Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots

Our Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots are our favorite good pan fried carrot side dish with their brown sugar glaze that everyone loves! These carrots are an easy pitch to picky eaters – they are lightly sweet, soft but with a little crunchy bite – and pair alongside tons of good, easy dishes. While carrots themselves aren't a completely keto friendly dish, thanks to their higher carb count, this dish can be made to be less sugary with brown sugar substitutes.

If you're looking for an easy side dish even your pickiest eaters will beg for, this easy pan fried carrot recipe is it! If you LOVE carrots as much as we do, please check out our recipe for the best carrot cake ever! We hope you love this recipe as much as we do!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

How to Make Keto Brown Sugar Carrots

If watching carbs, you can work this carrot side dish into any diet, even a keto diet (you'll need to have other low carb dishes alongside these carrots, since they might use up more of your macros). We recommend swerve brown sugar or a monk fruit brown sugar substitute used in a 1:1 exchange, to greatly reduce added sugars and carbohydrates of this dish.

Brown Sugar Glazed Carrot Ingredients

First assemble the following ingredients:

• Large carrots, (6,1 pound, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch thick slices) – provides the sweet, tender vegetable base for the glaze.
• Light brown sugar (¼ cup, packed) – adds sweetness and helps create a glossy caramelized coating.
• Salted butter (4 tablespoons) – adds richness, flavor, and helps the glaze melt and cling to the carrots.
• Ground cinnamon (1 teaspoon) – brings warm, cozy spice that complements the sweetness.
• Cornstarch (1 teaspoon, omit if making low carb version) – thickens the glaze so it coats the carrots more evenly.
• Parsley (to garnish) – adds fresh color and a light herbal finish that balances the sweetness.

Steps to Make Glazed Carrots

Once you have assembled the ingredients, use this method:

Boil Carrots

Boil the carrots in a medium pot with 4 cups of water over high heat until slightly tender but not mushy or for 4-5 minutes. Drain the carrots and set aside for later.

Make Glaze

Add the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon to a large skillet over medium heat and stir until melted. Let it bubble for 3 more minutes as you stir then add the cornstarch and stir to combine.

Combine and Serve

Stir in the carrots and let them cook down for 4-5 minutes or until the glaze thickens and the carrots are tender. Serve with freshly minced parsley.

Kitchen notes

Pack Brown Sugar. For the best flavor and caramelization you need to use packed sugar.

Add Bourbon. To kick this dish up a bit for a holiday like Easter, consider adding up to 2 ounces of bourbon to the dish, and flambéing (lighting on fire) for a rich, smoky, and good caramelized finish that is out of this world! After adding brown sugar to pan and letting it cook down for about a minute, add bourbon and light with a match to let it burn off.

Thicken the Glaze Briefly. Simmer the brown sugar-butter mixture (and cornstarch, if using) for 1-2 minutes until glossy.

Slice Evenly. Make sure that you cut the carrots to similar sizes so that they cook at the same rate and you get a more uniform result.

Other Easy Vegetable Side Dishes

Our favorite mains with these carrots are The Best Baked Garlic Butter Pork TenderloinThe Best Easy Prime Rib RecipeRotisserie Prime Rib Roast RecipeAir Fryer Chicken Tenders RecipeEasy Swiss Steak RecipeThe Best Baked Garlic Pork Chops Recipeand Pork Chops With Creamy Dijon Sauce Recipe.

If you're looking for good, timeless vegetable side dishes, suited to any dinner, we're sharing our favorites – like our 10 minute broccolini – below:

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Brown Sugar Glazed Carrot FAQs

How long can glazed carrots be stored?

These carrots can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

How can we make these sweeter?

For sweeter carrots add more sugar to them before cooking.

How long do leftovers last?

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.

How should we reheat leftovers?

Microwave briefly or reheat on the stove over low heat, stirring and adding a splash of water if needed.

What if our glaze is too thick?

Add a teaspoon or two of water or broth to stir until smooth.

Ingredients

• 6 large carrots, 1 pound, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch thick slices
• ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
• 4 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch, omit if making low carb version
• parsley, minced, to garnish

Method

1. Boil the carrots in a medium pot with 4 cups of water over high heat until slightly tender but not mushy or for 4-5 minutes.
2. Drain the carrots and set aside for later.
3. Add the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon to a large skillet over medium heat and stir until melted.
4. Let it bubble for 3 more minutes as you stir then add the cornstarch and stir to combine.
5. Stir in the carrots and let them cook down for 4-5 minutes or until the glaze thickens and the carrots are tender.
6. Serve with freshly minced parsley.