Glazed Slow Cooker Carrots – Introduce some veggie excitement to the dull winter months with this deliciously sweet and savory side that’s s breeze to put together!
Hi there – it’s Rachel from Simple Seasonal, back with another delicious, whole foods meal idea for your family!
Have you ever noticed the sad state of the grocery store produce aisle during the winter months? It becomes increasingly uninspiring with its out-of-season, imported, and (frankly) mediocre vegetables… That’s why every winter I embrace the cold-weather produce, like leafy greens and root vegetables. Today’s recipe features a chilly-weather favorite cherished around the world—carrots.
While I was growing up, my Mom would make the most delicious candied carrots for dinner from time to time. (There’s nothing like a little sweetness to make the vegetables go down when you’re a kid.) Since then I’ve come to love carrots, candied or not. But let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a little added sweetness?
My mom’s recipe for candied carrots involved boiling and draining the carrots and then sweetening them before serving. I try to steer away from boiling vegetables. whenever possible, because a lot of nutrition is lost with the water when they’re drained. That’s why I’ve come to love this version of Glazed Slow Cooker Carrots. They’re just so easy to make, too! This is definitely one of those “dump everything into the slow cooker, forget about it for a few hours, and then come back to something super tasty” recipes. That said, the next time you’re looking for a simple, no-fuss side dish, this one’s got you covered!
- 2 pounds of baby carrots, or peeled and coarsely chopped fresh carrots
- 4 Tbsp butter
- ¼ C honey
- 2 Tbsp freshly-squeezed orange juice
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 2 tsp dry tarragon or 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh (optional)
- ½ tsp salt
- pepper to taste
- Add all of the ingredients except the carrots into the slow cooker and cover. Allow the butter to melt while you prep the carrots.
- Once the butter has melted, mix all of the ingredients in the slow cooker together, add the carrots, and stir until they are evenly coated.
- Cover and cook on high for 1.5-2.5 hours or low on for 3.5-4.5 hours. Adjust the time according to how firm or soft you prefer your carrots to be.
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Those carrots look so good! Such a perfect way to use the slow cooker! I’m always looking for vegetarian things to make in my crockpot! 🙂
I’m happy to hear that this recipe gave you some crockpot inspiration!
I didn’t have tarragon and have always LOVED the carrots/dill combination, so I substituted. I was also cooking for two, but have a 7 quart crockpot, so I halved the recipe and threw in some foil packets on top with fish slathered in a creamy dill-lemon sauce. PERFECT for a light, healthy dinner on a day when I really didn’t have much time!
Sounds delicious Mandy! I’ll have to give the fish idea a try!
I bought a 1.5 qt. slow cooker and never unwrapped it a few years ago as I love to use my regular slow cooker . There were no directions with this smaller pot except care of the pot. I would like to follow your carrot directions. Sounds so great , but I would like to know if you thought one and a half bags of carrots would be safe to cook in this little pot plus the amount of time I should cook them on high as I am having my 2 kids here for dinner. I feel I need more than a lb. of carrots. I am cooking my ham this year in my regular sized cooker for the first time and on Thanksgiving , I did my butternut squash in it and they were delicious. Thanks so much for your wonderful ideas and recipes