These glazed carrots are tender carrot coins simmered in a mixture of brown sugar and butter and topped with a sprinkling of parsley. An easy and inexpensive side dish that’s perfect for a holiday meal or an everyday dinner.
My kids love carrots, especially creamy carrot salad, honey roasted carrots and candied carrots. We also really enjoy simple glazed carrots which take just minutes to put together. This is one of my go-to side dishes!
Table of Contents
I always keep a bag of carrots in my fridge. They’re inexpensive, stay fresh for weeks, and you can do so many things with them! One of my favorite ways to prepare carrots is this easy glazed carrots recipe. All you need is 5 ingredients and about 15 minutes and they’ll be ready to serve. Offer your carrots alongside hearty main course dishes such as stuffed bell peppers or lemon pepper chicken.
Glazed Carrots Ingredients
- Carrots: I typically cut whole carrots into slices for this recipe. You can also cut your carrots into sticks, or use bagged baby carrots.
- Butter: Salted or unsalted butter will both work just fine.
- Brown Sugar: I typically use light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar is also great if you prefer a more pronounced molasses flavor.
- Salt: A bit of salt helps to balance the sweetness of the brown sugar.
- Parsley: I like to add a sprinkle of fresh parsley for flavor and color, but this is an optional step.
How Do You Make Glazed Carrots?
Place your sliced carrots in a pan with water, then simmer them until they are just tender. Drain off the water, then add butter, brown sugar and salt to the pan. Cook the carrots for 4-5 minutes or until a glaze forms. Add the parsley if you’re using it, then serve immediately and enjoy.
Tips for the Perfect Dish
- Make sure your carrots are cut into uniformly sized pieces so that they cook at the same rate.
- Leftovers will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container. You can reheat your leftover carrots on the stove over low heat for 5-7 minutes.
- You can cut and peel your carrots up to 3 days before you plan to make this recipe.
Quick Tip
Want a hands off approach to glazed carrots? Try my slow cooker glazed carrots.
Recipe FAQs
Carrots are a super healthy vegetable. Carrots are loaded with fiber, Vitamin K, beta-carotene, and antioxidants. These veggies are also thought to improve your vision, prevent certain types of cancer, slow down the aging process and they also help prevent infection.
The primary ingredients in glazed carrots are fresh carrots, butter, brown sugar, water and seasonings.
You can prepare your carrots up to 2 days before you plan to serve them. Reheat the leftovers in a skillet on the stove until warm, and add the parsley right before serving.
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Flavor Variations
This is a simple recipe that is easy to customize to suit your tastes.
- Sweetener: You can substitute honey or maple syrup for the brown sugar if needed.
- Vegetables: I sometimes add other root vegetables to this dish such as parsnips, thinly sliced sweet potatoes and even yellow beets.
- Toppings: Finish your carrots with a sprinkle of nuts such as chopped pecans or toasted sliced almonds.
- Add-Ins: Feel free to add other flavors such as a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger, a squeeze of lemon juice or even a dash of vanilla extract.
Whether you choose to serve glazed carrots for a special holiday dinner or serve them alongside a simple roasted chicken on a busy weeknight, this dish is sure to be welcomed by all.
More Side Dish Ideas
- Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Stovetop Mac and Cheese
- Broccoli with Cheese Sauce
- Parmesan Zucchini
- Garlic Butter Mushrooms
Glazed Carrots Video
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Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Glazed Carrots
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs carrots peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley optional
Instructions
- Place the carrots in a large pan and add 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring the carrots to a simmer
- Cook for 8-10 minutes or until carrots are tender. Drain off any excess water.
- Add the butter, brown sugar and salt to the pan. Stir to coat the carrots.
- Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until a sauce has formed.
- Sprinkle with parsley if desired, then serve.
Notes
- Make sure your carrots are cut into uniformly sized pieces so that they cook at the same rate.
- Leftovers will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container. You can reheat your leftover carrots on the stove over low heat for 5-7 minutes.
Can I use olive oil instead of butter or what else can I use instead of butter
I’d use half the amount of olive oil!
What temperature are we supposed to cook them on? Not seeing level of heat anywhere.
Typically medium heat will produce a simmer!
I’m diabetic so substitute agave nectar for the brown sugar. I use less butter to cut calories but they come out delicious. My son loves them.
I just purchased agave nectar. I wanted to know if you could tell me about how much to substitute in place of the brown sugar. I have only used agave in bartending ways and not in cooking. Can you help with this?? Thanks!!
Question: the instruction say to simmer the carrots in water first but the video shows putting the carrots, water, butter, brown sugar and salt altogether..,or did I miss something?
Thank you.
The video shows carrots and water, then there’s a quick flash transition when it comes to a boil so that you don’t have to sit there and watch carrots boil! You simmer the carrots in water first, then add the other ingredients.
Love these carrots. I add pineapple and a splash of Grand Marnier.
Simple and delicious. I served it with my corned beef & cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day.
Very simple & delicious way to have carrots as a side dish!
These carrots were super easy to make and delicious! I am adding them to my “go to” list for a quick and easy veggie. My family and guests lived them!
Tastes great! Couldn’t stop eating them!
So easy and so delicious!
If i change the serving size to 10 do i still use 1 1/2 cup of water or more?
You’ll want to use more water, you basically just want enough water to cover the carrots. You don’t have to be exact with the water measurement since the water gets drained off at the end.
Loved it!!
These carrots are amazing! My new favorite side dish!
Delicious recipe. Had to cook the carrots for a lot longer than the suggested time frame. Covered the pan to help them cook. Kept poking them with a fork and once it felt soft-ish, I was able to drain the water and cook them in the remaining ingredients.
Added a bit of cayenne pepper and cinnamon to the pan and it really made it pop. Sweet, buttery, spicy. So good. Ate an entire pound of carrots myself. I’ll be making this again.
Delicious!!! Five stars!!!
what’s the serving size
It’s about 3/4 cup!
Delicioso! I have never successfully made fresh carrots before, but this are for sure in the monthly lineup of sides.
Delicious side dish, easy and fast.
Save the drained carrot water in your freezer to add to stock pot.
So simple and quick. Delicious!
I do enjoy making your recipes!! I was glad to find this one tonight after a quick search for a guest coming over that is relatively ‘high maintenance’ with regards to what he’ll eat. Out of the choices presented….I’ll always go with “the Zoo!”
Thank you very much for sharing this talent and very choice recipes.