Name: Cajun Honey Roasted Carrots
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 4 cups carrots (peeled and cut diagonally into 2-3 inch sections, about 12 medium carrots); Salt and cracked black pepper (to taste); 4 tablespoons butter (unsalted); 1/4 cup honey; 1/3 cup chicken stock; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon onion powder; 1 teaspoon parika (smoked or regular); 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano; 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1/2-1 teaspoon hot sauce (such as Frank's RedHot)

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Tender roasted carrots cooked in a flavorful honey butter sauce with the perfect amount of cajun spice! These carrots make the perfect side dish that your whole family will love.

Honey roasted carrots are my favorite carrot preparation because the sweet, floral honey compliments the natural sweetness of the carrots so well. The addition of Cajun spices gives these carrots the most delicious sweet and spicy flavor profile.

These carrots are always the first thing to disappear every time I serve them, especially at Thanksgiving and Easter dinner. If you enjoy this recipe, be sure to check our Soft Homemade Dinner Rolls and Southern Sweet Potato Casserole next!

overhead shot ofCajun honey butter carrots on a gray plate with a white linen underneath. bowl of honey with dipper in the bottom right corner of the shot.

Table of Contents

Ingredients You Need To Make This Recipe
How To Make This Recipe
Variations and Substitutions
What Are The Best Carrots For This Recipe?
Do I Need To Peel Carrots to Roast Them?
What To Serve With Roasted Carrots
Make-Ahead and Storing Instructions
Recommended Tools for This Recipe
More Thanksgiving Side Dishes You Will Love!
📖 Recipe

Ingredients You Need To Make This Recipe

4 cups of peeled and chopped carrots. You will need about 4 cups or 12 medium carrots. Peel and cut carrots diagonally into 2 to 3-inch pieces.

Salt and cracked black pepper. The carrots are seasoned with salt and pepper to taste before they are coated in the honey butter and roasted.

Cajun Honey Butter

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter. The butter is the base of our sauce and adds delicious flavor and richness.

¼ cup honey. I recommend using good quality honey such as Nature Nate's Raw and Unfiltered Honey.

Chicken stock. ⅓ cup of chicken stock is added to the sauce for additional flavor and balance.

Salt, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, thyme, and cayenne pepper. These spices and herbs are used to flavor the honey butter sauce.

Hot sauce. A small amount of hot sauce adds another element of heat but is not overpowering. My favorite is Frank's RedHot.

close up side angle shot ofCajun honey butter carrots on a gray plate on a wooden surface. bowl of hot honey butter in the top left corner of shot.

How To Make This Recipe

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (204 °C). Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Season the carrots with salt and pepper and toss them to evenly coat. Transfer the carrots to the prepared baking dish and set them aside while you prepare the sauce.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the honey, chicken stock, spices, herbs, and hot sauce and stir to combine. Remove the sauce from the heat.

Carefully pour the cajun honey butter sauce over the carrots ensuring all of the carrots get coated with the sauce. Use a wooden spoon to stir the carrots to make sure they all have sauce on them.

Bake the carrots in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until tender. If you would like to char the carrots a bit, turn on the oven broiler and cook them for an additional 5-6 minutes until you see some brown charred marks on the carrots.

Transfer the carrots to a serving dish and enjoy!

Variations and Substitutions

This carrot recipe is very versatile and you can adjust the spices and flavors in the sauce to your liking. Instead of honey, try making the butter sauce with some of these additions:

Sriracha
Brown sugar
Fresh chopped garlic
Balsamic vinegar
Lemon juice

What Are The Best Carrots For This Recipe?

You can use any variety of carrots to make this recipe just as long as you cut them into smaller sections about 2-3 inches long. This ensures that they cook evenly and absorb that delicious sauce.

Try making honey roasted carrots with purple, yellow, rainbow, or baby carrots. There is no need to slice the baby carrots and they will cook a little faster so reduce your cooking time by 5-10 minutes.

Do I Need To Peel Carrots to Roast Them?

It is completely up to you whether or not you peel carrots before cooking them. As with most vegetables, the peels are edible and contain plenty of nutrients. Just be sure to scrub away any dirt before cooking carrots.

Some people prefer to peel carrots before roasting them for texture purposes, myself included. The skin of carrots can become wrinkly and a bit tough when roasted.

detail overhead shot of Cajun honey butter carrots on a gray plate.

What To Serve With Roasted Carrots

These carrots make the perfect side dish for a number of different entrees. I serve these carrots every Thanksgiving and all throughout the year!

Serve these honey roasted carrots with some of these reader favorites from the blog archives:

Make-Ahead and Storing Instructions

The cajun honey butter sauce can be prepared a day or two ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook the carrots.

Leftover roasted carrots can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Reheat the carrots in the microwave, on the stovetop, or in the oven.

Cajun Honey Roasted Carrots