Roasted Rainbow Carrots

I am more than delighted to “eat the rainbow” when it comes to these glazed and colorful herb roasted rainbow carrots.

Roasted Rainbow Carrots

Growing up were you told to “eat the rainbow”? I heard that phrase often in reference to eating a variety of vegetables.

Out of curiosity, I had to google the phrase to find out if it was really a thing or just in my house. Turns out it is a real thing to encourage eating fruits and vegetables.

Let’s talk rainbow carrots. Aren’t they gorgeous? I love the colors so much! It might sound crazy but we eat so many carrots at our house, fresh and cooked, I was so excited to learn these were a thing and change it up a bit.

Are rainbow carrots measurably more healthy? It’s debatable, but most people agree that purple vegetables have a few more benefits.

It’s a fun argument though and one that just makes me grin when I’m eating a delicious multi-colored serving of carrots.

Herb Roasted Carrots

While fresh carrots are naturally quite sweet, roasting them brings out that sweetness, and the light glaze of maple, honey, and herbs takes carrots to an all-new savory sweet level.

While my kids are usually happy to snack on a few raw carrots, these roasted carrots disappear as fast as I can serve them. My middle son actually requests that we make this recipe every time he notices that I’m about to cook carrots.

Glazed Rainbow Carrots

Like any other carrot recipe, this can be made with orange carrots or a rainbow variety. My preference is for the prettiest colors available (whenever they’re easily found in the store) and rainbow carrots get the added benefit of a few more health benefits.

I’ve made this recipe with both full-size and baby carrots. Both will work, but my preference is for sliced full-size carrots, they will always have more flavor. Baby carrots contain more water and will not caramelize the way the sliced full-size carrots do.

It isn’t necessary to peel the carrots for this recipe. I just give them a really good scrub with my vegetable brush. However, you may peel them if that is your preference. (This peeler makes quick work of peeling carrots.)

Oven Roasted Rainbow Carrots

• full-size rainbow carrots
• light olive oil
• maple syrup
• honey
• fresh rosemary
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• chives or green onions 

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Wash and thoroughly dry the carrots. Slice the carrots into 3-4” lengths and then quarter lengthwise. Place the carrots on a large baking sheet.
2. Whisk together the oil, syrup, honey, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Drizzle the mixture over the carrots and toss with your hands to coat thoroughly.
3. Spread the carrots across the baking sheet and roast in the center of the oven for 15 minutes. Serve at this point for tender and slightly crisp carrots, or stir and roast for an additional 10 minutes until the carrots are soft and lightly caramelized.

After eating parmesan-roasted carrots you will not want to make them any other way. Bite-sized and toasty perfect, you can’t eat just one!

It doesn’t take much to bring out the natural sweetness of carrots. From a simple roast or saute to a sweet and salty caramelized version, you need to try them all.

For a side dish that checks all the boxes smokey, sweet, savory, and salty, serve caramelized carrots with bacon. Gently sauteed in maple syrup and butter these maple glazed carrots are like eating candy medallions for dinner.

Honey Mustard Glazed Carrots aren’t just for the holidays. Sweeter than sharp in taste, you can’t eat just one. Is mustard not your thing? With just a dab of butter and a sprinkling of brown sugar, you can make and enjoy these Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots.