Delicious honey roasted carrots and parsnips with fragrant thyme. The perfect addition to any roast dinner or Christmas lunch!
Super crispy on the outside (with lovely caramelised edges), and soft and tender in the middle, you will find yourself making these again and again!
Honey brings out the wonderful sweetness of the carrots and parsnips in this easy-to-prepare roasted root vegetable side dish.
The recipe always features as part of our Christmas dinner, as well as regular roast dinners throughout the year!
👩🍳 Love roast vegetables? Try my easy roasted baby potatoes too!
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✔️ Why should you try it?
- Easy to make roast root vegetable side dish.
- The perfect accompaniment to roast dinners and Christmas lunch.
- More flavour than boiled carrots and parsnips.
- Ready in under 45 minutes.
- Cook at the same time as your roast potatoes.
🥘 Ingredients
- Carrots - 6 medium carrots, peeled and cut in half lengthways. Try and choose carrots of a similar size so that they cook evenly.
- Parsnips - 4 medium-sized parsnips, peeled and quartered. Remove any woody cores.
- Honey - clear runny honey is best for this recipe. You could substitute for maple syrup if you are serving this dish to vegans.
- Thyme - I used dried thyme but use fresh if you have it to hand.
- Olive Oil - for roasting.
- Salt and Pepper - for seasoning.
🔪 Instructions
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
- Peel and halve the carrots lengthways, and peel and cut the parsnips into quarters (removing any woody cores).
- Lay the carrots and parsnips onto a baking tray.
- Whisk together the oil and honey and brush over the carrots and parsnips.
- Sprinkle over the dried thyme, salt and pepper and turn each carrot and parsnip over in the baking tin to make sure they are fully coated in the honey and oil mix.
- Roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes until tender, turning the vegetables half way through cooking to ensure they cook evenly (I use a large metal spoon for this).
💭 Top tips
- Use a baking tin large enough so that your veggies aren't overcrowded. This will help them crisp up.
- Make sure the oven has been preheated for 10 minutes prior to placing the roasting tray in the oven. This will help ensure the root veggies cook evenly and crisp up nicely.
🍴 Serving suggestions
Serve the honey-roasted carrots and parsnips as part of a roast dinner, Sunday lunch, or Christmas lunch. My favourite accompaniments include polenta roast potatoes, slow cooker red cabbage, sausage meat stuffing, devils on horseback, carrot and swede mash, creamed cabbage, bread sauce, and roast chicken or turkey.
They are also great served with winter stews and casseroles, such as easy sausage casserole or beef goulash.
📖 Variations
- Add 1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard to the honey and oil mixture to give the root vegetables a bit of heat.
- Swap the honey for maple syrup for an even sweeter, more caramelised flavour.
- Try using rosemary instead of thyme, or why not use both herbs together? Fresh or dried are both fine to use.
- Sprinkle half a teaspoon of smoked paprika over the dish just before roasting for a real flavour boost!
- Swap the olive oil for melted butter.
- If you're serving this recipe as part of Christmas lunch, I like to finish the dish with a sprinkling of freshly toasted pecan nuts.
- For a speedier recipe, try making them in an air fryer. Follow the directions in my air fryer parsnips recipe!
🥡 Storage
The honey-roasted root vegetables are best eaten fresh, straight from the oven.
Get ahead tip! Peel the carrot and parsnips the night before and leave them in a sealed container in the fridge.
Store: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat: For best results reheat in the oven for 15 -20 minutes at 200c (180 fan). It's best to cover them in foil to prevent them burning.
❓ FAQs
You can peel and chop the carrots and parsnips up to 48 hours before, and place them in a sealed container in the fridge until needed.
Personally, I do tend to peel the carrots and parsnips before roasting, but feel free to leave the skins on if you prefer. Wash and scrub the carrots and parsnips, then thoroughly dry them before roasting.
There is no need to parboil parsnips before roasting. Make sure you cut out any tough woody bits from the inner core.
🍽️ More family-friendly recipes
More tasty side dishes from the Effortless Foodie kitchen!
Recipe
Honey Roasted Carrots and Parsnips
Ingredients
- 6 Carrots
- 4 Parsnips
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoon Honey
- ½ teaspoon Dried Thyme
- ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (200 fan/ Gas 7).
- Peel and halve the carrots lengthways, and peel and cut the parsnips into quarters (removing any woody cores). Lay the carrots and parsnips onto a baking tray, making sure they have plenty of space and are in one layer.
- Whisk together the oil and honey and brush over the carrots and parsnips.
- Sprinkle over the dried thyme, salt, and pepper, and turn each carrot and parsnip over in the baking tin to make sure they are fully coated in the honey and oil mix.
- Roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes until tender, turning the vegetables half way through cooking to ensure they cook evenly (I use a large metal spoon for this).
Notes
- Use a baking tin large enough so that your veggies aren't overcrowded. This will help them crisp up.
- Make sure the oven has been preheated for 10 minutes prior to placing the roasting tray in the oven. This will help ensure the root veggies cook evenly and crisp up nicely.
- Add 1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard to the honey and oil mixture to give the root vegetables a bit of heat.
- Swap the honey for maple syrup for an even sweeter, more caramelised flavour.
- Try using rosemary instead of thyme, or why not use both herbs together? Fresh or dried are both fine to use.
- Sprinkle half a teaspoon of smoked paprika over the dish just before roasting for a real flavour boost!
- If you're serving this recipe as part of Christmas lunch, I like to finish the dish with a sprinkling of freshly toasted pecan nuts.
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Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry
One of my favourite side dishes for a roast dinner - you just can't beat honey roasted carrots and parsnips. These sound so delicious!
Jacqueline Meldrum
Oh yes please Beth! I usually do parsnips this way but will try carrots too next time.
Biana
What a perfect side dish for fall! Will be great with a nice roast and mashed potatoes.
Gina
So simple but the best way to enjoy both these vegetables in my opinion. Usually enjoy these with a roasted chicken as our meal on the weekend!
Kristen
This was such a great easy side. Will make it again!