Name: Honey Roasted Rainbow Carrots
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 2 tablespoon butter - melted; 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar; 1 tablespoon honey; pinch of kosher salt; pinch of black pepper; 1 dozen heirloom rainbow carrots; 1 teaspoon fresh thyme

Jump to Recipe Comments

These beautiful rainbow carrots are honey-glazed and oven-roasted to bring out their natural sweetness and color in every tender bite. Using a variety of rainbow carrots, this dish adds an extra dash of flavor and color to your plate. Easy to prep and simple to roast in under an hour. These heirloom carrots can be added to a sheet pan dinner or served as an easy side dish at your next holiday party.

Heirloom carrots on a slate board garnished with thyme.

Fork-Tender Rainbow Carrots

Whether it’s a cozy family dinner or a festive holiday feast, these vibrant rainbow carrots add a pop of color and flavor to any table. With their unique blend of sweetness and earthiness, they are a standout addition to any meal.

We start with gorgeous rainbow carrots, add a tasty honey glaze balanced with tangy champagne vinegar, and then oven-roast them until fork-tender. They make a delicious addition to a sheet-pan dinner or can be roasted alongside this Lemon Dill Salmon and Asparagus or rack of lamb for a veggie-forward meal.

What You’ll Need for this Rainbow Carrots Recipe

Along with the rainbow carrots, this recipe calls for six additional ingredients: salted butter, champagne vinegar, honey, fresh thyme, kosher salt, and ground black pepper. See the recipe card below for exact measurements.

Featured Ingredient: Rainbow Carrots

Rainbow carrots and heirloom carrots are basically the same thing, by two different names. The term heirloom carrots refers to the variety, while the term rainbow carrots is a nickname given because they come in multiple colors. I use the two terms interchangeably, as you will notice throughout this post.

While standard orange carrots have been bred for years for consistent color and flavor, and they feature in my honey garlic carrots and carrot ginger soup, the heirloom varieties that are now becoming more readily available not only look different but can also taste a little different. Darker carrots, like the purple or red ones, tend to be a bit sweeter with more pronounced earthy flavors, while the flavors in the white and yellow ones are a bit milder.

Where to Find Rainbow Carrots

My favorite place to pick up heirloom carrots is at the farmer’s market, where I find my summer berries . These carrots are typically available from early spring through summer until the first freeze in the fall. Once picked, they can be kept in a cold location for a few weeks, meaning that we can eat fresh, raw carrots for the majority of the year.

In addition to farmers’ markets, heirloom carrots are becoming more and more available at your standard grocery store. Often, I can only find them in the organic section, and they typically have their long green tops still attached. On the other hand, I’ve also spotted baby rainbow carrots, so look around and see what you can find.

Handling and Storing Rainbow Carrots

Rainbow carrots, when left whole with their tops removed, have a surprisingly long shelf life. As long as they are still firm and bright, they are good to eat.

If your carrots still have the tops, make sure to trim them off as soon as you get them home. The job of a carrot is to relay the nutrients from the soil to the greens. If you remove the carrot from the soil but leave the greens, they will still draw nutrients from the carrot.

If you forget to remove the tops, your carrots may get sad and limp. Don’t worry! Simply chop off the tops and soak the carrots in cold water. I have never measured the minimum time to do this, but I have left carrots in cold water overnight in the fridge, and I come back to perfectly crisped carrots the next day.

To Peel or Not to Peel

It’s a personal preference to peel or not. Most heirloom carrots have a thin skin that isn’t very noticeable once they are cooked.

Whether you peel yours or not, remember that carrots grow underground. They need a good scrub with a vegetable brush before you start prepping.

Recommended Kitchen Tools

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Check out my Amazon shop to see all of my recommended kitchen tools.

vegetable peeler
cutting board
c hef’s knife
small saucepan
rimmed baking sheet (parchment or aluminum liner optional)
basting brush

Directions to Make Roasted Heirloom Carrots with Honey Glaze

The prep time for this roasted carrot recipe is listed at 15 minutes and the majority of that goes into peeling the carrots. You can easily cut that in half lengthwise if you opt not to peel or delegate that task to a kitchen helper.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF and prep a rimmed baking tray by lining it with aluminum foil or parchment paper, if desired.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Remove from heat, then stir in the champagne vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper.
While the butter is melting, clean the carrots. Peel and remove tops and tails if desired. Carrots thicker than 3/4″ at the top should be sliced in half vertically to ensure even cooking time.

Rainbow carrots on a foil lined baking sheet next to a cutting board with a y-peeler and scraps of carrot peels and a small bowl of honey glaze.

Arrange carrots spaced out in a single layer. Baste with the honey butter glaze and drizzle with olive oil.
Place the veggies in the heated oven and roast the carrots for 15 – 20 minutes. Remove from oven, turn carrots over and baste again.
Cook honey roasted rainbow carrots for an additional 15 – 20 minutes or until desired tenderness. Remove from oven. Baste one last time with the honey sauce and garnish with fresh thyme or parsley.

roasted honey glazed carrots on a slate board next to a silver serving fork.

Cooking Times for Oven Roasting Rainbow Carrots

Want a fun experiment in cooking times? Go ask Google how long carrots roast at different temperatures.

If your search comes up like mine, you’ll see a wide variety of “experts” all quoting different oven temperatures with the same cooking time. While this may seem confusing, it really means that roasting carrots is a very flexible method in which you can easily adapt time and temperature to your own personal preference.

While roasted carrots can be cooked at any temperature, don’t expect the same results at every temperature. A higher temperature will cook faster, whereas a lower temperature will cook slower. The recommended time and temperature for this recipe were chosen to create a fork-tender carrot with a deliciously caramelized honey glaze.

Can you roast these in the same oven with a Hazelnut Crusted Turkey Breast, which starts at 325ºF and bumps to 400ºF at the end? Yes, but you run the risk of burning the honey glaze once you bump up the temperature, so keep a close watch. However, if you like your carrots soft, try dropping the temperature 25 – 50 degrees and cook a little longer. The lower temperature will allow the carrots more time to cook, while also preventing the glaze from burning.

Serving and Storing Honey Glazed Rainbow Carrots

These gorgeous honey rainbow heirloom carrots are simple enough for a weeknight meal but also look gorgeous on a holiday table, like my roasted veggies with honey and sage, and are best served hot from the oven.

Any leftover carrots can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2 – 5 days. Reheat them in the oven, the air fryer, or even the microwave, until steaming hot.

Like this recipe?

Help us reach more readers like you by giving it a FIVE-STAR rating, leaving a comment, and/or sharing it on your favorite social channel!