Healthy Roasted Carrots with Brown Sugar

These Healthy Roasted Carrots with Brown Sugar are easy to make, lighter than the regular recipe, WW friendly and a great addition to your holiday meal (or any meal!) If you love a colorful and healthy side dish on your plate, especially for a festive holiday meal, this side dish is for you!

This recipe for glazed carrots with brown sugar is especially popular during holidays such as Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas! The Weight Watchers points have been cut in half from the original recipe, so they are 2 WW points on the blue plan.

This healthy glazed carrot recipe was inspired by my Green beans and Mushrooms holiday side dish, as I wanted another colorful WW friendly and healthy, yet special vegetable side dish for holiday dinners. And it pairs perfectly with my Slow Cooker Turkey breast with Quinoa Cranberry Dressing! This is the perfect Thanksgiving meal if you want a healthy and easy recipe for a smaller group (2-6)!

A typical roasted carrots with brown sugar recipe has a lot more calories and is 4 WW points on the blue plan. I was able to cut the WW in half without sacrificing taste! Why waste all those calories (or WW points) on a vegetable side dish when it's not necessary?! I don't know about you, but I'm saving my calories/WW points for pie. And speaking of pie, I also have a healthier, crustless and WW friendly version of Pumpkin Pie (with no artificial sweeteners) to go with this meal as well! But if you simply want to go all in, then try my Easy Pumpkin Pie. It's worth every point! Whether you are trying to lose weight, maintain your weight or simply eat healthier, you'll love this meal!

🥘Ingredients

For this healthier version of roasted carrots with brown sugar, you'll need:

• carrots
• brown sugar
• garlic
• light butter
• butter extract (affiliate link) *Using butter extract is a great way to get the flavor of butter without the fat and calories!
• olive oil (you can use canola oil or vegetable oil)
• salt
• pepper
• parsley (fresh is best but you can use dried)

 *see recipe card for quantities

🔪Instructions

How to make Roasted Carrots with Brown Sugar (the healthy way)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F/220 degrees C and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Peel carrots, then cut off ends. Cut carrots in half, then in half again. Cut thicker ends in half again so they are similar in width.
2. Toss in bowl with brown sugar, melted butter, butter extract, garlic, oil, salt and pepper.
3. Spread out onto onto prepared baking sheet.
4. Roast in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, toss (you can leave them on the pan while you do this) Then roast for an additional 10 minutes until you can easily put a fork through. Toss again, then garnish with parsley and serve.

Hint: It's important that you toss the carrots in the pan after 15 minutes of cooking, as this will help evenly distribute the glaze.

📖Variations

• Spicy - you can spice these up a little by adding ¼ teaspoon cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes
• Vegan/Dairy-free - you can substitute vegan margarine for the butter (the butter extract is vegan as well)
• Gluten-free - this dish is naturally gluten-free
• Kid-friendly - my kids love these carrots, but to make them even more kid- friendlier (for younger kids) you could squeeze a little liquid honey on them (directly onto their serving)

🍽 Equipment

You don't need any special equipment to make these Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots , aside from a good knife (affiliate link) to cut your carrots. I use a 9X13 baking sheet (see my Amazon recommendations).

🌡️Storage

Store these easy glazed carrots in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

* If you want to make them in advance (and have them look nice and not shrivelled) , it's best that you only cook them for only 15 minutes, then store them in a sealed container. Then just prior to serving, put them in the oven for 10 - 15 additional minutes.

These carrots can be frozen for up to 3 months.

🦺Food safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

👪 Serving size

This brown sugar glazed carrot recipe serves 5. However, you can half, double or even triple the recipe by clicking on the blue servings number in the recipe card. Then select the number of servings you would like and the ingredient amounts will adjust accordingly.

So if you're looking for a healthy and light and/or WW friendly side dish that won't break the points bank this holiday season, then give these oven roasted brown sugar glazed carrots a try!

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📋 Healthy Roasted Carrots with Brown Sugar Recipe

These Healthy Roasted Carrots with Brown Sugar are lightened up glazed carrots with brown sugar and butter, roasted to perfection! They are easy to make, WW friendly (2 WW points on the blue plan) and a great addition to your holiday meal or any meal!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, Canadian, North American

Keyword brown sugar, carrots, glazed, roasted

Special Diet Weight Watchers

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 5 servings

Calories 140kcal

Author Terri Gilson

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 2 lb carrots peeled
• 4 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tablespoon light butter, melted
• ½ teaspoon butter extract
• ½ tablespoon olive oil
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Garnish

• parsley *I use fresh

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425degrees F/220 degrees C and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
• Peel carrots, then cut off ends. Cut carrots in half, then in half again. Cut thicker ends in half again so they are similar in width.
• Toss in bowl with brown sugar, butter, butter extract, garlic, oil, salt and pepper. Spread out onto onto baking sheet.
• Roast in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, toss (you can leave them on the pan while you do this) then roast for an additional 10 minutes until you can easily put a fork through.
  
• Place carrots in serving bowl (or you can leave on the pan) and toss carrots in the glaze, ensuring you scrape all the glaze from the baking sheet (and mix it in).

Garnish:

• Sprinkle with parsley, if desired. Serve warm.

Notes

📖VARIATIONS

• Spicy - you can spice these up a little by adding ¼ teaspoon cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes
• Vegan/Dairy-free - you can substitute vegan margarine for the butter
• Gluten-free - this dish is naturally gluten-free
• Kid-friendly - my kids love these carrots, but to make them even more kid- friendlier (for younger kids) you could squeeze a little liquid honey on them (directly on their serving)

🌡️STORAGE

Store these easy glazed carrots in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

* If you want to make them in advance (and have them look nice and not shrivelled) , it's best that you only cook them for only 15 minutes, then store them in a sealed container. Then just prior to serving, put them in the oven for 10 - 15 additional minutes.

👪 SERVING SIZE

This brown sugar glazed carrot recipe serves 5. However, you can half, double or even triple the recipe by clicking on the blue servings number in the recipe card. Then select the number of servings you would like and the ingredient amounts will adjust accordingly.

*WW points are calculated for ⅕ of the recipe (.4 lbs of carrots)

My Amazon Recommendations (affiliate links)

Nutrition Facts

📋 Healthy Roasted Carrots with Brown Sugar Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 140 Calories from Fat 27

% Daily Value*

Fat 3g5%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

Monounsaturated Fat 1g

Cholesterol 3mg1%

Sodium 478mg21%

Potassium 602mg17%

Carbohydrates 27g9%

Fiber 5g21%

Sugar 18g20%

Protein 2g4%

Vitamin A 30359IU607%

Vitamin C 11mg13%

Calcium 72mg7%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition

Calories: 140kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 478mg | Potassium: 602mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 30359IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 72mg | Iron: 1mg

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🥗 More Healthy & WW Friendly Holiday Side Dishes

Turnip and Apple Casserole

Green beans and Mushrooms

Corn Succotash

Slow Cooker Cranberry Turkey Meatballs

Lazy Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls