This recipe for glazed carrots in a red wine, butter (or olive oil), honey and chili flakes reduction make for a beautiful side for roast chicken. Serve them for your guests and watch the compliments flow in for this unexpected star ingredient! Use baby carrots or rainbow carrots for best results on this vegan and gluten free dish.
This simple carrot side dish was the unexpected star of my Thanksgiving, and now I want it to be part of yours. Although they’re a popular side dish for holiday meals, I often find myself getting stuck in recipe ruts when it comes to carrots. Instead of reaching for the same flavors, this time I tried cooking carrots in a red wine glaze.
The combination of tender whole carrots, honey, chili flakes, and a good Cabernet Sauvignon was an absolutely perfect match. Plus, these glazed carrots require minimal effort, but still end up looking spectacular.
Why I love these glazed carrots
This delicious side dish steals the spotlight of any meal, but here’s a few more reasons why I love these red wine glazed carrots:
- Great for a group: Whether they’re served at holiday meals, dinner parties, or just a weeknight dinner with a large family, this carrot side dish is fantastic for a crowd. The dish easily scales up and is sure to wow guests.
- Healthy: Carrots are loaded with important nutrients like fiber, potassium, beta carotene, and Vitamin A. These glazed carrots give you all of the benefits of carrots in a tasty, new way.
- Versatile: You can pair this red wine carrots recipe with almost any main dish. I love serving it with a comforting chicken recipe like my Sheet-Pan Paprika Chicken or Oven-Baked Buttermilk Chicken, but it’s also great alongside fish. My recipes for Baked Oat-Crusted Cod Filets and Cast-iron Pan-Fried Sockeye Salmon are perfect entrees.
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED to make these red wine carrots
- carrots - you can use baby carrots or small rainbow carrots. The more bursting with sweetness the carrots are when eaten raw, the better they will be when caramelized!
- butter - use regular butter, vegan butter or olive oil.
- honey - use maple syrup for a vegan glazed carrots recipe.
- chili flakes
- Cabernet Sauvignon - I made this with Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, but any Cab will do.
- fresh parsley - you can also try using sage here.
- flaky sea salt
See recipe cards for exact quantities.
Equipment
- Vegetable peeler
- Medium saucepan with a lid
- Spatula
- Serving platter
How to Make Red Wine Glazed Carrots
Prep the carrots
Wash and peel the carrots.
Prepare the wine glaze
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Then, add the carrots and stir until they are fully coated in the butter.
Add the Cabernet Sauvignon, honey, and chili flakes. Bring everything to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low.
Cook carrots in wine sauce
Cover and continue to cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the carrots can be pierced with a fork but still retain some bite.
Serve wine glazed carrots
Transfer the carrots to a serving platter and sprinkle with chopped parsley and flaky sea salt.
Serve delicious glazed carrots with red wine with additional wine sauce on the side.
Storage
You can keep these red wine glazed carrots in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. I would not recommend freezing the carrots.
Top Tips
Stir sparingly. As the carrots start to soften during cooking, they’ll become more tender and more susceptible to breakage. Frequently stirring the carrots may cause them to fall or break apart, so resist the urge to constantly stir them.
Garnish with fresh herbs. Dried herbs are so handy and nice to keep on hand, but fresh parsley is key here. The added brightness of fresh parsley truly rounds out this dish.
Cover the carrots. Be sure to cover the carrots as they cook. This will keep them from drying out and help them absorb the red wine glaze.
Variations
Red wine glazed root vegetables - If you aren’t a huge fan of carrots or don’t have any carrots available, try adapting this recipe to other root vegetables. Radishes, rutabagas, parsnips, or turnips in particular would all work well in the red wine glaze. You can even experiment with a combination of vegetables for a diverse dish.
Carrots in red wine - Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon is my preferred wine for this carrot side dish, but you can also try out other red wines if you’d prefer. A Pinot Noir or Merlot are great options to use in place of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, absolutely. The alcohol content will be completely cooked out of the carrots, but the delicious wine flavor will remain.
It’s so easy to feed a crowd with this recipe because it’s a breeze to double or even triple. If you are expanding the recipe, you may need to cook the carrots in batches to make sure there’s an even distribution of the glaze.
Although it is perfectly safe and healthy to cook washed, unpeeled carrots, I certainly recommend peeling for this recipe. Without the peel, it’s easier for the carrots to absorb the wine glaze. Carrot peels can also impart a slightly bitter flavor and inconsistent texture to the final dish. While peeling does take some extra time and energy, it makes all the difference in this recipe.
For more carrot recipes
For more carrot side dishes, try these recipes:
- Spicy Moroccan carrot salad
- Moroccan carrot soup with chermoula
- Middle Eastern roasted carrots with olives, goat cheese, salad topper and harissa-preserved lemon dressing
Accompanying dishes
Glazed carrots make a great side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any other family celebration!
Serve them with chicken drumsticks for a more every-day spin. They are also great with mashed potatoes, vegetarian rice, or quinoa and chickpeas for a vegetarian Thanksgiving dish.
Tried and loved this recipe? Please leave a 5-star review below! Your reviews mean a lot to me, so if you've got any questions, please let me know in a comment.
Sweet and Spicy Glazed Carrots Recipe with Red Wine
Equipment
- Medium saucepan with a lid
- Serving platter
Ingredients
- 1 lb small carrots (baby carrots or rainbow carrots)
- 2 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Peel carrots.
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add carrots, and stir until they are fully coated.
- Add Cabernet Sauvignon, honey and chilli flakes. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and continue cooking for 20-30 minutes, until carrots can be pierced with a fork but still retain some bite.
- Transfer to serving platter and sprinkle with chopped parsley and flaky sea salt. Serve with additional wine sauce on the side.
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