Sauteed Carrots
This recipe for sauteed carrots cooks the carrots in broth until they are tender, but still hold their shape. They are buttery, sweet and delicious, making them a perfect side dish.
Sauteed carrots are naturally sweet and juicy, and look so pretty served with many varieties of entrees. This simple side dish is a favorite in our house because it’s so quick, not fussy and has just a handful of ingredients. Since I always have carrots in the refrigerator, anytime we already went through our fresh greens, we can still make this for dinner.
You can make these carrots with the most common carrots, peeled and sliced, use baby carrots or use smaller garden carrots that are so cute and usually sold with the tops intact. This is one of those side dishes you can make all year long for lots of different occasions, weeknight family dinners and special holiday meals too.
As the carrots cook in the broth, they absorb extra flavor, the broth cooks them through gently, sort of braising in the liquid. The addition of the lemon juice is adds some bright flavors and a hint of sweetness from the honey in the end underlines the sweetness of the carrots and gives them some gloss. I love changing up the flavor by using lime or orange juice. Garnishing with fresh herbs at the end not only adds some contrasting color, but also gives you another chance to add different flavors – my favorite is parsley, but dill, cilantro, thyme or rosemary are all great choices too.
Ingredients:
- carrots
- you can use conventional long and thin carrots or use baby carrots or even rainbow colored carrots.
- salt, ground black pepper
- butter or olive oil, to saute the carrots
- chicken broth or vegetable broth
- homemade broth will taste amazing in this recipe; since this is such a simple recipe, the homemade broth will make a big difference. The flavor of the carrots will be different depending on the broth that you use.
- garlic
- Most of the time, I like adding whole cloves of garlic to “braise” and “steam” with the broth, infusing a mild garlic flavor into the carrots. Sometimes, I mince the garlic and add it in at the end, right before adding the lemon juice, honey and herbs. It will give the carrots a more garlicky flavor.
- lemon juice
- instead of the lemon juice, you can use lime juice or even orange juice
- honey or maple syrup, optional
- the honey will add a bit of sweetness and glossiness to the carrots
- fresh herbs (parsley, chives, green onions, dill, thyme or sage)
Video of Sauteed Carrots
How To Make Sauteed Carrots
- Peel & prep the carrots.
- Cut the carrots to be a similar size thickness. You can make them whatever size you like, as long as they are all a uniform size, so they all cook through at the same time.
- In a deep skillet/pan, heat up the butter or oil, then add the carrots. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Saute for 2-3 minutes on medium high heat.
- This deep saute pan is perfect for this recipe. (affiliate link)
- Pour in the chicken broth.
- Add the whole garlic cloves in with the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the carrots have absorbed most of the broth and are 3/4 of the way cooked through.
- Remove the lid, increase the heat to high, add the lemon juice and honey. Gently mix to combine.
- When the carrots are completely cooked through, add a pat of butter and garnish with fresh herbs.
What To Serve With Sauteed Carrots
Sauteed Carrots
This recipe for sauteed carrots cooks the carrots in broth until they are tender, but still hold their shape. They are buttery, sweet and delicious, making them a perfect side dish.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
- 2 lbs carrots, peeled
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter, divided
- salt, ground black pepper
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 2–4 garlic cloves
- 1/2 – 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- fresh parsley (or other fresh herbs, like green onions, chives, thyme, rosemary, etc.)
Instructions
- Peel the carrots and cut in half or quarters, depending on their size. The important thing is to have them approximately the same thickness.
- Melt 3/4 of a Tablespoon of butter in a deep skillet. Add the carrots, season with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. The carrots will exude some liquid. When all the liquid evaporates, pour in the broth. Add a few garlic cloves.
- Cover the skillet again, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the carrots are almost cooked through but still hold their shape. Increase the heat, add the lemon juice and honey. Add another 3/4 Tablespoons of butter. Gently stir to combine.
- Garnish with fresh herbs.
Notes
Most of the time, I like adding whole cloves of garlic to “braise” and “steam” with the broth, infusing a mild garlic flavor into the carrots. Sometimes, I mince the garlic and add it in at the end, right before adding the lemon juice, honey and herbs. It will give the carrots a more garlicky flavor.