Parmesan Roasted Carrots

This classic Roasted Carrots recipe combines crisp fresh carrots, seasonings, garlic and Parmesan cheese, and bakes them until tender with lightly caramelized edges!  Savory with a natural sweetness from the carrots, it’s the perfect side dish for the holidays or family dinner! 

These Garlic Parmesan Roasted Carrots are one of those recipes we have with so many of our family dinners, as well as holiday dinners.  We also love easy side dish recipes like my Brussels Sprouts Gratin and Crockpot Mashed Potatoes.  This is one of my Side Dishes recipes I know you’ll want to keep on hand!

ROASTED CARROTS RECIPE

Are you roasting your vegetables yet?  If not, you really should try it!  It’ll make a veggie-lover out of almost anyone.

Roasting vegetables brings out their natural flavors, as well as retaining their nutrients.  Plus, you get that beautiful and oh so tasty golden brown caramelization around the edges.

You guys, I LIVE for that caramelization.  I love things browned and nearly burnt.  I’m that person who gets insanely excited when the delivered pizza has some toasty melted/almost burnt cheese in the box.

Maybe I’m weird… in fact, there’s no maybe about it lol.  But regardless of my eccentric-ness, caramelization and roasting equals flavor.  AMAZING flavor.

One bite of these roasted carrots, and you’ll know what I mean!

These are tasty enough to serve as a side dish during a holiday dinner, yet easy enough to serve for a weeknight family dinner.

I picked up a bag of tri-colored carrots, but regular ones will do as well 🙂

HOW TO MAKE ROASTED CARROTS

1. Preheat oven to 425 F degrees.  When testing, I found that carrots roasted at 425 yielded the best texture with a little caramelization.  Higher temperatures resulted in carrots that were almost burnt by the time they were tender.  Lower temperatures resulted in carrots that were tender, but lacked any golden brown edges.
2. Add oil, vinegar, seasonings to bowl. By adding the flavorings to the bowl first, you can get them well mixed, so they’ll coat the carrots evenly.
3. Add carrots and toss.  Add cheese and toss.
4. Spread carrots on baking sheet.  Make sure to spread the carrots into an even layer, so they’ll roast evenly.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake another 5-10 minutes or so.  If you prefer your carrots more golden brown, bake for a little bit longer.  Conversely, if you prefer your carrots less browned, bake a little less.  Just make sure the carrots are tender when pierced with a fork.

ADDITIONAL COOKING TIPS

• BAKING SHEET – use a BIG baking sheet!  You don’t want the carrots to be too close together, or they’ll steam, rather than roast, and you will have trouble getting them nice and golden brown.
• GARLIC PASTE – I like to pick up a tube of garlic paste (made by Gourmet Garden) for this recipe (and so many others), but you can substitute that with 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, or 1/2 tsp of garlic powder.
• TYPE OF CHEESE – The crumbly style of parmesan cheese works best in this recipe instead of shredded.  Think of the cans of Parmesan “cheese” that are on the shelf by the pasta sauce in the grocery store.  BUT, if you look in the cheese/deli section of most major grocery stores, you can find bags of REAL Parmesan cheese that have been grated to that crumbly jarred texture.  If you only have a block or shredded at home – I recommend adding it to a food processor and pulsing until crumbly. This style of cheese just adheres to the carrots better in my opinion.

VARIATIONS OF THIS RECIPE

• EXTRA CRUNCH – try adding approximately 2-3 Tbsp of panko breadcrumbs to the carrots before roasting!
• BABY CARROTS – if you want an even easier recipe prep, you can use bagged baby carrots, which don’t need to be peeled or cut.
• BUTTER – for a buttery rich flavor, you can substitute the olive oil for an equal amount of melted butter.
• NO BALSAMIC VINEGAR – if you don’t have any on hand or really don’t like the flavor, you can omit the balsamic vinegar. I would increase the oil by 1 Tbsp.
• HONEY GARLIC – I have a cheese-less version of this recipe that uses a garlic honey butter drizzle that is just heavenly. Check it out here!

MAKING ROASTED CARROTS AHEAD OF TIME

I find that these carrots taste best when made fresh.  However you can eliminate nearly all the prep time by peeling and slicing the carrots and combining the seasonings (except Parmesan cheese) in an airtight container.

If you do want to make them completely ahead of time, I recommend reheating them in a 425°F oven for 5-8 minutes.

STORAGE

Leftovers should be refrigerated in an airtight container and consumed within 5 days.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE

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• BIG baking sheet – you won’t have any problem with the carrots overcrowding the sheet with this one!

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Parmesan Roasted Carrots

5 from 8 votes

Author: The Chunky Chef

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Calories: 196

Servings: 4 - 6 servings

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This classic Roasted Carrots recipe combines crisp fresh carrots, seasonings, garlic and Parmesan cheese, and bakes them until tender with lightly caramelized edges!

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 lbs. carrots peeled
• ▢ 2 Tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 2 Tbsp garlic paste
• ▢ 2 tsp minced fresh parsley
• ▢ 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• ▢ 1 tsp kosher salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp black pepper
• ▢ 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

PREP

• Preheat oven to 425°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat. Set aside.
• Cut the ends off of carrots, then slice into roughly 2-3 inch long pieces. If carrots are particularly thick, you can slice in half lengthwise as well.

MIX

• Add olive oil, garlic paste, parsley, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to a medium to large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
• Add carrots and stir until each carrot is coated.
• Add cheese and stir again until coated.

BAKE

• Transfer carrots to prepared baking sheet and arrange in a single layer, trying to make sure they aren't touching each other too much, or they'll end up sort of steaming instead of roasting.
• Bake 20-25 minutes, stirring after about 12-15 minutes, until carrots are fork tender.

TO SERVE

• We like to sprinkle some additional Parmesan cheese and minced parsley on top before serving.

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Chef Tips

1. Baby carrots may be used.  These do not have to be peeled or cut.
2. You can chop carrots smaller, but they might cook a little faster, so keep an eye on them.
3. If you do not have garlic paste, I recommend using 2-3 cloves of minced garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder.
4. The crumbly style of parmesan cheese works best in this recipe instead of shredded.  Think of the cans of Parmesan "cheese" that are on the shelf by the pasta sauce in the grocery store.  BUT, if you look in the cheese/deli section of most major grocery stores, you can find bags of REAL Parmesan cheese that have been grated to that canned texture.  If you only have a block or shredded at home - I recommend adding it to a food processor and pulsing until crumbly. This style of cheese just adheres to the carrots better in my opinion.

Nutrition Disclaimer

The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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