Honey roasted carrots and beets

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

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Chop off ends of carrots and beets and peel with a knife for vegetable peeler.
3. Cut into bite sized pieces using a sharp chef's knife and place on a parchment lined rimmed baking sheet.
4. Drizzle root vegetables with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and toss to evenly coat.
5. Spread out carrots and beets into a single layer and sprinkle with salt.
6. Roast in oven for about 25 minutes until vegetables are tender with a bit of a bite left still.
7. Drizzle with olive oil and place back in oven for about five minutes for honey to start to caramelize the vegetables.
8. 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.