These hot honey carrots are the perfect sweet and spicy vegetarian side dish that’s perfect not just for the holiday season, but any other time of the year.
Crunchy carrots are roasted to perfection and covered in a sticky honey glaze in this super easy recipe.
You’ll love the beautiful caramelization of the carrots and the simple, versatile flavors of this recipe.
I’ve recently been trying quite a lot of holiday side dishes and recipes. My honey whipped goat cheese and garlic butter baked brie both turned out insanely delicious and versatile.
And just a few days back, I tried making some honey sriracha brussels sprouts and was amazed at how the sweet and spicy flavors blended together so beautifully to amp up an otherwise boring veggie.
And that’s when I thought of trying out a similar technique, with another veggie.
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What's So Great About the Recipe?
My favorite part about this hot honey carrots recipe is the fact that it is a super easy side dish that works perfectly with almost any of your favorite mains.
The versatile sweet and savory flavors and the simplicity of this recipe totally has my heart.
Ingredients For the Hot Honey Carrots Recipe
Ready to try these spicy honey roasted carrots? Here’s what you’ll need.
Carrots: You can use practically any kind of carrots for this recipe. Baby carrots are great, but if you have the regular ones, you can cut them into sticks.
Hot honey: I like to use my homemade hot honey, but you could of course, just use the store bought variety.
Olive oil: You’ll also need copious amounts of olive oil. This helps coat the carrots nicely and
Garlic: Chopped garlic just takes the flavor of these hot honey roasted carrots to the next level.
Butter: Butter just adds that beautiful richness to the dish. You can skip this if you want it to be dairy-free.
Thyme: I also added a bit of dried thyme to enhance the flavors of these honey glazed carrots.
Seasonings: To season the honey roasted carrots, I used a bit of paprika and some salt and pepper.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Hot Honey Carrots
Once you have all the ingredients ready, here’s what you’ll need to do to make the hot honey glazed carrots.
Peel and evenly chop the carrots. Add them to a bowl with the garlic, olive oil, butter, seasonings and herbs.
Toss well to combine and drizzle hot honey into the bowl.
Place the carrots in the Air Fryer basket, leaving a little space between each carrot.
Air fry them until they caramelize and turn crispy. Make sure you flip them midway through the cooking time.
Serve hot as a side dish.
Substitutions & Variations
- I used honey to lend that natural sweetness to the carrots. You can also use brown sugar if you want to- it’ll lend a great caramelization to the spicy roasted carrots.
- To lend an extra kick of heat, you can also sprinkle some red pepper flakes into the honey garlic mixture.
- You can also choose to skip the olive oil altogether and use honey butter instead. To make this, all you need to do is melt the butter and add the honey and red pepper flakes of your choice.
💭Top Tip
The roasting time for these carrots depends on the size of the carrots. Larger carrots take longer to cook. Remember to cook the carrots only until they turn tender.
Equipment
How to Store the Leftover Hot Honey Carrots
If you have any leftover roasted hot honey carrots, you can refrigerate them for 2-3 days in an airtight container, and then reheat them in the microwave or in the Air Fryer.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- You can also try cutting the carrots diagonally if you want to. Just remember to keep the pieces evenly sized so that they are all cooked to perfection.
- Depending on your personal preference, you can choose to leave the tops still attached on the carrots, or chop them off.
- I would highly recommend you use baby carrots, but if you can’t find them, cut your carrots in half lengthwise and into roughly the same size as baby carrots.
Also Read: Carrot Bacon- Vegan Bacon
How to Serve Hot Honey Carrots
This spicy candied carrots recipe is perfect to make and serve at any time. You can put them together when you’re looking for a simple vegetable side for your weeknight dinner, or just something packed with flavor for a house party you’re hosting.
This caramelized carrot side dish is full of flavor on its own, but if you want to turn it into a healthy dinner, you can top it with some crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese.
FAQs
You sure can! If you don’t have an Air Fryer, you can transfer the carrots to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until the carrots are fork tender on the inside, but still crispy on the outside.
To get that caramelization, you might want to broil the cooked carrots too.
Yes, you totally can! If you don’t want to turn on the oven, you can pan roast the carrots in a cast iron skillet. I would recommend cutting the carrots slightly thinner and smaller if you’re doing this. Also, drizzle the honey towards the end, right when you’re about to take the carrots off heat.
Related Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Hot Honey Carrots
Ingredients
- 2 lbs carrots
- ¼ cup hot honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon thyme
Instructions
- Peel and evenly chop the carrots. Add them to a bowl with the garlic, olive oil, butter, seasonings and herbs.
- Toss well to combine and drizzle hot honey into the bowl.
- Place the carrots in the Air Fryer basket, leaving a little space between each carrot.
- Air fry them until they caramelize and turn crispy. Make sure you flip them midway through the cooking time.
- Serve hot as a side dish.
Notes
- You can also try cutting the carrots diagonally if you want to. Just remember to keep the pieces evenly sized so that they are all cooked to perfection.
- Depending on your personal preference, you can choose to leave the tops still attached on the carrots, or chop them off.
- I would highly recommend you use baby carrots, but if you can’t find them, cut your carrots in half lengthwise and into roughly the same size as baby carrots.
- If you have any leftover roasted hot honey carrots, you can refrigerate them for 2-3 days in an airtight container, and then reheat them in the microwave or in the Air Fryer.
