Honey roasted carrots and beets are a beautiful and delicious fall seasonal side dish. With minimal ingredients, it's an inexpensive side dish for a weeknight dinner, but also worthy to accompany your Thanksgiving table.
For Thanksgiving a couple of years ago, I roasted a tray of carrots and beets and drizzled them with honey and my family loved them! So much so that my dad and step mom asked me how to make the honey roasted carrots and beets and began making them at home on weeknights. If you think you don't like certain vegetables, try roasting them. Roasted vegetables change the game.
Just about every vegetable tastes good roasted in the oven. When you take the natural sweetness of vegetables like carrots and beets and drizzle them with a little honey, you just make your tastebuds dance a little bit more.
A few nights ago, after making them for dinner to accompany my stovetop chicken thighs, my daughter said, "simple food really is the best." I whole-heartedly agree! Like I always say, it doesn't have to be complicated or fancy to be delicious.
Simple ingredients
- beets: Look for firm red beets with nice green tops. You can even cook the tops if you are feeling extra frugal.
- carrots: Look for firm carrots with a bright orange color. If you buy them with green tops attached, you can use them for carrot top pesto.
- olive oil
- salt: Use a good salt like kosher salt or sea salt. Salt is essential to give your food a flavor punch!
- honey
How to make roasted carrots and beets
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Chop off ends of carrots and beets and peel with a knife for vegetable peeler.
- Cut into bite sized pieces using a sharp chef's knife and place on a parchment lined rimmed baking sheet.
- Drizzle root vegetables with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and toss to evenly coat.
- Spread out carrots and beets into a single layer and sprinkle with salt.
- Roast in oven for about 25 minutes until vegetables are tender with a bit of a bite left still.
- Drizzle with olive oil and place back in oven for about five minutes for honey to start to caramelize the vegetables.
- Remove from oven and taste. Add more salt or honey to your taste.
Tips for easier prep
This recipe is simple. Really the hardest part is peeling and chopping the beets. They can be a bit of a pain because that gorgeous red color does indeed stain your hands and cutting board. You can use gloves if you're afraid of staining, but I personally don't mind. The stain comes off in a couple of washes.
If you find it a pain to wash, peel and chop veggies at dinner time, they can always be peeled and chopped ahead of time the day before or in the morning. Store in an airtight container or plastic bag until ready to use. If you really wanted to cheat, you could also use whole baby carrots instead of chopping your own. Simply add a little more cooking time before adding the honey at the end.
I think you will love these roasted beets and carrots. The flavors combine salty and sweet and really balance the earthy flavor of the root vegetables. Many beet haters have been converted to beet lovers with this recipe.
Honey roasted carrots and beets
Equipment
- parchment paper
- baking sheet
Ingredients
- 5 carrots
- 4 beets
- 2 tbsp olive oil or oil of choice
- ¼ tsp salt or more to taste at the end
- 2 tbsp honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Cut off ends of beets and carrots and peel.
- Cut into bite sized pieces and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Drizzle with olive oil and toss. Spread out and sprinkle with salt.
- Roast in oven for about 25 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender.
- Drizzle honey on carrots and beets and place back in oven for about 5 minutes.
- After removing from oven, taste for seasonings. Add more salt if needed.
Amy
Let me start by saying I have never liked beets. They always tasted like soil to me lol. I was given a few beets, and had no idea what to do with them. I found your recipe, and I'm so glad I did. I just got this out of the oven, and it is awesome!! Never thought I would say that beets taste good, but my mind has been changed. I'll definitely be making these again. Thank you!!
LInda Alubicki-Freymuth
Tara, great recipe! I have disliked beets my whole life, avoided them in my middle years like the plague! Now into my sixties I am trying some new veggies. I came across your recipe and gave it a try. What a treat. So easy and so tasty! This will become a regular especially during the gardening season. Thank you for sharing. Lynn
Charlie Patty Bouck
We Love it. I want something beside pickled beets. Thank you very much.
Patty
Grace
Oh dear! I need to read things through a little better. I just prepared this recipe for the oven but added the honey right away instead of near the end. And my oven was too high…got a couple recipes mixed up. Well, i turned off the oven for a while and will turn it back up again once it cools a bit and will try it again. It certainly sounds yummy and I hope the early honey won’t be a problem. My mouth is watering or it.