Roasted Brown Butter Honey Garlic Carrots - The Recipe Critic (2024)

FAQs

Why are my roasted carrots tough? ›

You want them partially cooked so that you can finish them off by roasting them. If you don't par cook the carrots, they will cook faster on the outside than the inside when they are in the oven. It also gives them a better texture. Raw carrots that are roasted can be a little rubbery and chewy.

Sugar: Combined with butter, sugar is the secret to a glaze and it enhances the naturally sweet taste of the carrots. As the water in the pan reduces, dissolved sugar molecules concentrate to form a light syrup that binds with the melted fat, creating a delicious pan sauce.

The next time you roast vegetables, add some cornstarch. Yes, cornstarch—that box in your pantry is the secret to a super-crispy exterior on veggies, from potatoes to cauliflower. Cornstarch is commonly used to coat proteins like chicken or beef to achieve a crispy exterior, so why not use it with vegetables?

There is, however, a trick to getting roasted carrots right. Undercook them, and the texture is tough and dense. Overcook them, and they're dry and wrinkled. The secret is to soften the carrots slightly by boiling them briefly before roasting.

#1 Roasted

Slice or keep them whole if baby sized and toss with salt and pepper as your most basic preparation, or optionally add garlic, dill or honey to change it up. Roast on a baking sheet at 400 degrees until tender. So, so, so sweet!

A little honey brings out their natural sweetness. To me, roasted carrots are the perfect veggie side dish. They're easy to make, but they're also amazingly flavorful. The hot oven intensifies the carrots' natural sweetness, and it makes them soft and tender, with lightly crisp, caramelized edges.

For a simple and versatile seasoning, stick with salt, pepper, and garlic. For an herbier taste, add rosemary, parsley, cumin, or coriander. Or, to bring out their fresh, woody flavor, add some anise. If you're roasting your carrots, toss them in olive oil first.

I've found that carrots generally need quite rapid boiling to get nicely soft, unless they're going to simmer for quite a long time like at least an hour or two. Vegetables cook particularly slowly in thick liquid like tinned tomatoes.

Environmental factors such as too hot and dry, or too cold and wet, irregular watering, poor drainage or leaving the carrots in the ground for too long. Also, excessive nitrogen, so adding too much nitrogen rich compost or organic matter or fertiliser to the soil.

The trick to turn your zombie carrot into a pert, healthy, delicious one is to just pop it in a glass of water for five minutes to rehydrate it.

Why are my cooked carrots rubbery? ›

Specifically, if carrots lose too much water, they tend to turn from crisp and crunchy to limp and rubbery. This moisture loss can result from the carrot tops absorbing too much water, which leaves the root dehydrated, or simply from storing them in too dry an environment.