Miso Orange Roasted Carrots
Tender, sweet, savory, and crunchy, Miso Orange Roasted Carrots will have your taste buds dancing with their flavor and texture. Special enough to serve alongside your Easter Rosemary Garlic Roasted Lamb yet easy enough for any night of the week, this recipe combines simple ingredients and elevated flavors.

With Easter just around the corner and spring awash in all of her colors, it’s the perfect time to celebrate fresh and vibrant produce at season’s peak. Carrots are especially sweet this time of year and play center stage in this elegant and easy side. With just a handful of ingredients to accent the natural sweetness of the carrots, this colorful side won’t last long.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy Process – These roasted carrots don’t take long to come together. You’re simply roasting the whole carrots and brushing them with an easy miso-orange glaze. This is a perfect recipe for any level of cook.
- Accessible Ingredients – You can find miso in most grocery stores. With the exception of the miso everything else is basics like olive oil and butter.
- Make Ahead – This dish is just as delicious served at room temperature as it is warm. You can pop your carrots in the oven while your main such as ham or lamb is resting.
Ingredients
Aside from the delicious balance of flavors and textures of Miso Orange Roasted Carrots, this easy side dish is also a breeze to shop for. You only need a few simple items to make the delicate miso sauce.
- Carrots – You’ll want to purchase the bunch of whole carrots that still have their tops on. In addition to using the carrots themselves the green tops are used to offer a fresh, grassy, herbaceous pop of flavor.
- Olive Oil – Helps the carrots roast and adds a little richness.
- Salt – Salt enhances the natural flavors of the carrots and draws out their sweetness.
- Pistachios – Gives buttery crunch to every bite.
- Miso – White miso is best for this recipe. It is salty yet a little sweet, tangy, and bursting with umami in the same way of parmesan. It adds a complex and rich flavor without overpowering the natural flavors of the carrots.
- Orange – Adds tang, brightness, and sweetness to the miso sauce while helping to thin out the miso.
- Butter – This adds richness to the sauce.
- Honey– To add more sweetness and caramelization.
- Black Pepper – Gives mild, earthy heat to the sauce without overpowering any of the ingredients.
How to Make Miso Orange Roasted Carrots
Roasting vegetables is not only an easy way to prepare them, but the high heat also draws out their natural sweetness, intensifying their flavors. You get maximum flavor while also retaining the meatier texture than can get lost in other cooking styles such as boiling or steaming.
Time needed: 30 minutes
This fast cooking and easy side is perfect for any holiday meal and special occasion yet quick enough for any night of the week.
- Mise en Place
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the carrots and dry them thoroughly.
- Dress
Trim off the tops, leaving about an inch of the greens. Retain the verdant leaves and set them aside. Transfer the carrots to a baking dish and drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle on the salt.
- Roast
Allow the carrots to roast for about 10 minutes, or until they begin to soften.
- Saucy
Add all of the ingredients to saucepan over low heat. Let it simmer for 5 minutes until the butter has melted, the miso has dissolved, and the sauce has thickened.
- Cut
Carefully remove the baking dish from the oven. Use a knife to cut the carrots in the middle, fold them open like a book, or like bunny ears while not cutting all the way through.
- Glaze
Generously baste the carrots with the glaze and allow them to roast for another 10-15 minutes.
- Serve
Transfer the carrots to a serving platter. Serve them with the remaining sauce, chopped pistachios, and the chopped green carrot tops.
Variations
If you like things spicy, you can add a pinch of cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper flakes to the miso-orange sauce. In addition, don’t limit yourself to using this sauce on just carrots. Here are a few other ideas that would work well with the miso-orange sauce.
- Roasted Beets
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Roasted Parsnips
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Salmon
- Grilled Porkchops
- Grilled Chicken
Storage
The orange-miso sauce can be made ahead of time and then reheated on low heat when you’re ready to glaze. You can make it one or two days in advance and then transfer it to an airtight storage container and keep it refrigerated. To reheat it add it back into a small saucepan over low heat and continually stir until the butter and miso have once again dissolved.
Top Tip for Miso Orange Roasted Carrots
Always save your carrot tops! If you love the fresh, grassy, and bright flavor of parsley, you will love the greens from carrots. They can be used in multiple different ways. Just like parsley they can be used as a finishing touch. They can also be used for carrot top pesto, an addition to chimichurri, and even a burst of freshness to vinaigrettes and salads. Want a clean, fresh, green note in your morning smoothie? Toss in some carrot greens!
After you wash and dry your carrots and trim off the top, wrap the greens in a damp paper towel and place it in a ziplock bag. They will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Miso Orange Roasted Carrots
Equipment
- 1 sheet pan
- 1 saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 bunch whole carrots, 6-7 carrots
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- juice from 1 orange
- 1 tbsp white miso paste
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp pistachios, chopped
- reserved tops from carrots, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lina a baking sheet with foil.
- Wash and thoroughly dry the carrots. Trim off the tops, leaving about 1". Reserve the greens.
- Place the carrots on the baking sheet. Drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle on the salt.
- Roast the carrots for 10 minutes or until they're beginning to soften.
- While the carrots are roasting add the butter, miso, orange juice, honey and pepper to a small saucepan over low heat. Let it simmer for 5 minutes until the butter and miso have melted and the sauce has slightly thickened.
- Remove the carrots from the oven. Use a knife to split them down the middle, folding them over like a book but not cutting them all the way through. They will resemble bunny ears.
- Generously baste the carrots with the miso-orange sauce.
- Let the carrots roast for another 10-15 minutes.
- Transfer the roasted carrots to a serving platter. Serve them with additional sauce. Garnish them with chopped carrot greens and chopped pistachios.