The Easiest Glazed Carrots

This glazed carrots recipe is the perfect thing to make when you’re about to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner and realize you need just one more side dish. It requires a single skillet, a handful of ingredients you likely already have on hand—not just for the holiday season but any time of year—and comes together in about 15 minutes. In fact, it’s so easy, we bet you’ll keep it in the rotation for many weeknight dinners to come.

The glaze combines fresh orange juice, honey, butter, and freshly grated ginger, which you’ll cook with the carrots until the sauce is reduced and caramelized. A splash of water restores the mixture to a sticky, bright, buttery glaze that clings to the glistening veg. 

This recipe is adaptable too. Don’t have any honey? Swap in maple syrup or brown sugar. No OJ? White wine, apple juice, or stock will work. Used all your ginger in the cranberry chutney? Add the zest of a lemon and finish with lemon juice instead of water. And if you need a vegan option for the butter, a plant-based version or coconut oil will do just fine. If you bought whole carrots with the greens still attached, feel free to use those as garnish in place of fresh parsley. And while we can’t endorse baby carrots, this recipe adapts to whatever you might have around.

Store any leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to three days, but don’t bother reheating them. The cold candied carrots make a fantastic salty-sweet-savory topping for yogurt.

For more easy side dish recipes, consider these roasted carrot coins with thyme, baked sweet potato fries with a spicy dip—or go all out with our favorite recipe for mashed potatoes.