Classic roasted baby carrots with Hidden Valley ranch seasoning, chives, and parsley. A quick 25-minute healthy vegetable side dish that doubles down as the perfect Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter dinner side dish recipe to serve to family and guests. If you’re looking to add new flavor to your table whether, for dinner or a holiday feast, you’ll surprise guests with this simply divine baked vegetable carrot recipe.
It’s easy to load up on the classics like roast turkey, moist honey cornbread, and classic cornbread dressing, traditional stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, cranberry fluff salad, bread rolls, and thanksgiving desserts like this pumpkin cheesecake, don’t forget to offer healthier thanksgiving side dishes like roasted brussels sprouts, roasted broccoli, and roasted carrots.
It’s hard to believe that it’s already the end of the year and the holiday season is just WEEKS away. While it’s easy to get stressed and overwhelmed with menu ideas and ever changing plans, you’ll like that this recipe features simple ingredients, easy prep, and a next level flavor that will meet every guests expectations.
HOW TO MAKE ROASTED CARROTS
- Stir together seasoning and oil.
- Coat well with carrots in a bowl.
- Spread onto a sheet pan.
- Bake in oven for 25-35 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped parsley.
RECIPE QUESTIONS
Can I make the carrots in advance like a day ahead of a holiday party? Yes. These carrots can be made a day or two ahead. Simply reheat them in a 300 degree F oven until warmed or in the microwave. Keep them warm by covering them in a serving bowl with a lid, foil, or plastic wrap.
I only have large carrots on hand, how do I prepare them? Be sure to cut up any extra-large end, as the big thick ones by simply cutting them in half lengthwise. It’s ideal that the carrots are near similar size to roast evenly.
I want to add other vegetables to the mix, what do you suggest? Vegetables range greatly in roasting temperatures. If wanting to add other vegetables, it’s important to know how long and at what temperature they cook the best. Unless you have roasted other vegetables and they take relatively the same time and the same temperature, it’s best to use a separate pan for roasting to have more control of the cooking process.
How long does it take to roast carrots? Just 25-30 minutes is all that’s needed to have perfectly fork tender carrots.
OVEN ROASTED CARROTS INGREDIENTS
■ CARROTS: The main vegetable. Using baby carrots helps ensure that the carrots roast evenly in just 25-30 minutes. If using whole carrots, be sure to cut them smaller or they will need to roast longer.
■ OIL: Oil coats the vegetable and helps to soften it while working to retain the moisture without shriveling up and drying out. TIP: Use vegetable, canola, or a high smoke point oil that won’t burn. If olive oil is the only option, be sure to use extra virgin as it can tolerate higher heat as regular olive oil will not.
■ RANCH: Use the ranch that comes in a packet and not the traditional wet dressing in the bottle. Find the packet in the salad dressing aisle, usually on the top shelf next to packets of dry Italian salad dressing powder. I prefer to use the seasoning powder and not the dip powder. If you can locate the powder in a bottle, buy it and use it in a variety of ranch seasoning recipes here.
■ GARLIC: Adding garlic powder or garlic salt to the mix incorporates more flavor. If using freshly minced garlic, cook it on the stovetop with 1 tbsp of butter and toss the carrots in the garlic butter sauce when they are done cooking in the oven.
■ SEASONING: Salt, and pepper to taste. Cracked peppercorn or ground pepper are delicious with baked carrots. To add some spice, sprinkle some red pepper flakes into the mix.
■ PARSLEY: Freshly chopped parsley or dried parsley flakes. Fresh parsley adds a lot of color that pops on the orange carrots. This is ideal when serving it as a vegetable side dish for holiday parties. If making at home for dinner, either one works.
HOW TO SERVE CARROTS
Oven roasted carrots have a bad reputation for their ordinary plain taste, especially among vegetable haters. However, this vegetable is easy to transform with a few basic ingredients like spices, herbs, oil, and seasoning. To serve, place the carrots in a large serving platter or bowl with two serving spoons. Sprinkle the carrots with chopped parsley and some salt. Place arugula or spinach in the bowl for holiday parties as a garnish.
UP THE FLAVOR: TRY THESE NEXT
FOR FANATICS: These roasted carrots are divine and full of flavor as is. Since I do make them once a week with our dinner, I sometimes like to mix things up with different flavors, and textures. Here are a few optional recipe additions that I like to add when I have the ingredients on hand. Feel free to add none of them or a few here and there at a time.
- Bacon Crumbles
- Feta Cheese, Blue Cheese, or Gorgonzola Cheese
- Toasted Almonds
- Candied Pecans
- Roasted Broccoli
- Chopped green onions
- Homemade croutons
- Italian seasoning (next to the ranch powder at the store)
- citrus juice like lemon, orange, grapefruit
- balsamic
- dried cranberries
- Fresh minced garlic sauteed in butter and served (add after roasting)
- gravy
- Fried onion rings (the kind used in green bean casserole)
HOLIDAY MENU RECIPE IDEAS
Carrots are a classic and popular recipe to offer guests for family holidays. It’s a classic and traditional vegetable that’s very commonly prepared for Thanksgiving Day dinner, Christmas brunch or dinner, and Easter. Traditionally, I make the carrots a day or two in advance and warm them in up the oven before placing them on the table. When serving, I use a pretty serving platter with add a handful of arugula tossed into the bowl. It’s then topped with fresh parsley, chopped chives, and cracked peppercorn.
- Thanksgiving Roast Turkey
- Classic Slow Cooker Ham
- Cranberry Sauce or Cranberry Relish
- Crack Brussels Sprouts
- Crack Broccoli
- Maple Roasted Butternut Squash
- Cranberry Fluff Salad
- Sweet Potato Casserole with Crunchy Pecan Streusel Topping
- Cornbread Dressing
- Sweet Cornbread
- Buttery Mashed Potatoes
Crack Carrots {The Best Roasted Carrots}
Ingredients
- 36 oz baby carrots 2 lbs
- 3 tsp ranch seasoning dry powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 3½ tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley or 1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
- 1 tbsp fresh chives chopped
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Prepare a large rimmed sheet pan with foil and lightly grease with oil.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together ranch seasoning, garlic powder, pepper, salt, and 1 tbsp of chopped parsley.
- Stir in oil.
- Stir in baby carrots and toss until mixed well.
- Bake in 400°F oven for 25-35 minutes.
- Serve roasted carrots on a platter and top with chopped parsley and chives.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate and it’s accuracy is not guaranteed to be exact.
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2 Responses
I made these carrots for our family Thanksgiving and they were a huge hit!! I used two packs of the dry ranch mix and dried parsley. They are delicious!!
I made this as a Thanksgiving dinner side and it was delicious! A great way to have some color on the table… not to mention a yummy way to eat vegetables. Will definitely be making again… and I was thinking some kind of cheese sprinkled on top would be a nice touch. Any idea what kind of cheese would work best? Thanks!