Honey Butter Glazed Carrots With Garlic
Indulge in the mouth-watering flavour of honey butter glazed carrots. This easy yet tasty side dish recipe is inspired by the French classic, Vichy carrots, but with the added sweetness of honey and the intensity of garlic. Perfect for adding a touch of decadence to your Christmas dinner, Thanksgiving, or any other festive feast.
You can’t have too many easy but delicious side dishes up your sleeve. A good one can lift a meal from the quotidian to the remarkable. This recipe for Vichy style honey butter glazed carrots is one you’ll want to hang on to.
Dive Right In
- What Are Vichy Carrots?
- Honey Butter Glazed Carrots
- Ingredients
- Step-by-Step
- How To Serve Honey Butter Glazed Carrots
- Variations
- How To Make Vegan Glazed Carrots
- Keep In Touch
- The Recipe
What Are Vichy Carrots?
Vichy style cooking is a French technique of cooking vegetables in butter, sugar and a little water until they’re covered in a sweet and unctuous glaze. It’s simple, but effective. Vichy carrots are probably the most well known, but you can cook lots of vegetables in the same way.
Honey Butter Glazed Carrots
Honey butter glazed carrots are a delicious and simple side dish that combines the sweetness of honey and the rich flavour of butter with the natural sweetness of carrots. All you need to do is cook the carrots with butter, honey and garlic until tender.
The honey and butter creates a sticky, sweet glaze that helps to enhance the flavour of the carrots and make them even more delicious.
Once upon a time I’d have said that honey butter glazed carrots were cheap in price but luxurious in taste and flavour. However, these days, the price of butter is so ridiculous, that it’s become a bit of a luxury. These carrots are therefore more suited to a festive table than a normal weeknight one. Shame.
Honey Butter Glazed Carrots: Ingredients
It may seems like a long list of ingredients in the recipe card for something as simple as a carrot side dish. But every one of those ingredients counts towards making these honey butter glazed carrots truly scrumptious.
Carrots
Carrots are obviously key to this dish. Because of the unctuous glaze, it’s fine to use older carrots that are past their best. But new ones are even better. Unless they’re particularly manky, there’s no need to peel them though. Just top and tail.
I find straight forward orange carrots are the best ones to use. They give such a vibrant colour. Multi coloured carrots tend to bleed into each other and end up looking murky.
Honey
Honey not only adds sweetness, but it complements the earthiness of the carrots. It’s best to use a light flavoured floral honey, so the flavours don’t become too robust. Orange blossom honey is ideal.
Butter
Butter adds depth and complexity to the carrots as well as a smooth and indulgent texture. Use unsalted butter if you can get it.
Unsalted butter, also known as sweet butter, is made from pure cream and does not contain any added salt. This allows the natural flavour of the cream to come through, resulting in a richer, creamier taste.
Garlic
Garlic balances out the sweetness of the honey and the oiliness of the butter. Just grate or chop it finely and fry it briefly in the butter to impart that gorgeous garlicky flavour.
Parsley
Parsley for a little herby freshness. As well as adding a few clean peppery notes of its own, the green shows off the colour of the orange most beautifully.
Lemon
You only need a squeeze of lemon juice, but it makes all the difference. It cuts through the buttery richness of the glaze and takes those carrots to a higher plane.
Honey Butter Glazed Carrots: Step-by-Step
As I’ve already intimated, this recipe is an easy one to make. It’s also quite quick. I’ve broken it down into five simple steps.
Step 1. Prepare Carrots
Scrub the carrots, but there’s no need to peel them unless they’re in a bad way. Do top and tail them though.
Chop them on the slant into two to three centimetre chunks of roughly the same size. You don’t need to be too precise, but the closer you get, the more likely they will all cook to the same degree. You don’t have to cut them on the slant, but I reckon they look a little classier done this way.
Step 2. Prepare Garlic
You can either finely chop the garlic, as I’ve done or grate or press it straight into the sizzling butter.
Heat the butter in a large saucepan over a moderate heat. As soon as it starts to sizzle, add the garlic and fry for thirty seconds. Give the pan an occasional swirl.
Step 3. Add Carrots And Honey
Scoop the carrots into the pan and stir so that all the pieces are coated in the garlicky butter.
Add the honey, water and salt. Give everything a good stir, then clamp the lid on the top of the pan.
Step 4. Cook Carrots
Bring the water to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for ten to fifteen minutes or until the carrots are just done. If it looks as though the carrots are drying out at any stage, add a splash of water.
Test with a knife. If it slides into the carrot with little resistance, it’s done. But be careful not to overcook, because mushy carrots, in this instance, aren’t very nice.
If you’re not sure, just try one, though do let it cool down enough so that you don’t burn your mouth. I’m so impatient, I burn my mouth rather too frequently.
If there’s too much water left in the pan, take the lid off and allow the water to evaporate. There should be just enough liquid left to cover the carrots in a sticky and glossy glaze.
Step 5. Add Parsley And Lemon
Whilst the carrots are cooking, finely chop the parsley. Three of four sprigs are enough.
Take the carrots off the heat, then stir in half of the parsley. You want the other half to scatter over the finished dish when you serve it up. Squeeze in a little lemon and stir everything together.
Taste test for acidity. If it needs a bit more lemon, add it. It’s not meant to taste sour, but you do want the lemon to lift the carrots a little.
Turn out into a warmed serving dish and scatter the remaining parsley over the top.
How To Serve Honey Butter Glazed Carrots
These Vichy style carrots are best served hot straight from the pan. However, you can make them a day or two ahead and keep them in the fridge. Allow the carrots to cool and place in an air tight container first. Omit the parsley and lemon juice at this stage.
To reheat, put the carrots back into a pan and place over a low to moderate heat with the lid on for five to ten minutes. Give it an occasional shake or stir to stop the carrots catching on the bottom. Add a splash of water, if needed. Stir in the parsley and lemon juice just before serving.
If you’re going to make them ahead of time, I’d recommend cooking them a couple of minutes less initially, as they’ll cook a bit as you reheat them.
I don’t, however, recommend freezing them.
Honey butter carrots are a great way to add a touch of colour, sweetness and richness to your meal. They make a versatile side dish which you can pair with a variety of main courses. They’re perfect with roasts of any sort, but are also good with pies, quiches and grain bowls.
Here are a few main course options to consider serving with these honey butter glazed carrots.
- Broccoli cauliflower cheese
- Chocolate bean burgers
- Green vegetable galette
- Halloumi rice bowl
- Lentil nut roast with sage & onion stuffing (vegan)
- Vegetarian shepherd’s pie
If you’re looking for other suitable side dishes to make a festive feast, why not try some of the following?
- Braised red cabbage (vegan)
- Chestnut & tempeh stuffing balls (vegan)
- Leek gratin with white sauce
- Pigs in blankets (vegan)
- Roast potatoes – but that goes without saying
- Stir-fried Brussels sprouts (vegan)
Honey Butter Glazed Carrots: Variations
If you like the idea of honey butter glazed carrots, but want to up the anti a little, here are a few ideas. But first, feel free to omit the garlic, if you’re not a garlic lover.
Chilli
For a mild or fiery kick, add a pinch of chilli flakes or a finely chopped red chilli. How much you add depends on how much heat you like.
Orange
Orange and carrot is a classic flavour combination that just seems to work. Swap the water in the recipe for orange juice and add the zest along with the parsley at the end, if liked.
Omit the squeeze of lemon juice though.
Herbs
Instead of parsley, you could use chervil or finely snipped chives.
How To Make Vegan Glazed Carrots
It’s actually really easy to make these glazed carrots into a vegan side dish. They won’t taste the same, obviously, but they’re still really good. Follow the recipe as is, but swap the butter for a good extra virgin olive oil and the honey for maple syrup. Or why not make my vegan butter and use that instead?
You could even use light brown sugar instead of the syrup. Both of these give plenty of flavour.
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this Vichy style side dish of honey butter glazed carrots, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Choclette x
Honey Butter Glazed Carrots. PIN IT.
Honey Butter Glazed Carrots
Ingredients
- 450 g carrots (1 lb) scrubbed and ends removed
- 25 g unsalted butter
- 1 clove garlic grated or finely chopped
- 2 tsp honey
- 25 ml water
- 1 pinch sea salt
- good grinding of black pepper
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley (about 3 or 4 sprigs) – finely chopped then divided
- squeeze of lemon juice
Instructions
- Cut the carrots at a slant into 2-3 cm chunks. There’s no need to peel unless they’re badly damaged.450 g carrots
- Melt the butter in a medium sized pan over a moderate heat. Add the garlic and fry for thirty seconds. Add the carrots and give a good stir, then add the honey, water and salt.25 g unsalted butter, 1 clove garlic, 2 tsp honey, 25 ml water, 1 pinch sea salt
- Give everything a good stir. Bring to the boil and clamp the lid on the pan.
- Turn the heat down and simmer for ten to fifteen minutes until just tender. If there’s too much liquid in the pan, take the lid off and continue to cook until the liquid has mostly evaporated.
- Remove from the heat, stir in the pepper, half of the parsley and add a squeeze of lemon. Give it all a good stir.good grinding of black pepper, 1 tbsp fresh parsley, squeeze of lemon juice
- Turn out into a serving dish, scatter with the remaining parsley and serve immediately whilst hot.
I love this new seasoning to make carrots. I’m usually just steam them with butter but this way is so tasty.
Thanks Nancy. Steamed carrots with butter is good too, but glazing them like this makes them a bit more special.
I loved how easy and delicious this was! The carrots turned out really tender and flavorful. Thanks for such a simple and tasty recipe!
Glad you liked them Natalia. They are one of my favourite ways to eat carrots.
cold here in Cornwall too I’m afraid!
So I’ve heard. I think I prefer the cold to the coming rain though.
my mum would occasionally make this for us with our roast beef dinner. Delish!
The old ones are often the best ones I find. Although I never had it with honey until I started using it myself.
Such a simple yet fantastic side dish!
Yes indeed. I’m very keen on simple but delicious 😀