Curried Roasted Carrots

Carrots are one fresh vegetable I almost always have on hand and are quick way to round out a meal, whether raw or cooked. After overbuying carrots recently, though, I’d been getting tired of my usual ways of preparing them, so I jumped on this recipe. The addition of curry powder here brings a spark to roasted carrots that was especially warming on a cold winter night.

Slicing the carrots on the diagonal makes them look just enough different than a straight horizontal chop to be a bit exotic. Start to finish, the recipe took just over half an hour and much of that time was available for me to finish up the rest of the meal.

This goes into the “favorites” file. I used buckwheat honey and the carrots were served with pan-seared prime top sirloin steak, Ethiopian-spiced black-eyed peas, and sweet potato cornbread.

These curried roasted carrots were a perfect side dish for a braised round steak and I could imagine them being a delicious addition to almost any meal. I was initially curious as to whether these would be too flavorful from the curry or too sweet from the honey and I was happy to find that neither concern was valid. The curry and honey added the perfect complement to the natural goodness of the carrot.

Another bonus is that you mix these carrots with the spices and oil directly on the foil-lined baking sheet, which makes this one-pan side dish super easy on the prep and cleanup. I was actually disappointed when I finished the leftovers of these carrots and I hope that I’ll have the chance to make them again soon.

I must confess I didn’t expect to like these curried roasted carrots as much as I did. I had to make a quick side dish for dinner and had some carrots that needed used so thought I’d give this a try. The aroma was very pleasant, the carrots pieces were tender, and they were delicious. The taste of the curry powder was not overpowering as I’d feared and blended well with the sweetness of the carrots. The drizzle of honey at the end finished it off nicely. In fact, all my tasters loved this dish, even my hubby who isn’t fond of curry dishes.

As some of the wedges were much larger, I halved them so they’d all be around the same size. To me, it seemed like a lot of curry powder and oil to use, but I followed the directions. I was very pleasantly surprised after 30 minutes. That said, there was a lot of oil and curry powder still on the tray after removing the carrots to a serving dish. I was concerned they’d be oily but they weren’t.

We served this with mashed potatoes and grilled steak. One taster drizzled the curried oil from the pan over his mashed potatoes instead of butter. I think when I make this again I’ll have to double the recipe as there was nothing left. We had 4 servings from 2 pounds of carrots and were all wishing there were more.

I made these curried roasted carrots for a dinner party and they were a big hit. Roasting is my favorite cooking method for carrots, far and away. A few of the guests weren’t true curry fans but they still all approved of this dish. A very simple recipe with only a few ingredients yet it results in a delicious and flavourful side. The flavors aren’t overwhelming even though a tablespoon of curry does seem a lot.

I used ginger-infused honey because I had some and it gave it just that little extra heat. I will definitely make this again and again.

There’s no way these carrots could be 6 servings. Perhaps 4. But 6, no. While I might have been skeptical about eating a larger portion as a main course, after enjoying them as a side, I can certainly see making them again and enjoying them as my meal. They are easy to make and a treat to eat.

I appreciated the courtesy of tossing the carrots directly on the baking sheet, and saving the bowl that would otherwise have been used for this purpose. Every carrot piece was out of the oven within 20 minutes; I started taking the first tender ones out after 17 minutes. As I took them out, I transferred them to a platter. When they were all on the platter, I used the tablespoon of honey as directed and the amount was fine; it was plenty, but not too much. There was no reason to stir after drizzling, as the carrots were coated quite evenly at the point.