Glazed Carrots

Glazed carrots may not be the first side dish that comes to mind when planning a weeknight dinner or holiday meal, but once you try these citrusy carrots, you'll create excuses to make them again and again.

This recipe for glazed carrots doesn't have all the sugars of more traditional glazed or candied carrots. Instead, we're using orange marmalade and fresh-squeezed orange juice for a gentle nudge of sweetness. That's balanced with richness from butter and a tangy bite from fresh chives.

Whether you're serving alongside hamburger steak on a Tuesday night, or pairing this with glazed ham for Easter, this will be a hit among the standard offering of vegetables.

What Makes These Carrots So Good?

Sweet-and-savory glazed carrots are dressed up with tender shallots and a burst of fresh orange flavor from tangy marmalade. The orange marmalade offers a hint sweetness to the final dish, but it's not over the top because orange marmalade has bitterness from the citrus fruit's pith.

The shallots take on a lovely caramelized flavor when browned; they almost melt in the skillet. Chopped chives add fresh onion flavor, and the color contrast is great against the sautéed multicolor carrots. This side dish for glazed carrots is easy but elegant—and the perfect option for many types of meals.

We love building flavor in one skillet with these carrots because the ultimate dish is much more rich and flavorful. Caramelizing the vegetables a bit before steaming them in the orange juice adds tons of depth to the sauce, and then enriching the pan sauce with salted butter makes it silky and luscious.

Glazed Carrots Ingredients

To make this glazed carrots recipe, you'll need:

• Multicolor carrots: These small carrots are not only quick-cooking, they look downright adorable on the plate. Look for carrots that are fresh, firm, and plump.
• Shallots: Shallots are a milder onion that turn sweet and tender when cooked.
• Orange marmalade: Orange marmalade is tangy, slightly sweet, and tart. If you use orange jelly, it'll be significantly sweeter. Find this with the jams and jellies.
• Fresh orange juice: Just grab an orange, and juice it. It won't have any sugar added. Like the marmalade, fresh orange juice provides a bit of sweetness but the tartness balances the other elements of the recipe nicely.
• Salted butter: Stirring cold butter into the pan sauce makes it thicker and more silky.
• Fresh chives: Cut through the bitter-sweet orange flavors and rich butter with a handful of fresh chives. The delicate onion flavor will be the perfect way to finish off this dish.

How Do You Make Glazed Carrots?

This is a fairly easy dish to make, and once you figure it out, you'll make this a "back-pocket recipe," one that you turn to time and time again, even when you don't need the recipe.

To make glazed carrots, you will:

1. Cook the carrots and shallots: Add the prepared carrots and shallots to a pre-heated skillet. Cook until they've begun to brown.
2. Make the sauce: Add the orange marmalade and juice to the skillet, and use a spoon or spatula to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Cover with a lid, and let the sauce simmer and thicken for a few minutes. Then, just before you take the pan off the heat, add the butter, and stir to melt and thicken the sauce. Finally sprinkle with chives.

What makes these "glazed" carrots?

Glazing usually refers to cooking foods with where a butter-sugar mixture is drizzled or spooned on the food as it cooks. We're not using sugar in this recipe, but we're keeping the technique the same: creating a sauce and then using it to soften and finish cooking carrots. But because the carrots are small, no need to spoon or drizzle. Just stir.

Tips for Perfect Glazed Carrots

The Southern Living Test Kitchen provides these tips for making great glazed carrots: 

• Use cold butter to ensure it emulsifies into the sauce.
• Make sure the carrots are all similar in size so they cook evenly.
• Get fresh carrots with bright, smooth skin. These will cook best and have the best texture.

How To Store Glazed Carrots

If you have leftover carrots, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To reheat, you can warm them in the microwave, or add them to a pre-heated skillet with a bit of melted butter, and saute until warmed through.

What To Serve With Glazed Carrots

These glazed carrots belong on a holiday table with ham or turkey, even a prime rib. The sweetness plays well with so many savory dishes.

If you wanted to serve these as a warm salad, add a bit of smoked paprika and a tablespoon of sherry vinegar to the pan sauce, and sprinkle the cooked carrots with chopped pistachios and some feta cheese.