Easy Orange Glazed Carrots
I am quite content eating steamed carrots without any butter or seasonings. But then there’s the hubby. Just some butter and brown sugar over carrots puts a smile on his face. For a company-worthy side dish, I turned to my copy of The Vegetarian Flavor Bible (affiliate link) for inspiration and these Easy Orange Glazed Carrots were born.
This Recipe for Glazed Carrots is a simple way to jazz up ordinary carrots. The sweetness and acidity of the orange zest and juice magnify the lovely flavor of the carrots.
Why You Must Make
- A brown sugar glaze is a classic way to serve carrots!
- The glaze just magnifies the sweetness of carrots. And the acidity of the orange juice and zest balances the sugar.
- Plus if you like to jazz up your side dishes, adding toasted walnuts and sweet/tart dried cranberries adds even more flavor the texture to the dish.
What Other Flavors Work Well with Carrots?
I flipped to carrots in my copy of The Vegetarian Flavor Bible. I turned to the flavor pairings for carrots. BOLD indicated those recommended by a number of experts.
For carrots, examples such as cheese, cinnamon, cumin, garlic, ginger, honey, mustard, and raisins were noted. An asterisk by ginger meant it was the most recommended pairing. For carrots, there was also a long list of flavor affinities as well. Carrots + balsamic vinegar + beets + chives + greens AND carrots + cilantro + ginger + scallions + sesame oil both intrigued me.
But I went with the combination of carrots + cranberries + orange + walnuts and created this dish. You can now see why many chefs use this comprehensive “cookbook” as a guide when developing new dishes.
As I mentioned above, the hubby loves glazed carrots, but incorporating dried cranberries and walnuts kicked this dish up to another level. The variety of textures and flavors took this to the realm of dishes you’d find in a lovely bistro or restaurant, but these orange glazed carrots are easy enough for the weeknight dinner table.
Wine Pairings for Carrots:
- Beer, esp. wheat beer
- Chablis
- Chardonnay, New World
- Cider
- Cocktails, esp. made with brandy, Madeira, or Marsala
- Dolcetto
- Ginger ale
- Grüner Veltliner
- Lemon-based drinks (e.g., lemonade, sparkling water with lemon, etc.)
- Muscat, esp. with desserts (e.g., carrot cake)
- Orange-based drinks (e.g., Fizzy Lizzy sparkling orange juice)
- Riesling, esp. drier
- Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand
- Sémillon
- Tokaji, esp. with desserts (e.g., carrot cake)
- Soave
- Viognier”
Excerpt From: Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page & Michael Sofronski. “What to Drink with What You Eat.” Little, Brown and Company, 2009-07-31. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.
How to Make Glazed Carrots
- Cook the Carrots to your desired tenderness. Remove to a bowl.
- In the same pan, make the glaze by melting butter, then add the brown sugar and cook until the sugar dissolves. Add juice and zest.
- Return carrots to the pan and toss so the carrots are well glazed.
- Serve hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, carrots are hearty and will reheat well if you make them the day before you plan to serve them. Reheat gently in a pan with a tablespoon of water or microwave on the reheat setting.
The time for cooking carrots will vary with the age and size of the carrots and the method used. Older carrots take longer and baby carrots will cook faster.
I prefer to boil or roast carrots. When boiling, thinly sliced carrots will take about 5 minutes, baby carrots 6-7 minutes, whole carrots 10-15 minutes, and roasted carrots 15-20 minutes (at 400° F).
They’ll keep well for 3-4 days if kept covered and refrigerated.
You May Also Like:
- Greek Sugar Snap Peas from Cookin’ Canuck
- Carrot Puff
- Honey Balsamic Brussels Sprouts
- Oven Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Brown Butter
- Asian Green Beans
- More Vegetable Side Dishes
Easy Orange Glazed Carrots
An elegant side dish with carrots, an orange glaze, walnuts and dried cranberries
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/4 cup craisins/dried cranberries, optional
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped, optional
Instructions
- Cook carrots in lightly salted water till just tender. Drain and set aside.
- In the same pan you cooked the carrots, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and cook over medium heat till sugar starts to dissolve. Add orange juice and zest. Return carrots to pan and toss to glaze.
- Toss with dried cranberries and walnuts, if using, to serve.
Notes
If using walnuts, toast them briefly in the oven to bring out their flavor.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 172Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 114mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 4gSugar: 18gProtein: 2g
31 Comments on “Easy Orange Glazed Carrots”
Yummo. The perfect side to my family roast dinner tomorrow night. 🙂
My favorite vegetable is broccoli. Roasted, steamed, raw, plain or embellished…… I love it all!
Eggplant is my favorite veggie
What a great sounding side dish with all those fresh flavours. One I shall definitely be bookmarking 😀
Hey there Liz! Love your carrots! I could eat them prepared like this any day! YUM! OK, so what’s my favorite vegetable/veggie has to be potatoes, but beets are a really close second. Thanks for the chance for this great (healthy) giveaway! xo Roz
What a vibrant bowl of goodness!! Gorgeous dish!
This reminds me of those grated carrot salads from the 90s at potlucks! I love it! and your addition of walnuts!
It’s a wonderful side-dish and it’s super popular here. I love it so much and it’s sweet, that I like saving it to the end of the meal 🙂 It’s like a dessert!
Lovely.
Gorgeous.
Colorful Dish!!! x
These would be on my plate for sure. Mr. Sweets would probably pass on them. No worries I would take his share!
love your orange glazed carrot! My favorite veggie is Brussels sprouts…love to roast them in the oven or put on the grill.