These Tarragon Roasted Carrots are far from boring. Add some pizzazz to your next roast dinner with this simple side dish. Get the recipe below.
Carrot side dishes
Often carrots are just cut into discs or batons, then either steamed or boiled. They’re the side dish we all remember from childhood and aren’t particularly well loved. But I’m hoping to change that.
In this recipe I’ve paired carrots with a lesser known herb - tarragon. People usually associate tarragon with chicken. But it works well with a range of spring vegetables and carrots are one of them. It has an aniseed or liquorice type taste. This means it goes well with sweet ingredients and roasting carrots brings out their sweetness.
If you have ventured into the world of growing your own veg or if you regularly visit farmers markets you will know that the humble carrot comes in a huge range of shapes, sizes and colours. From little globe carrots to long purple varieties, there is a big selection to choose from. I love using a selection so that my roasted carrots look like a delicious rainbow!
Of course this recipe can be made with the common carrot found in all grocery stores but where would the fun be in that? This recipe is a celebration of carrots in whatever form you buy them in.
How to make tarragon roasted carrots
Like most root vegetables, the flavour of a carrot is intensified with roasted. They cook down to the perfect texture, not too soft but not crisp and hard like they are in their raw form. If you leave the skins on like I do then they wrinkle and crisp just ever so slightly giving the roasted carrot a little more bite.
To roast carrots it’s easy, depending on the thickness of the skins you should begin by cleaning and then peeling them. The carrots I used had thin skins as they were spring carrots. Because of that I didn’t peel them.
Once you have given them a good clean you will want to ensure they are cut into equal sizes pieces. You’ll see I’ve kept my carrots whole from the photos. This was because they were long and slim (roughly half the width of a normal carrot).
Place the carrot into a roasting din, drizzle them with olive oil and then toss well. Season with a little salt and pepper then roast for 30 - 35 minutes, tossing them occasionally to ensure they roast evenly.
When they come out of the oven, sprinkle over the fresh tarragon and toss again.
These tarragon roasted carrots are best served warm.
The recipe
Tarragon Roasted Carrots
Ingredients
- 750 grams carrots washed and peeled
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 sprigs tarragon
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 200C / 392F / gas mark 6.
- Cut the carrots into batons if particularly large or half if they are slim. Ensure they are all roughly the same size.
- Add the carrots to a roasting tin and drizzle with the olive oil and season well.
- Toss the carrots to ensure they are well coated in the oil and seasoning.
- Roast for 30 - 40 minutes or until they are tender but not too soft.
- Sprinkle over the fresh tarragon and serve while still warm.
Nutrition
What if I can't find fresh tarragon?
If you can't get your hands on fresh tarragon, don't despair. Dried tarragon will also work well. If you can't find it at all then why not try one of your other favourite herbs. Thyme or rosemary would also work well.
Serve with
More vegetarian and vegan recipes
Check out the full range of veggie and vegan recipes on the blog.
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