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Harissa Maple Roasted Carrots

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: carrots, cumin seed, extra virgin olive oil, harissa, maple syrup
Servings: 8 servings
Author: GFchow @ gfchow.com

Equipment

  • disposable baking sheet

Ingredients

  • 2 garlic cloves finely grated or crushed in a garlic press
  • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon harissa paste mild or spicy, I use Mina brand and I know Trader Joe's carries their own brand
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 1/2 pounds rainbow carrots (orange, yellow, purple) peeled or scrubbed, tops and bottoms trimmed if necessary. For large carrots, halve or cut into thirds vertically. set aside green carrot tops to use as garnish, optional.
  • 1/2 lemon zested, optional
  • 1/2 orange zested, optional
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to season sauce and carrots

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 450°.
  • Mix garlic, cumin seeds, harissa, olive oil, and maple syrup in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. (See NOTES section below for more info.)
  • Combine carrots with the sauce and thoroughly coat in a large disposable roasting pan or on stacked baking pans. Roast, turning occasionally, until carrots are tender and charred in spots, 35-40 minutes.
  • Transfer carrots to a serving platter. When ready to serve drizzle on some additional sauce and lemon/orange zest, if using. Harissa Maple Roasted Carrots can be served hot, room temp, or cold.

Notes

I used prepackaged multi-colored petite carrots from Trader Joe's, which did not need peeling or trimming in combination with full sized multi-colored carrots, which did need peeling and trimming.
If you like extra sauce like I do, either make 1 1/2x the recipe or double it. Combine half of the sauce with the carrots before roasting and spoon on extra sauce before serving. Or serve the extra sauce in a small bowl and let guests spoon on their own sauce.
For easier clean-up I highly recommend using a disposable pan for this recipe or use two baking sheets - one nested inside the other. I learned the hard way!
If using very large, extra thick, or smaller, petite carrots, the roasting time will need to be adjusted more or less accordingly. Ideally, you want all of the carrots to be similar in size for even cooking.
This is an easy recipe to double.
Carrots can be cooked 6 or so hours ahead. Once carrots have cooled, cover and chill. Bring to room temperature or reheat slightly before serving. If doing this, add extra sauce and zest right before serving.