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Oven-Roasted Carrots Recipe

This Oven-Roasted Carrots recipe is one of the easiest ways to make carrots for a side dish for dinner tonight.

If you’re looking for some more recipes to go with this, you’ll love all our vegetarian recipes.

Cooked carrots on a sheet pan with the words "Oven-Roasted Carrots" digitally written on top.

Carrots are so underrated. People just think of them as something to throw on a veggie board but honestly, they can be so much more interesting than that.

And oven-roasted carrots are super interesting. They’re sweet and savory and a great side dish. We make these a lot for Easter because, well, Easter and carrots go together. But they’re a really good Thanksgiving side dish too.

And, really, carrots are still really frugal. So if you need to bring something to a holiday dinner, but you need to stretch your budget to do so, carrots work.

But you don’t need a holiday to make them. You can make these for a weeknight dinner too.

Oven-Roasted Carrots Recipe

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Oven-Roasted Carrots Ingredients:

How To Make Oven-Roasted Carrots:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 F.

Don’t worry about peeling the carrots. First of all, it’ll save you a ton of time to leave the skin on. Second, you cook these for so long the skin basically melds into the carrot itself.

Carrots on a cutting board.

Chop the ends off the carrots.

Carrots, cut in half, on a cutting board.

Slice the carrots in half.

Place the carrots cut side down on a sheet pan.

Make sure you’re giving the carrots enough room between them. You don’t want to overcrowd the pan. That’ll result in longer cooking times and carrots that don’t cook evenly.

Carrots on a sheet pan, with olive oil and seasoning on top.

Drizzle the olive oil on top.

Sprinkle half the salt and all of the pepper and Italian seasoning on the carrots.

Oven roasted carrots.

Bake for 35 minutes, until the carrots are tender.

Oven roasted carrots on a sheet pan.

Flip the carrots over. Sprinkle with the remaining salt and bake for an additional 15 minutes until the carrots are fork tender and they start to brown and caramelize around the edges.

Oven roasted carrots on a sheet pan.

Oven-Roasted Carrots: Frequently Asked Questions

Should you peel carrots before roasting?

Personally, I don’t think you need to peel carrots before roasting. The carrots cook for 50 minutes and the skin basically melts into the carrot. So don’t waste your time peeling.

You do really want to make sure you’re cleaning the carrots really well before preparing them, though, because you are eating the skin.

If you have some extra time, you can definitely go ahead and peel this if you want. You don’t have to, but it doesn’t hurt the recipe if you do.

Do you have to boil vegetables before roasting?

Some people will parboil vegetables before roasting. Parboiling is, basically, cooking the vegetables in boiling water until they’re soft.

I don’t do that with these carrots. They cook through really well, so I personally don’t think it’s necessary. If you want to, go right ahead, but that does take longer and does mean you’re also washing a pot and I just don’t want to do all of those things.

All that being said, if I’m using fresh Brussels sprouts, I actually will parboil them before cooking. If I’m using frozen Brussels sprouts, I don’t. So honestly, this is really a case by case thing and totally up to you.

Should you cover vegetables when roasting in oven?

In general, you don’t want to cover vegetables when you’re roasting them, and you definitely don’t want to do that with these carrots.

Covering (or tenting) vegetables in foil will actually steam them rather than roasting them. They’ll come out a lot softer and mushier that way. And, they’ll never get the delicious caramelization on them that you get from roasting them.

So, skip the foil here and save it for something else (our grilled corn on the cob recipe, maybe).

How do you cut carrots for roasting?

We simply cut these in half. If you wanted to make them more bite-sized, you could do that by cutting the halves into smaller pieces.

Just be mindful of the size of the pieces if you’re doing that. You want to make them as close to the same size as possible so that they cook evenly. If you have some really small pieces, they may end up overcooking by the time the larger pieces are done.

If you end up cutting the carrots into pieces, you may need to adjust your cooking time. Not your temperature; that will stay the same (roasting vegetables at 400 F is the best temperature, for sure). But, since your carrots are smaller, they might take less time to cook than halved carrots.

How long do roasted carrots last?

Wait until the carrots have cooled completely, then store any leftover roasted carrots in an airtight container in the fridge. They’ll last about three to four days that way.

You can reheat them in the microwave, but they’ll get a little soggy. That’s the quickest way, but not the most ideal. The best way to reheat them is on a pan in the oven at 400 F until they’re warmed through.

Cabbage pieces and carrot slices in a blue bowl.

More Carrot Recipes:

This recipe uses a pound of carrots, but sometimes, it’s cheaper to buy a two pound bag than just a one pound bag. But then, you have an extra pound of carrots to use. No worries. Just use them in one of our other carrot recipes below:

Oven-Roasted Asparagus on a sheet pan.

More Oven-Roasted Vegetable Recipes:

Once you roast carrots, you’ll realize that roasting veggies is such a great way to prepare them. You save space on your countertop and they always come out better than boiling or steaming them.

For some other ideas, check out our favorites:

Yield: 4 Servings

Oven-Roasted Carrots

This Oven-Roasted Carrots recipe is one of the easiest ways to make carrots for a side dish for dinner tonight.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 pound carrots
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 F.
  2. Chop the ends off the carrots.
  3. Slice the carrots in half. Place the carrots cut side down on a cookie sheet.
  4. Drizzle the olive oil on top.
  5. Sprinkle half the salt and all of the pepper and Italian seasoning on the carrots.
  6. Bake for 35 minutes, until the carrots are tender.
  7. Flip the carrots over. Sprinkle with the remaining salt and bake for an additional 15 minutes until the carrots are fork tender and they start to brown and caramelize around the edges.

Notes

Don't peel the carrots.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 161Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 0mgSodium 1653mgCarbohydrates 10gFiber 4gSugar 4gProtein 1g

Have you tried this Oven-Roasted Carrots recipe? Let us know in the comments.

amy liu dong

Monday 28th of November 2022

This is such an easy, delicious, and healthy dish to make. My kids and I love it!

Sherry Nappa

Friday 15th of April 2016

I'm going to try your recipe. I love carrots fixed just about any way.

Beverly

Friday 15th of April 2016

I love Italian seasoning on so many dishes, but I've never thought to use it on carrots. Sounds tasty!

Wendy

Thursday 14th of April 2016

I really do like carrots, but usually by the time I'm done "dressing them up," they are no longer such a healthy option. This recipe, however, looks both yummy and healthy!

Gail

Thursday 14th of April 2016

Roasted carrots are delicious, and yours looks yummy! I'll have to try this recipe using Italian seasonings!

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