crowd.
- 1 pound baby carrots*
- ½ cup water
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup**
- 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar tightly packed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt plus additional to taste, as needed
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
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Combine carrots, water, butter, maple syrup, and brown sugar in a skillet over medium heat.
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Stir occasionally until butter is melted. Increase heat to medium/high and bring to a boil.
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Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook 8-10 minutes or until carrots are just becoming tender when pierced with a fork.
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Remove lid and continue to cook on high until water is evaporated and carrots are coated in glaze.
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Season with salt and pepper and serve warm.
*You can instead wash, peel, and cut into 1/2"x2" sticks full-sized carrots.
**While I recommend using maple syrup (the flavor is wonderful), you can substitute honey instead or leave it out entirely for brown sugar glazed carrots.
This recipe can also be made in the microwave, please see notes in post about how to make glazed carrots in the microwave.
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Samantha
Samantha is the creator behind the dessert blog “Sugar Spun Run”, a website she began as an excuse to appease her insatiable sweet tooth. Here she shares original, from-scratch desserts, usually of the chocolate variety. If she’s not in her kitchen (more likely than not coated in a fine dusting of powdered sugar), you’ll probably find her hanging out with her husband and their two dogs, Penny and (Princess) Leia.
Hmm this is excellent timing, I just bough plenty of carrots as it’s super cheap right now (14 cents/pound of local lovely carrots)! Will probably try this but tweek it as I cook, as always, I’m terrible at following instructions. :D
LOL, I’m a tweaker too! :) I hope you enjoy it, let us know how it goes!