Hot Honey Roasted Carrots

Have you jumped on the hot honey craze yet? It’s not exactly a new phenomenon, but sort of the way pumpkin spice, cauliflower and gluten-free bread have all had their time in the limelight the last few years, it seems like hot honey is having its moment.

If you haven’t had a grilled cheese sandwich with a little apple and hot honey tucked in between the bread, I highly recommend you give it a try. My favorite combination, which my friend Elaina of Healthy Eats Nutrition dubbed as the Yakima Sandwich, is sourdough bread with thin slices of honey crisp apple, provolone, arugula, prosciutto and hot honey. Toasted, grilled or panini-ed, it makes for an epic sandwich.

But we aren’t talking sandwiches this week. Today, we’re talking about carrots. Specifically, roasted sweet and savory carrots thanks to a touch of hot honey. Dare I say this might make a lovely Thanksgiving side? But, at the same time, this easy-to-make side dish works great for a quick weeknight meal as well.

I’m constantly looking for ways to convince my children to eat vegetables and after snagging a large bag of carrots at Costco that no one was touching for lunches or snacks, it was clear I needed to get creative, and fast.

I absolutely love any roasted vegetable and once fall and winter hits, its pretty common around my house to have roasted cauliflower, broccoli or Brussel sprouts just about every night (in some form or another). Eyeing the untouched two pound bag of carrots. I decided if I can roast sheet pans of broccoli, why not carrots.

I combined a little melted butter and hot honey along with two cloves of minced garlic, kosher salt and black pepper. I tossed the carrots in the butter mixture then juiced half a lemon over the entire sheet pan. Thirty minutes in the oven and the result was a tender, roasted carrot with the perfect balance of sweet, savory and ever so subtle spicy flavor. It’s a combination I plan to repeat weekly for at least the next couple months.

Hot Honey Roasted Carrots

• 2 pounds peeled tri-colored carrots

• 1/4 cup salted butter, melted

• 2 tablespoons hot honey

• 2 cloves garlic minced

• Juice of half a lemon

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley minced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Line the carrots evenly across the tray.

In a small bowl, melt the salted butter in 10 second increments in the microwave until fully melted. Stir in the hot honey, mixing to combine. Add the minced garlic to the butter mixture.

Pour the prepared butter over the carrots, using clean hands to massage the honey butter into the carrots, making sure they are evenly and well-coated. Squeeze the lemon juice over the carrots, giving the tray a gentle shake to make sure all the carrots get a little lemon juice. Sprinkle with Kosher salt and black pepper.

Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the carrots are fork tender and have a little bit of char. When the carrots are finished roasting, remove from the oven and garnish with flat-leaf parsley. Serve immediately. Serves 6.