Skip to content

Top Navigation

Real Simple Logo Real Simple Logo
  • Food
  • Home
  • Life
  • Health
  • Money
  • Style and Beauty
  • Holidays & Entertaining
  • News
  • About Us

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • My Account
  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Free Organizing App this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Real Simple

Real Simple Logo Real Simple Logo
  • Explore

    Explore

    • How to Measure Your Ring Size at Home

      How to Measure Your Ring Size at Home

      Try one of these three easy methods to make sure your ring fits perfectly, every time. Read More
    • Here's the Right Temperature for Your Refrigerator and Freezer (Because a Few Degrees Makes a Difference)

      Here's the Right Temperature for Your Refrigerator and Freezer (Because a Few Degrees Makes a Difference)

      Keeping foods chilled properly helps them last longer and stay fresher. Sticking to the ideal refrigerator temps can help you avoid potential foodborne illnesses, too. Read More
    • 34 Great Books to Suit Any Mood or Interest

      34 Great Books to Suit Any Mood or Interest

      This list has you covered, no matter how you're feeling. Read More
  • Food

    Food

    See All Food
    9 Cheeses You Can Eat Even If You're Lactose Intolerant

    9 Cheeses You Can Eat Even If You're Lactose Intolerant

    Not all dairy is created equal. 
    • Recipes
    • Real Simple Cooking School
    • Cooking Tips & Techniques
    • Shopping and Storing
    • Kitchen Tools and Products
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home
    • Cleaning
    • Organizing
    • Decorating
    • Gardening
    • Home Improvement
    • Green Living
    • New Uses for Old Things at Home
    • Quick Fix
    • Real Simple Home
  • Life

    Life

    See All Life
    • Family
    • Entertainment
    • Technology
    • Wedding Planning
    • Travel Ideas
    • Career
    • Get It Done
  • Health

    Health

    See All Health
    Feel Like You Don't Enjoy Anything Anymore? There's a Name for That—Here Are 8 Ways You Can Break Through It

    Feel Like You Don't Enjoy Anything Anymore? There's a Name for That—Here Are 8 Ways You Can Break Through It

    Mental health experts explain anhedonia and how you can bounce back from this joyless state of mind.
    • Preventive Health
    • Mental Health
    • Health Coach
    • Crisis Coping
    • Fitness & Exercise
    • Sleep
    • Healthy Eating
    • Well Fed
  • Money

    Money

    See All Money
    Are You Keeping Too Much Money in the Bank? Here's How to Tell

    Are You Keeping Too Much Money in the Bank? Here's How to Tell

    Putting money in the bank is smart, but too much cash savings can actually be a poor use of that money.
    • Money Confidential Podcast
    • Saving Money
    • Money Planning
    • Money Confidential
    • Spending
    • Money Etiquette
    • Invest Better
  • Style and Beauty

    Style and Beauty

    See All Style and Beauty
    How to Measure Your Bra Size at Home

    How to Measure Your Bra Size at Home

    All you need is a tape measure and a little free time.
    • Clothing
    • Skincare
    • Shoes
    • Hair
    • Clothing Care
    • Makeup
    • Hair Body Face
  • Holidays & Entertaining

    Holidays & Entertaining

    See All Holidays & Entertaining
    PowerPoint Parties Are the Party Trend You Have to Try: Here's How to Host One

    PowerPoint Parties Are the Party Trend You Have to Try: Here's How to Host One

    PowerPoint nights are the new fun way to party together—even when you're far apart.
    • All Holidays
    • Gifts
    • Father's Day
    • Passover
    • Entertaining
    • Home for the Holidays
    • Come Together
    • Hanukkah
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • Valentine's Day
    • Easter
    • Mother's Day
  • News
  • About Us

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • My Account
  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Free Organizing App this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Real Simple
  2. Food
  3. Recipe Collections & Favorites
  4. Popular Ingredients
  5. 18 Incredibly Easy Carrot Recipes That Taste Delicious

18 Incredibly Easy Carrot Recipes That Taste Delicious

Betty Gold
By Betty Gold Updated November 17, 2020
Skip gallery slides
FB Tweet
best-Carrot-recipes: Roasted Parsnips and Carrots With Sage
Credit: Con Poulos

Roasted, shredded, glazed, or steamed—any which way you like your carrots prepared, we've got an archive full of enticing carrot recipes that are guaranteed to please. Want to keep things simple? Roasted carrots tossed with cumin require virtually no prep and minimal cleanup; pair them with a pile of crunchy pine nuts and sweet-tart orange slices, and you have a sophisticated side dish that's delicious and deceptively easy. Feel like going a more traditional route? Play up carrots' natural sweetness with a light brown sugar glaze, balanced out by crunchy, nutty pecans, and a bright pop of fresh rosemary.

Nutrient-dense and delicious raw or cooked, the carrot deserves better than a tub of hummus. Unearth some surprising ideas for this versatile root vegetable in these 18 easy recipes. 

RELATED: This Clever Cooking Trick Will Seriously Upgrade Your Roasted Vegetables

Start Slideshow

1 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Rosemary-Roasted Beets and Carrots

Rosemary-Roasted Beets and Carrots
Credit: Con Poulos
get the recipe

Smart home cooks who love roasting vegetables in large quantities know it's an easy way to have delicious veggie side dishes to eat for the rest of the week. That's just one of the many charms of these rosemary-roasted beets and carrots. Prep them in just 10 minutes, pop them in the oven for about 30, and wait till the house smells wonderful and your side dish emerges lightly caramelized, redolent of rosemary, and ready to be served alongside chicken, roast beef, or potato gratin. They make a wonderful addition to pretty much any autumnal, springy, or wintry main course.

1 of 18

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Lemony Carrots

Lemony Carrots
Credit: Marcus Nilsson
get the recipe

There's nothing like a veggie side dish you can make with two staples you already have kicking around the fridge. These are the classic roast carrots of your dreams, and they employ a mere three ingredients (plus salt and pepper). The whole thing is brightened with slices of lemon that lightly caramelize during the cooking process, and it's a good idea to stop, toss, and return them to the oven so none of those slices char and become bitter. It's the one necessary step in a couldn't-be-easier 10-minute dish. The result is super-tender carrots that even fussy kids will consider.

2 of 18

3 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Brown Sugar-Glazed Carrots With Rosemary and Pecans

Brown Sugar-Glazed Carrots With Rosemary and Pecans
Credit: Mikkel Vang
get the recipe

Glazed carrots—the sort of thing you always see done so well at restaurants but perhaps find too daunting to try at home—are so much simpler than you'd think. Here, fresh carrots mingle with brown sugar, butter, and rosemary (which make surprisingly charming bedfellows). We love, too, that you can keep the oven entirely off while making this dish. It's a stovetop preparation, and crunchy toasted pecan halves can easily be made in the toaster oven. One tip: Don't skip the final squeeze of lemon juice, which is the ideal foil for the brown sugar–slicked veggies' sweet, buttery notes.

3 of 18

Advertisement

4 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Roasted Cumin Carrots

Roasted Cumin Carrots
Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez
get the recipe

The secret spice-drawer weapon in this dish is cumin. When tossed with carrots, it lends them a sort of smoky barbecued note—especially when they're roasted over high heat, as they are here. Don't skip out on the orange segments the recipe calls for, as it lends brightness to the finished product. And definitely add scallions—the white and light-green parts, which tend to be less bitter—for vibrancy and a knockout green-orange color palette on the plate. Bonus: You can make this in advance, serve it at room temperature, and it's just as tasty.

4 of 18

5 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Roasted Parsnips and Carrots With Sage

Roasted Parsnips and Carrots With Sage
Credit: Con Poulos
get the recipe

Parsnips are one of those veggies that undergo a full, transformative makeover when they're roasted—just like their root veggie cousins, carrots. They become tender, golden, and so much sweeter, especially when slicked with olive oil, flecked with sage, and roasted for about an hour. Just be sure to check the oven twice as they cook, and give them a good stir each time: It's a slightly fussy step that will ensure you'll get evenly caramelized results and that the final product will be sweet enough you can call it "vegetable candy." (There's a reason our kids always ask for seconds.)

5 of 18

6 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Roasted Spiced Carrots

Roasted Spiced Carrots
Credit: Miki Duisterhof
get the recipe

Cinnamon, cumin, and garlic give this wonderfully simple side dish a boost of unexpected, exotic flavor, while raisins and lemon add sweetness and a welcome splash of tartness. The hands-on time is only 10 minutes, so you can toss these in the oven just as a roast chicken is wrapping up. The best part? You can prep the whole thing in advance, and have an instant veggie side for any weeknight meal. Tip: While this dish is great with supermarket carrots, it's extraordinary during carrot season—late spring and autumn in much of the country—so keep an eye peeled at the farmer's market.

6 of 18

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

 Maple-Glazed Carrots

Maple-Glazed Carrots
Credit: John Kernick
Get the Recipe

Is there anything maple syrup and butter won't improve? You know them as the classic combo everyone loves on pancakes and waffles, but if you haven't tried them with winter squash or these dreamy cooked carrots, well, there's no time like the present to give it a try. These carrots can be slicked up right on the stovetop, so if you grabbed a bunch of fresh carrots at the market this weekend, keep that oven off! This one-pan dish takes half an hour and only 15 minutes of hands-on time, and is absolutely fabulous alongside roast chicken (or turkey), salmon, or steak.

7 of 18

8 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Carrot and Apple Slaw With Raisins

Carrot and Apple Slaw With Raisins
Credit: José Picayo
Get the Recipe

The best part of this fresh, crunchy, super-simple slaw? It only takes 15 minutes to make. (Yes, really.) Wait until you see absolutely gorgeous apples at the grocer or the farmers' market to make this knockout, because crisp grated apples and carrots form its base. The better the produce is, the more delicious the finished dish. From there, it's as simple as whisking yogurt, vinegar, and cumin together with seasoning, tossing them with the carrots and apples, fresh cilantro and plump raisins, and sitting back and having guests think you spent way more time on this than you actually did.

8 of 18

9 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Gingery Glazed Carrots

Gingery Glazed Carrots
Credit: Danny Kim
Get the Recipe

Maybe you've had a gingery carrot concoction at a fancy juice shop, but you've never combined the two for a savory dish. Well, today's the day! This snap of a recipe—mingling butter, ginger, a splash of sherry vinegar, and fresh carrots in a single stove-top dish—is ready in just 20 minutes. These carrots are just dreamy alongside a roast chicken (or turkey), a steak, a good piece of fish, or even a burger. Just prep in advance and toss them together as your roast sits for a minute; they're that easy.

9 of 18

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Carrot, Bean, and Radicchio Salad

Carrot, Bean, and Radicchio Salad
Credit: Paul Sirisalee
get the recipe

In this sophisticated side dish, plush steamed carrots get a hit of protein from cannellini beans, a bit of brightness from fresh parsley, a bitter note from radicchio, and some round creaminess from buttery crumbled blue cheese. It's a salad that's as pretty as it is delicious, and we love it for a lot of reasons. Namely: you can make it using ingredients you have kicking around the fridge. It takes all of 20 minutes to prepare. And it's healthy: a mere three tablespoons of olive oil forms the base of the dressing, and crisp onions are tempered by a quick bath in red wine vinegar.

10 of 18

11 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Spiced Carrot Soup

Spiced Carrot Soup
Credit: Paul Sirisalee
get the recipe

Finish this superb meal-in-a-bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, a dollop of tangy yogurt, and a sprinkle of cracked black pepper.

11 of 18

12 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Creamy Carrot Dip With Crudités

Creamy Carrot Dip With Crudités
Credit: Paul Sirisalee
get the recipe

Spiced with coriander and topped with crumbled goat cheese, this easy dip will be a welcome edition to your next appetizer buffet.

12 of 18

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Raisin and Carrot Chicken Salad

Raisin and Carrot Chicken Salad
Credit: Paul Sirisalee
Get the recipe

Chewy golden raisins, crunchy toasted pecans, and creamy mayo complement each other beautifully in this unique chicken salad.

13 of 18

14 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Seared Cod With Carrot-Almond Dressing

Seared Cod With Carrot-Almond Dressing
Credit: Paul Sirisalee
get the recipe

Orange zest in the dressing wakes up this simply seasoned fish-and-spinach combination.

14 of 18

15 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Orecchiette With Rosemary Carrots

Orecchiette With Rosemary Carrots
Credit: Paul Sirisalee
get the recipe

Kids will love this buttery pasta dish; you'll love that dinner can be on the table in less than 30 minutes.

15 of 18

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

16 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Roasted Chicken, Carrots, and Shallots

Roasted Chicken, Carrots, and Shallots
Credit: Paul Sirisalee
get the recipe

Cook chicken thighs on a single baking sheet with carrots and shallots for an easy, mess-free dinner.

16 of 18

17 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Grilled Lamb With Carrot-Red Pepper Puree

Grilled Lamb With Carrot-Red Pepper Puree
Credit: Paul Sirisalee
get the recipe

A generous pinch of cayenne pepper brings subtle heat to a puree of steamed carrots and roasted red peppers.

17 of 18

18 of 18

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Mexican Pork Tenderloin and Carrots

Mexican Pork Tenderloin and Carrots
Credit: Paul Sirisalee
get the recipe

Creamy avocado sauce and crunchy pepitas punch up cumin-spiced pork.

18 of 18

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Betty Gold

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 18 Rosemary-Roasted Beets and Carrots
    2 of 18 Lemony Carrots
    3 of 18 Brown Sugar-Glazed Carrots With Rosemary and Pecans
    4 of 18 Roasted Cumin Carrots
    5 of 18 Roasted Parsnips and Carrots With Sage
    6 of 18 Roasted Spiced Carrots
    7 of 18  Maple-Glazed Carrots
    8 of 18 Carrot and Apple Slaw With Raisins
    9 of 18 Gingery Glazed Carrots
    10 of 18 Carrot, Bean, and Radicchio Salad
    11 of 18 Spiced Carrot Soup
    12 of 18 Creamy Carrot Dip With Crudités
    13 of 18 Raisin and Carrot Chicken Salad
    14 of 18 Seared Cod With Carrot-Almond Dressing
    15 of 18 Orecchiette With Rosemary Carrots
    16 of 18 Roasted Chicken, Carrots, and Shallots
    17 of 18 Grilled Lamb With Carrot-Red Pepper Puree
    18 of 18 Mexican Pork Tenderloin and Carrots

    Share & More

    Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print
    Real Simple Logo

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • About Us
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Help
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Sign Up
    MeredithAll products and services featured are selected by our editors. Real Simple may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Real Simple is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporationthis link opens in a new tab. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Real Simple. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.realsimple.com

    Sign in

    View image

    18 Incredibly Easy Carrot Recipes That Taste Delicious
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.