Oven Roasted Carrots

The trouble is, simply tossing everything together and randomly throwing it in the oven doesn’t work. This is where most mistakes are made—you cut up your carrots, you lube them up with oil and you leave them to do their thing.

It then results in a sheet pan of mushy, semi-orange sludge nobody wants near their plate.

With the season of roasted veggies well and truly upon us, I thought now would be the perfect time for me to share this epic recipe for oven roasted carrots. One that guarantees fantastically crispy and perfectly golden-brown results, with plenty of room for experimentation. It’s the perfect side dish for your Valentine’s Day homemade dinner.

How to Make the Best Oven Roasted Carrots at Home

Equipment Needed

• Mixing Bowl
• Baking Dish

Ingredients

• 2 lb carrots, diced
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Zest and juice of a lemon
• 2 tbsp parmesan cheese

Instructions

First, dice the carrots into small pieces and place them into a mixing bowl.

Next, pour in the olive oil and melted butter and stir in the onion powder, garlic powder, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Then, add the zest and juice of the lemon and sprinkle in the parmesan cheese.

After, mix until everything is combined and pour the mixture into a preheated baking dish.

Finally, bake in an already heated oven at 400 F or 190 C degrees for about 30 minutes.

Serve and enjoy as a side dish to your Valentine’s Day dinner.

There’s a limitless scope for experimentation with different flavors and ingredients. So feel free to let your imagination run wild. However, it’s just that there’s something about the way the parmesan and lemon go with the sweetness of the carrots that’s out of this world.

Though you can always leave the cheese out entirely, while swapping the butter for a dairy-free alternative for vegans and vegetarians.

Expert Cooking Tips for Oven Roasted Carrots

Most of what’s in the formula above is fairly standard. The basic recipe for roasted vegetables has always been the same—veggies, oil, seasonings and a hot oven.

But there is nonetheless one simple yet essential modification that makes all the difference in the world. When it comes to cooking crisp and evenly cooked roasted vegetables, there’s one thing you need to do above everything else:

Preheat the baking tray.

When you think about it, the whole thing makes perfect sense. Because if you toss chopped and oily vegetables on to a cold pan and place it in the oven, they’ll spend the first few minutes scorching hot on top and cold on the bottom.

All the while, soaking up the oil that should be frying them to a perfect crisp.

When you preheat the oven tray, both the tops and the bottoms of your veggies start cooking properly from the moment they go in the oven. This is what will ensure optimum caramelization and prevent you coming out with disappointingly soggy results.

It’s an essential hack to use when cooking just about anything similar in the oven, as a cold tray combined with oily ingredients rarely produces anything enjoyable.

How to Take Your Roasted Carrots to the Next Level

Follow the recipe above to the letter a couple of times and it quickly becomes second nature. After which, there are so many things you can do to take your carrot roasting game to the next level.

A few examples of which include the following:

Experiment with Exotic Flavours

A great way of bringing roasted carrots to life is to get creative with exotic herbs and spices. Chinese five spice, curry powder, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika – pretty much anything goes. Carrots are about as versatile as it gets in terms of compatibility with all types of seasonings and flavours. You really cannot go wrong, so feel free to throw in anything you like.

Try Different Oils and Infusions

Every cooking oil has its own unique properties – everything from the flavor it imparts to its smoke point. As you’re cooking your veggies at a fairly high temperature, you’ll want to stay away from anything like extra virgin olive oil that starts burning at a low temperature. Other than this, there’s a whole world of oils and infusions to experiment with. Peanut oil, stir fry oil, rosemary oil, garlic oil, chilli oil – or maybe even a dousing of sesame oil before serving.

Keep Things as Uniform as Possible

The key to producing even results when roasting carrots lies in ensuring they are cut as evenly as possible. They need to be kept relatively thin, but can be as long as you like. When arranging them on the oven tray, ensure there is at least a little space between them to ensure even cooking. Don’t attempt to cook too many at once – it won’t work.

Don’t Stick Exclusively with Carrots

Last up, if you’re going to preheat the oven anyway, you may as well put it to good use. Roasting is just about the best cooking method there is for using up most types of leftover veggies. Tossed in the same oil and treated to liberal coating of herbs and spices, a roasted vegetable medley can be insanely delicious. And if you’ve any leftovers when you’re done, roasted vegetables make the perfect base for a fantastic homemade soup.