Roasted Carrots: 3 Simple Tricks for Plump, Juicy Results
Roasted carrots that stay plump and juicy instead of dry and wrinkled, glazed with honey, orange and fresh rosemary. Three simple tricks do the work: cut the carrots large and even, parboil them briefly to hydrate them, and coat every surface in oil. Roast them hot, flip them regularly and add the honey, orange juice and chopped rosemary at the end.
Ingredients
- 400 g carrots peeled
- 1 orange peel taken off in strips, juice of half used for the glaze
- 2 rosemary stems leaves picked and finely chopped, stalks kept for the pot
- 1/2 tsp salt for the pot of water
- cold water enough to cover the carrots
- 15 ml olive oil
- 0.5 g salt for the tray
- 1 tbsp honey
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 200C / 392F (conventional). Peel the carrots. Keep the tapered root ends whole and cut the thick body of each carrot in half, so the pieces are an even size, about thumb size.
- Peel the orange in strips and set the peel aside. Pick the leaves from the rosemary stems and keep the stalks. Save the juice of half the orange for later.
- Put the carrots, orange peel and rosemary stalks in a pot, cover with cold water and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil over a high heat, then turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes. You are hydrating the carrots, not cooking them, so they should still be very firm in the centre. (Steaming for about 5 minutes works too.)
- Drain or scoop the carrots onto a tray with the rosemary stalks and orange peel. A little water on the tray is fine.
- Add the olive oil and salt and mix with your hands until every nook, cranny and corner is thinly coated in oil, with no dry patches.
- Roast for 10 minutes, then take the tray out and flip the carrots so different sides touch the tray.
- Roast for another 10 minutes, then flip them again and remove the orange peel, which has given you its flavour.
- Roast for another 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven, until the carrots are close to how you like them. I like them with a little bite in the centre. Roast longer if you prefer them softer.
- Take the tray out and add the honey, the finely chopped rosemary leaves and the juice of half the orange. Mix well so everything is evenly coated.
- Return the tray to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes to caramelise the honey, then serve.
Video
Notes
Make ahead: after glazing, let the carrots cool on the tray. When the rest of the meal is ready, finish them in the oven at 200C / 392F for 5 minutes. If your oven has humidity control, set it to around 30% and skip the parboiling step. The other half of the orange is not used here, so save it for something else.
Nutrition
Serving: 1portionCalories: 92kcalCarbohydrates: 14.9gProtein: 1gFat: 3.7gSaturated Fat: 0.5gSodium: 118.3mgPotassium: 341.6mgFiber: 2.9gSugar: 9.7g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!