Perfectly spiced, these roasted carrots are glazed in a mouthwatering sweet and savory glaze, and are the perfect no-fuss side dish for any dinner or gathering! The most tender and delicious roasted carrots, made easily in the slow cooker!
Who’s excited for Thanksgiving? Can you believe it’s so close?! I’m ready, but man it’s a crazy time of year.
Side dishes are some of my favorite holiday food, but usually they all need the oven.
With multiple dishes all fighting for oven space, it’s nice to have a recipe that’s cooked in a different way. Like the slow cooker!
These carrots cook in the glaze, getting super tender and soaking up all that amazing flavor. You can serve them as is, or pop them in the broiler (once everything else is out of the oven) for a tiny bit to caramelize them a little.
If you’re looking for other amazing holiday dishes, try my Copycat HoneyBaked Ham, Slow Cooker Turkey Breast, Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes, Homemade Mac and Cheese, Broccoli Salad and more!
How to make sweet and savory roasted carrots
- Start by picking the best looking carrots. I love the look of the whole baby carrots, so I found some in my local grocery store that were great looking! If you can’t find the whole young/baby carrots, you can use regular carrots, and halve them lengthwise. Alternately, you can also use bagged baby carrots.
- Pick a slow cooker the carrots fit in. If you’re using the whole carrots, you want an oval slow cooker so they’re not all mushed up.
- The cooking time depends on the thickness of your carrots. On the thinner side, and they’ll be tender in about 6 hours… on the thicker side, and they may take 7.
Making roasted carrots in the oven
I came up with this recipe so you’d free up some oven space, since on most holidays, the oven is usually way too full. BUT, maybe your oven isn’t busy… or you’re making this for a non-holiday dinner, and want it ready quickly.
You’ll have to make a few adjustments:
- Reduce the preserves amount down to 1/4 cup
- Reduce the butter down to 1 Tbsp and add 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- Omit the water and cornstarch completely
How long does it take to roast carrots
You can roast these at several oven temperatures (if you choose to go that route), but 375°F is my favorite. It allows them to get gloriously caramelized, without drying them out, or burning them. Your oven roasted carrots will be ready in 30-40 minutes, depending on how thick the carrots are, stirring about 17-20 minutes into the cooking time.
Making slow cooker roasted carrots using bagged baby carrots
Sometimes it’s challenging to find the whole baby carrots, but those handy bags of roughly 2 inch long baby carrots are always readily available! The good news is, you can absolutely use those to make this recipe, with only one small adjustment. The cooking time. Generally, they’ll be ready sooner… so they only need to cook on LOW for 4-5 hours.
I hope you give these “roasted” carrots a try… for a holiday or even a casual dinner!!
My Favorite Slow Cooker!
I had this crockpot for a while now, and I really love how it cooks. The locking lid feature is amazing for taking foods to potlucks or other gatherings!
Recipe originally published in March 2018 and has been updated with additional information in November 2021.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs whole baby carrots washed, peeled and all but 1 inch of carrot tops removed
- 1/3 cup apricot or peach preserves
- 6 Tbsp butter melted
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1-2 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp ground mustard
- 1/4 – 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 Tbsp water
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, combine preserves, butter, honey, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, salt, dried thyme, ground mustard, and black pepper.
- Separately, combine cornstarch and water, then whisk or stir that mixture into the sauce.
- Place carrots in 3 – 6 quart slow cooker, and pour sauce over them. Stir gently to combine. Cover with lid and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours, or until tender.
For a sticky caramelized finish:
- Place cooked carrots on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and broil on HIGH for a minute or two, until slightly caramelized. Brush with leftover glaze from the slow cooker and serve.
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Chef Tips
Oven Roasted Method
- Reduce the preserves amount down to 1/4 cup
- Reduce the butter down to 1 Tbsp and add 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- Omit the water and cornstarch completely
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.
Sara says
I have a 3.5 quart casserole style crock pot. Will that work well for 3 pounds of carrots or should I use my 6 quart oval one?
The Chunky Chef says
I think it should be okay in the smaller slow cooker, but you might want to test it out by adding the carrots to it and make sure everything fits okay.
Sue says
I made these in the crockpot with 2 bags of baby carrots. The flavor was delicious. How can I thicken the sauce at the end of cooking? (I followed the recipe exactly)
The Chunky Chef says
Glad you love the flavor! You could mix about 1 Tbsp of cornstarch with 2 Tbsp water until smooth, then transfer the sauce to a saucepan. Cook over MED heat and stir in the cornstarch/water mixture. Simmer until the sauce is as thick as you’d like.
Amanda Stockwell says
I known instructions say 6-7 hours but I’m trying to time the cooking with other things. Do these tend to be done around 6 or 7 hours in the slow cooker?
The Chunky Chef says
Honestly it all depends on the size and thickness of your carrots.
jane says
Can you add in butternut squash along with the carrots?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve not tested this recipe that way, so I can’t say for certain how well that would work.
Cathy says
This is the perfect dish to make in the slow cooker!
Juliane says
Looks SO good! Can’t wait to try this soon!
Catalina says
Carrots is always a favorite in our house! It
Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert says
Love these Slow Cooker Glazed Carrots! Can’t wait to try them!
Beth says
Glazed carrots is one of my favorite side dishes. It goes so well with almost any kind of protein.
Deborah says
These look amazing! Going to make these for Thanksgiving. Thank you for sharing.
Kim Williamson says
Best carrots ever. Making them for Thanksgiving again this year. Perfect side dish that doesn’t need the oven. I used tri-colored carrots because that’s all my store had. Loved the flavors. Only 4 of us and these carrots were gone.
penny says
Made this in the oven. Subbed with Orange Marmalade. Maybe it is sweeter than peach preserves, but it was too sweet. Next time I will just omit the brown sugar & honey. Overall taste was delicious though. Loved the mix of seasonings. I will make this again!
Linda Hodgkinson says
Slow Cooker Glazed Carrots are DELICIOUS! I made this recipe for our Thanksgiving (Canadian) dinner. The dish received spontaneous remarks like “the carrots are really good!”. I have tried other glazed carrot/squash recipes particularly for special meals but have never liked the taste as much as this one. The prep could be done ahead of time…bonus! I did cook the carrots in the oven. I didn’t have any preserves that I could use so I did left them out but the recipe was still wonderful.
Alyssa says
Hello! I’m thinking about trying these for Thanksgiving, have you ever tried making them in advance and then just warming up (either in the oven or back in the slow cooker)? Does the sauce hold up/do the carrots get too mushy? Thanks in advance!
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Alyssa 🙂 I’ve only tested the recipe as written, but I think the sauce would hold up just fine, and I would maybe slightly undercook the carrots the first time, so when you reheat them they won’t be mushy.
Andrea says
Hello! I am going to try precooking these. How long would you recommend cutting the cooking time by for bagged baby carrots in the slow cooker? Thanks!!
The Chunky Chef says
I haven’t tested precooking the carrots for this recipe, so I can’t say for certain how much time would need to be taken off of the slow cooking time. If you do some experimenting, I’d love to know how it turns out 🙂
Paula says
Did you boil ahead last year because I’m thinking of doing that this year? I made these last year, although delicious, I’m trying to do things ahead of time
Vanessa Hernandez says
Hello,
Can i add baby potatoes in half to this?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve only tested the recipe as written, so I can’t say for sure, but I think it would be okay.