The oven-baked carrot sticks are an easy way to eat heart-healthy veggies more often. Baking veggies make them sweeter and more delicious. This simple and easy recipe will have you and the family eating carrots often because they take less than 30 minutes to make.
While carrots on their own are quite sweet, baking makes them sweeter and more kid-friendly. I make these carrots as well as butternut squash fries often because my Rhea loves them.
When you bake these the sugar in the vegetables caramelizes and makes them tastier. You see those dark spots some even black? those are sweet carrot juices that get cooked and become sweet. A few will get overcooked but, trust me you will always find someone in the room that enjoys those darker spots.
The secret is to bake them in a hot oven. This means as soon as the carrots release their juices they are instantly caramelized making them crisp instead of soggy. These juices also caramelize and become sweet.
- Carrots - I love to use small to medium-sized carrots. These are sweeter and tender. They cook faster and kids love them. Save the larger carrots for soups, stews, and roasts.
- Olive oil - You can use cooking oil or other flavored oil such as garlic oil or avocado or chili oil.
- Seasoning - There is a lot more you can add and personalize this squash to compliment the main course you are serving. Try paprika, garlic salt, thyme, rosemary, ready-made potato seasonings - the list is endless.
Step by step instructions (pin)
- Preheat the oven to 220 C / 428 F for at least 10 minutes.
- Wash, peel, and cut carrots into sticks.
- Place them in a bowl. Season with salt, peppers, and a drizzle with olive oil.
- Add any other seasoning you want such as paprika, garlic, rosemary, or thyme.
- Spread the carrot stick on a parchment paper-lined baking tray
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
If you like this you may also like
- Carrot salad (with cranberries and pecans)
- Carrot and zucchini fritters
- and carrot cake muffins
- Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
- or Carrot cake with Swiss meringue buttercream
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Description
Ingredients
- 8 carrots
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 2 tbsp Olive oil good quality
Optional
- ½ tsp Paprika
- ½ tsp Thyme dried
- ½ tsp Rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220 C / 428 F for at least 10 minutes.
- Wash, peel, and cut carrots into sticks.
- Place them in a bowl. Season with salt, peppers, and a drizzle with olive oil.
- Add any other seasoning you want such as paprika, garlic, rosemary, or thyme.
- Spread the carrot stick on a parchment paper-lined baking tray
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
Heather
Beautiful recipe! There is nothing worse than soggy veggies .. I love that you show how to make crispy veggies and what a great healthy dish to add to your dinner 🙂
Veena Azmanov
Absolutely, Heather. I hate soggy veggies Thanks
Marisa Franca
I do agree with you, Veena. We love roasting vegetables they have a more complex flavor. Carrots and squash are so good for us I really should plan on making them more often. I just bought some gremolata flavored olive oil that would be amazing drizzled over the carrots.
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Marisa. I love roasting veggies and my kids enjoy them too!
Catherine
I love roasted carrots...they have recently become of my favorite side dishes. They are so easy and simple to make also. Looks perfect, Veena!
Veena Azmanov
Thanks, Catherine. I love roasted veggies too!
Ruchi
Carrot sticks would be a perfect snack for the kids lunch box! I can see how we can take it on a road trip too, instead of buying fast food on the way, brilliant.
Veena Azmanov
Thanks Ruchi. My kids love carrots so yeah they would love carrots in their roasted lunch boxes.
Jodi
I agree - baking carrots most certainly make them tastier! My kids would agree with you as well. Baking carrots seem to be a secret weapon that gets kids to gobble them down! Thanks for the fun post!
Veena Azmanov
Thanks Jodi. Yeah, my kids are not so fussy about all veggies so I'm kinda lucky.
Carmy
I haven't had oven baked carrot sticks on their own for a while now! I'll have to meal prep some ASAP. Great tip on making sure the oven is hot before popping them in so they caramelize - I'm guilty of putting them in the oven during the pre-heating stage on more than one occasional and it did not come out as caramelized as I had wanted!
Veena Azmanov
Thanks Carmy, Yes, a hot oven helps caramelize the sugars and prevents them from steaming.
Claudia Lamascolo
I love roasted vegetables and carrots are a favorite of mine. I actually eat them all day for snacking and I bet these roasted will be better than the crispy raw all the time as a change!
Veena Azmanov
Thanks, Claudia. Yes. we love to roast veggies but we mostly have them for dinner.