Bourbon and maple glazed carrots are a quick and easy side dish. Sautéed in oil and seasoned with cinnamon and pepper these carrots make for the perfect side for your holidays, special occasions, as well you everyday meals.
Glazed carrots are one of my favorite sides. The carrots natural sweetness compliments the maple and bourbon well. One of the best things is that they take a short amount of time to make. There are perfect for anyone that doesn’t have a lot of time to cook but wants to make sure that they have something tasty to eat. They make a great side for huge holiday meals since they take very little time or if you need to go to potluck and bring something tasty.
In this recipe
Simplicity is the key with this side dish. There aren’t many ingredients so the carrots can shine.
Maple syrup: you want to make sure this is pure maple syrup. Otherwise the glaze will become too sweet and sticky.
Cinnamon: is a perfect compliment for the carrots and maple syrup. This can be swapped out for cardamom or nutmeg. However use less if you use nutmeg.
Avocado oil: you will want to use a flavor neutral oil for this recipe. I do have butter pictured below and you can use it instead of oil however the butter has a lower smoke point and might burn while cooking the carroks.
Slice them thinly
One of the most important things is to make sure that you slice the carrots pretty thinly. This would be about 1/4 inch thickness. That allows them to cook quickly without becoming too soft and falling apart. By cutting the carrots evenly it will also ensure that they cook evenly and at the same rate. This will prevent having extra crunchy carrots with mushy ones.
No need to steam or boil
Carrots have a bunch or water already in them. With many carrot recipes you will end up boiling or steaming them before you glaze them. Personally I like to use the water in the carrot to naturally steam them while cooking them in the oil. Plus the high heat will help release the natural sweetness and flavor of the carrots. This will allow the carrots to shine even with the addition of the maple, cinnamon and bourbon.
Making glazed carrots
The trick to making a really good glazed carrot is to make sure that they aren’t all the way cooked when you add the glaze ingredients. As you will need to reduce the glaze to nicely coat all of carrots they will continue to cook for a few additional minutes. If the carrots are all the way cooked by the time you add the glaze ingredients then they may turn to mush before the glaze has thickened. Then end result should be a carrot that has the same bite as al dente pasta.
Looking for other quick and easy side dish recipes?
Bourbon and Maple Glazed Carrots
Equipment
- Large frying pan
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carrots peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil or unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon parsley chopped, optional
Instructions
- In a large pan on medium high heat add the avocado oil, or other flavor neutral oil, and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally to keep the carrots from getting too brown.
- Add the maple syrup, bourbon, cinnamon, salt, and pepper stirring to coat the carrots. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens and the carrots have softened, about 3-5 minutes.
- If desired sprinkle parsley on top and serve.
Nutrition
Maple-glazed carrots are one of my favorite side dishes. The addition of bourbon made them even yummier!
These are on my Sunday and holiday dinner table often. Such a yummy side dish!
These bourbon and maple glazed carrots were so easy to make and tasted delicious. Thank you for the recipe!
I made this recipe for one of my personal chef clients and they loved them! The maple syrup and bourbon made such a tasty glaze. My client has already asked me to make these again.
I’m so looking forward to trying this recipe! Love the idea of using bourbon in the glaze, I think it will also be fantastic on some parsnips as well as meat and fish!
So delicious! I have my first home garden harvest and I got a lot of carrots and this recipe was what I need it. Very easy to follow and turned out amazing.
These look like candy!!! What a great side dish that tastes like a treat!
This glaze sounds delicious. I may try it on some grilled salmon along with the carrots.
Oh man! That bourbon glaze is calling my name! 🙂 What a delicious idea for a side dish.
Carrots are always a hit in our house. Bourbon and maple are the perfect seasonings for this tasty roasted side dish. Great for holiday dinners too.