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Stovetop Honey Balsamic Glazed Carrots

Tender honey balsamic glazed carrots pan-roasted stovetop finished with a sprinkling of thyme. An easy one-pan dish that takes less than 20 minutes! Pairs perfectly with turkey, chicken, roast beef, lamb and duck.

Close up of glazed heirloom carrots in a white pan on a wood table

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Sometimes you just need to be fancy so I used heirloom carrots for this recipe but your regular orange carrot will do just the same. I love to pan-roast vegetables when I can versus roasting in the oven simply because by the time my oven warmed up I could have been done.

Time is precious and as a mom, with two kids. I am always on the go. So when I can make something easier, faster and with less mess well, that is going to be my mission Operandi! This recipe is done all in one pan, less time, less mess….a winner in my mind!

Ingredients needed for honey balsamic carrots

Ingredients You’ll Need

  • Carrots – full size ones either with the tops stil on or in a bag. You can choose regular all orange carrots or make it fancy with a bag of colourful carrots. They all taste roughly the same.
  • Honey – Liquid honey is preferred or if you are following a vegan lifestyle or short on honey you can also substitute the honey for maple syrup.
  • Balsamic vinegar – balances the sweetness out with a little acidity.
  • Salt and pepper – to taste
  • Fresh thyme – adds a nice herbal note that complements the flavours in this recipe.

How to make Stovetop Honey Balsamic Glazed Carrots

Carrots are sweet on their own but the honey in this recipe gives them a nice glaze. And the balsamic evens out the intensity of the sweetness perfectly. To make these honey balsamic carrots simply wash and cut the carrots into even pieces or if they are thin like what I had on hand you don’t need to do anything more than cut off the tops.

If some of the carrots are a bit thicker just cut them length-wise until the carrots are as evenly sized as possible. This will ensure that the carrots cook evenly and the larger ones are fork-tender at the same time as the smaller carrots.

Honey balsamic roasted carrots in a pan being cooked.

If you prefer to cut your carrots into pieces go ahead just try and make the bits as uniform as possible. Adjust your cooking time if the carrots you have are smaller than the ones I have shown in my pictures. Smaller pieces will cook faster.

Once the carrots are washed and all as uniform in size as possible simply throw all the ingredients in the pan over medium heat. Cover the pan with a lid and let simmer for about 10 minutes and then lift the lid and let simmer for another 10 or so minutes or until the carrots are fork-tender. Serve immediately.

Can you freeze glazed carrots?

Cooked carrots don’t freeze well and tend to get mushy when thawed. But the good news is that this recipe is so quick to make there really is no reason to batch cook and freeze these. You can, however, store leftovers in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 2 days and reheat.

Pic of a white pan filled with honey glazed carrots on a wood table

how do heirloom carrots taste?

There isn’t much difference between heirloom carrots and regular carrots other than the fact that they look pretty. There are a few subtle flavour differences:

  • Purple carrots are a little sweeter and sometimes have a slight peppery taste
  • Red Carrots taste the same as orange carrots
  • Yellow or white carrots are much sweeter than the other carrots and are less earthy in flavour

Does Eating Carrots Help your Eyesight?

Not really. If they did I would eat a bag a day to be rid of my glasses. I am blind as a bat without them!

This old wives tale comes from the fact that carrots are high in beta carotene which is the body converts into vitamin A. Vitamin A is said to help convert light into signals sent to the brain that help us to see better in low light.

I personally think this idea of carrots helping us see better is just something our moms told us to get us to eat more veggies. As a mom, I will hail the benefits of

Overhead shot of a white pan filled with glazed carrots on a wood table

Storing honey Balsamic Roasted Carrots

If you have leftovers of this recipe you can store them in a tightly sealed container for up to 5 days in the fridge. This recipe does not freeze well so eat them up!

More Easy Vegetable Recpes To try

Close up of glazed heirloom carrots in a white pan on a wood table

Glazed Carrots With Honey & Balsamic

Alisa Infanti
Tender glazed carrots with honey & balsamic vinegar pan-roasted along with fresh thyme. An easy one-pan side dish that only takes 20 minutes. Easy enough for a weeknight dinner and fancy enough to serve for a dinner party. Pairs perfectly with turkey, chicken and lamb and duck.
5 from 7 votes
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Course Dinner, Side Dish
Cuisine 21 Day Fix, American, Canadian, Christmas, gluten free, Holiday, Thanksgiving
Servings 4 People
Calories 96 kcal

Equipment

  • Stove
  • Large pan with a lid
  • Wooden Spoon
  • Measuring Spoons

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb carrots washed and trimmed
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 1 ½ tsp fresh thyme stems removed
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ cup water

Instructions
 

  • Wash and trim the carrots and ensure all pieces are similar in size. If some pieces are bigger simply slice thicker carrots in half lengthwise.
  • In a large pan over medium heat add the carrots, honey, thyme, water and balsamic vinegar. Stir and cover with a lid and let simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Remove lid add a pinch of salt and stir. Let simmer for another 10 minutes stirring occassionally until carrots are fork-tender. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Serving: 1316Calories: 96kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 1.1gFat: 0.28gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 157mgPotassium: 347mgFiber: 3.2gSugar: 18.5gVitamin A: 18959IUVitamin C: 7.2mgCalcium: 40mgIron: 0.47mg

Notes

If following the 21 Day Fix Container System this recipe would be considered 1 green.  Please note up to 4 tsp a day of sweeteners like honey and maple syrup are allowed so this recipe would use up 3 of the 4 tsps allowed.
Please Note:

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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5 Comments

  1. I keep burning the carrots and I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong! I follow the measurements exactly 🥺

    1. Hi Bella, are you adding in the water and stirring it up with the honey? If the honey sits in the heat without the water it will burn. Give them a stir every once in a while so the honey doesn’t just sit and the carrots get carmalized all over.

  2. 5 stars
    This was so easy to make and exactly what I was looking for. Omitted the thyme (didn’t have any) but it’s still delicious! Thanks for sharing.

5 from 7 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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