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Balsamic Roasted Baby Carrots

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Balsamic Roasted Baby Carrots are so simple to make yet so complex in flavour. Baby carrots are drizzled in balsamic vinegar then roasted in the oven for the perfect side dish!

Balsamic Roasted Baby Carrots on a sheet pan.

This one is a family favourite. My family loves this recipe. We’re such suckers for roasted vegetables.

I think it’s because we all have a sweet tooth, and roasting brings out the natural sweetness of vegetables.

This is something I make often when we have roast beef or roast chicken. It just goes perfectly with either of those dishes. It’s also really good with pork tenderloin.

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I am a carrot fanatic. It’s one of my favourite vegetable. It ranks in the top 3, along with corn and broccoli.

Cauliflower usually ranks pretty high too. And radishes. Okay so the top 5 are Carrots, Corn, Broccoli, Cauliflower and Radishes.

Likely in that order. Depending on my craving any particular day.

During corn season all bets are off though. Then all other vegetables become invisible to me. I wear corn blinders.

I can’t help it. We live in the corn Capital of Canada. Well, not exactly in it. But close to it. Okay so not close to it, about a 20 to 30 minute drive from it.

If you’re wondering where the best corn in Canada comes from I state with certainty that place is Leamington, Ontario. It has something to do with the soil at Point Pelee. True story.

Take a tour of Point Pelee and they will explain it all to you. Take 12,847 tours with the kids’ school functions and you can recite the tour speech verbatim.

The joys of being a serious “volunteer mama”. I know so many random things about so many places.

Places like Leamington, Ontario. Where they grow the best corn. The best carrots. The best tomatoes.

I just wish it was more tropical here so they grew them year round. That would be the downside to living here. The snow, always the snow.

Thank goodness I can still find baby carrots at Costco. Have I ever told you how much I love Costco?

Almost as much as corn. And baby carrots.

Don’t you just love carrots? Look at these beauties. I could eat them every day, all day long. And often do.

I hope you get a chance to try these out.

Adjust the cooking time depending on how much bite you like left in them once they are cooked. I like mine pretty soft so I tend to cook mine on the longer side.

I make these for holidays. They will show up on our Easter table and Thanksgiving table.

Family tradition, it’s a good thing.

Just like these Balsamic Roasted Baby Carrots.

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Balsamic Roasted Baby Carrots on a cookie sheet.
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Balsamic Roasted Baby Carrots
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Total Time
50 mins
 

Balsamic Roasted Baby Carrots are so simple to make yet so complex in flavour. Baby carrots are drizzled in balsamic vinegar then roasted in the oven for the perfect side dish!

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: balsamic roasted baby carrots
Servings: 4
Ingredients
  • 1.5 lbs baby carrots, tops removed, peeled if desired
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • coarse salt, to taste
  • pepper, if desired
  • Dried or fresh parsley, to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degree F.
  2. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper, if you don't have any just spray it liberally with non-stick cooking spray.
  3. Rinse your carrots and pat dry.
  4. In a medium sized glass bowl (or large if double batching) place the carrots inside.
  5. In a small glass bowl add the balsamic vinegar, then slowly add the olive oil while whisking with gusto. Do not use aluminum bowls, it doesn't play well with acidic ingredients. Whisk with gusto until your arm falls off, or your ingredients combine perfectly.
  6. Now pour the balsamic mix over top off the carrots. Toss the carrots until well coated. Pour them onto the cookie sheet.
  7. Place in oven and roast them for about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on how crisp or soft you like your carrots, and how thick they are. I did not cut this batch in half since they were not overly thick, but you can do that if you like. I often do. I flip mine halfway through, just so I get that nice caramelised goodness on both sides.
  8. Remove from oven. Transfer to a bowl. Sprinkle with coarse salt, pepper and parsley.
  9. Serve with a big old Vitamin A loving smile!
Recipe Notes

You can add a sweetener if you like. For this particular recipe I don't because I find the natural sweetness of the carrot balances beautifully with the balsamic vinegar.

Balsamic Roasted Baby Carrots baked on a cookie sheet and sprinkled with salt and parsley

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Balsamic Roasted Baby Carrots are so simple to make yet so complex in flavour. Baby carrots are drizzled in balsamic vinegar then roasted in the oven for the perfect side dish! #balsamic #roasted #carrots #sidedish tt
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Comments

    • They really are. I love them at Easter, and pretty much any other time I can make them.

      Omg, seriously right. What is with this winter nonsense? Over it.

      Reply

    • You must try them Norma. They are SO good. Just the right amount of acid with sweet. And thank you so much. I appreciate it.

      Reply

  6. Carrots so often don’t get the love they deserve. They’re a favorite of ours, too. And I love to roast them! They pair so well with balsamic, don’t they? Good stuff — thanks.

    Reply

    • I concur, I love them too. I’m not a huge vinegar fan but for roasting it’s just sheer perfection.

      Reply

  8. If I’m being honest, carrots are NOT in my top five veggies – but these babies are definitely making me reconsider! The photos alone are making me want to eat a big bowl of them and that’s saying something! I’m sure these would be a hit with Mr. Hungry and Hungry Jr. so I’m going to make them soon and let them know they have you to thank. There will be much rejoicing! XO

    Reply

    • Thanks Mellissa. I think carrots are pretty high sugar, I never know if they are allowed on low carb diets or not. I love them but then again I inhale sugar at mock speed. Try them for the Hungry dudes and let me know what they think. I can’t wait to see you. 8 weeks, squee.

      Reply

  9. I make a very similar recipe, only I add honey because I like my roasted carrots on the sweet side… it’s such a simple side dish, but people are always super-impressed by how fancy and gourmet it looks. 🙂

    Reply

    • I have another one coming up with honey and nuts. I like brown sugar on them too sometimes. And maple syrup. Also love them cooked in broth. Then drizzled in butter. Oh my, can you tell I love carrots. My brother used to eat so many his skin turned orange. Ha.

      We need to cook together. How have we never done that when I visit? It’s just silly I say, just silly.

      Reply

    • Thanks Rebecca. I am in sugary mode lately. I just want sweets constantly, even when eating veggies. So wrong, but feels so right. Ha.

      Reply

    • Ha, love it. I am so in love with that pasta you did did with the rotini noodles, the ravioli too, but that creamy one just did me in. Dying to try it.

      Reply

  16. That is one of my favorite ways to eat carrots. I am a total carrot fiend, too. I keep waiting for my skin to turn orange because I eat too many. Until then, bring one that pan of roasted carrots!

    Reply

    • Ha, Scott had orange skin on occasion. Always made me laugh. He loved those things, my mom used to buy massive bags of them. And sunflower seeds, man we ate copious amounts of those too.

      Reply

  22. Yummo! I was a little adventurous and used some artisan balsamic vinegar I had purchased at a specialty store (1 T of vanilla & 1 T of Blackberry ginger) whisked with the olive oil and the carrots turned out great! I’m not a fan of parsley so I used fresh oregano. This is a keeper! More carrot recipes please!!!! 🙂

    Reply

    • I have a similar one coming this week you might love. Keep an eye out.

      And thank you so much. I love that you used blackberry ginger, I must try this. I have a zillion fancy vinegars I need to start using. xx

      Reply

  23. Never in my wildest food dreams would I think that a CARROT dish would make me stop in my tracks. Don’t get me wrong, I like carrots, but these look absolutely stunning. Not a huge fresh parsley fan (yes, I know…I know), but tarragon goes well with carrots so I may go that route.

    Reply

  24. Love carrots, will be making these for Easter , roasted is especially good. Reading the article and your mentioning Leamington, wow—— brings back memories of summers spent their. You are right on about the corn… always stopped at road side corn stands to get it, fresh cooked w/lots of butter. Fond memories.

    Reply

    • I love our growing season, it may be short lived but it’s always spectacular. The corn is so out of this world.

      Hope you love these. I’m making them tomorrow too.

      Reply

  25. Saw this yummy recipe on Pinterest so I came on over. While the carrots look great, I had to comment on your location. I lived in Windsor for a number of years as a child, and have been to Point Pelee a bunch of times! Great memories! Small world, I guess, eh? (That’s my inner Canadian coming out.)

    Reply

    • Thanks so much Holly. I love roasting vegetables, I think it’s because it brings out their natural sweetness.

      We love Point Pelee. It’s family tradition to bring all visitors to PP. We always do family get-togethers there. Love it. Such a fun place to visit.

      Reply

  27. These carrots look so delicious and I would love to make them. However I don’t have glass bowls and you said aluminum wouldn’t work well. What about stainless steel bowls?

    Reply

  28. I came across this recipe again, and in the last few days I wrote how disappointed I was when I tried this recipe with store bought,baby carrots. I had them in for close to 2 hours, they were still hard, and although I like firm veggies, this was still too tough to enjoy. I see here you were using long, thin carrots, and I think I will give this another try and use that type. I don’t know where these carrots in the bags come from, I almost surely would guess somewhere in the States, and I know that the type can sure affect the outcome. I am in Newfoundland, and we grow some good carrots here, but what is in the stores now is too big to hope to roast so I will keep my eyes open for nice, thin carrots. Happy New Year!

    Reply

    • Hey Carol, did you leave a comment here on the blog, or email me? I’ve actually been off work for a couple of weeks. Partly for the holidays and partly for health reasons. So I haven’t been posting, commenting or answering emails. I was just too sick. Today is my first day back to work so going through comments now. I’ll peek for anything other notes you left but this is the first I’ve seen thus far.

      I bought fresh carrots. I visit a couple of different farmers markets that carry them off season. I live in Ontario and there are tons of greenhouses here, some are doing year round growing so occasionally I get odd veggies at odd times. You can also, on occasion, find them at Costco. But just give them a bit of a snap test to see how hard they are. Cut them in half if they are massive size or massively hard. Typically fresh ones should only take 20 to 40 minutes depending on size and thickness. No more than an hour. Those giant ones in stores I could see taking 2 hours, but not fresh picked carrots. Makes such a difference unfortunately. I’m a carrot lover too and I know when I buy those gigantic ones I hate how long they take. You can roast them for 2 or 3 hours before they soften up. It’s like they are made of stone.

      Never hesitate to reach out. Typically I’m super responsive. Even if someone hates something (which makes me sad but I’m ocd so I’ll actually walk anyone through a recipe if need be) I’ll still respond. I’ve just been off work so things were piling up.

      My brother is in Nova Scotia. My dad grew up in New Brunswick, so we love the East Coast. My dad is a Mahaney, lots of East Coast folks know the name. Not sure if that’s good or bad. Lol!

      Reply

      • Hi Kim! I was so glad to hear from you. I did leave the original comment on this blog through Pinterest.
        Sorry to hear that you were sick. Sure hope you have made a full recovery, now and have a great new year.
        I must try the recipe again, but I will not use those baby carrots. I don’t know why they didn’t work for me, but I will be on the look-out for some fresh carrots that are a good size for this. I am really dependant on only 2 main stores here for my produce, so I find it a bit limited at times. Summer is definitely so much better for veggies.
        I sure love life here on the east coast, having lived almost my full life on the prairies, it is a welcome, and peaceful change.I will have to ask my husband if he recognizes that name, cause he is a real Newfoundlander from birth.
        Thanks for responding to my comment.<3

        Reply

        • Hey Carol. Thanks so much. Sometimes the pinterest comments get by me. It depends on whether I pin it or someone else does. Sometimes Pinterest alerts me, which is always nice. But definitely never hesitate to email me. I take my “job” here pretty seriously so if a recipe isn’t working I’ll problem solve it with the person, or go as far as to remake it to see if I made an error when writing the recipe up. I try to be super careful about things, but you just never know, we’re all human. But you will always get a response if I see something. Nothing worse than a blog or website that doesn’t respond to readers in my opinion. People hate wasting money on ingredients, so I figure it’s my duty to do my best to test recipes at least 3 or 4 times before they hit the blog.

          The east coast is amazing. Hoping to head that way in the summer. My daughter may do some training in the east this summer, so I’m looking forward to visiting my brother if that happens. I also love the west coast. My son is in Alberta and my sis is in BC. So I have family all over. The only places I don’t care for are the prairies, mostly because it’s so boring to drive through on trips.

          Thanks again for letting me know. I hope you find fresh ones. I know this time of the year is impossible. I have to travel out of town to find good stuff so I totally feel your pain. I live in the boonies but just get lucky on occasion because of the greenhouses in Leamington. Or we travel for work and I’ll pick stuff up in London or Toronto. We’re like you, where we live has 2 stores, and neither is ideal. But the city is about 30 minutes away so we zip in there whenever possible.

          Have a great week and thanks for your patience. And so sorry they weren’t working for you. I know I hate when recipes fail for me so I can completely relate when it happens to others.

          Reply

    • Yeah, so happy to hear that. These are my favourite carrot recipe. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.

      Reply

  30. I was looking for a way to use carrots over the winter, since they are always on sale. This was a great recipe and really easy to whip up! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I found the recipe on pinterest.

    Reply

  31. I am hoping you get this post. I want to make these carrots for Thanksgiving and wondered if you can tell me the specific brand of balsamic vinegar you use.

    Reply

    • Hi Tammy. You can use any brand of balsamic you like, but definitely go with a good one. I typically use a Canadian one I buy at a local grocery store, the brand is called Compliments. It’s reasonably priced but the taste is spot on. On occasion I use an aged vinegar called De Nigris, it’s SO good. It’s a bit pricier but the depth of flavour is fabulous. If I recall it’s the De Nigris I used for this one.

      I also really love the Wildly Delicious brand of products. They do a lot of flavoured ones. I have a weakness for collecting vinegars I’ll likely never use. Ha.

      I hope that helps. Just a quick tip, if you find the great quality baby carrots that you get from farmers markets this recipe time is bang on. If you buy the massive carrots from the grocery store either cut them or increase cooking time a bit. I know someone tried to make this with regular big thick carrots but didn’t adjust the time, so thought I’d mention that. Hope you love them. We make them every time Costco has baby carrots. So good. You can even grill them.

      Reply

  32. So excited to try this recipe! A it possible to make them a day ahead and then reheat? Trying to do all of the day before prepping I can before our thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

    Reply

    • Sorry, just saw this. Been a crazy week. These really are best the day off. I’ve reheated them on occasion but personally I think they taste best fresh. Sorry for not seeing this sooner. Usually I check every day but life has been a bit hectic.

      Reply

      • I made these Christmas morning but we didn’t eat until later afternoon. They did soften up a bit so I put them in the oven a little while and the did crisp back up some. Still good though.

        Reply

    • They should absolutely work. I use baby carrots all the time. It they are thick I’ll cut them in half. So tiny little mini ones would work. You will want to check them sooner though, they would cook in less time because they would not be as thick. Hope you love them.

      Reply

  34. I made these for Christmas lunch and they were so good. I had never roasted carrots before so I wasn’t sure how they would turn out but oh my goodness they were really good. I had a big 5 lb bag of carrots and I roll-cut them into good sized bite size pieces which gave more surface area to get crisp and carmelize. Soooo easy!!

    Reply

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