Steamed Carrots With Hot Honey Butter Is The Perfect Dinnertime Side (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to steam or boil carrots? ›

Steaming is a healthy option for cooking vegetables like carrots since it does not require large amounts of oil for cooking.

Or, to bring out their fresh, woody flavor, add some anise. If you're roasting your carrots, toss them in olive oil first. This will help keep the moisture in them. To bring out the sweetness in your carrots, season them with orange or lemon juice or a little brown sugar and butter.

Roasting really brings out carrots' best qualities. To make them, just toss carrots with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake until they're golden on the edges and tender throughout. Serve these simple roasted carrots with traditional or heavy main dishes, like standard Thanksgiving fare, lasagna or mac and cheese.

And Keating points out that the differences in total carbs and sugars among most vegetables are very small. A cup of sliced cooked carrots has 5 grams of sugars and 12 grams of total carbohydrates compared with, say, 2 grams of sugars and 11 grams of total carbohydrates in a cup of cooked chopped broccoli.

Veg to avoid steaming:

Any large chunks of hard veg, such as potatoes, squash or celeriac.

Raw carrots can be a nutritious and filling snack, and their fiber can help ease constipation. But if you eat them cooked, your body can better absorb the beta carotene in them, and it reduces your chances of getting sick from a contaminated carrot.

Raw is for rabbits. High heat and good browning make carrots taste sweeter and more delicious.

However, one reason that vegetables always taste better at a restaurant is that chefs there don't hold back on using oil to boost flavor. They often use oodles of butter, oil, or bacon fat to coat veggies fried on the stove and give them an umami appeal.

Terpenoids are highest when carrots are young, so carrots harvested too early can be bitter.

While it feels like your produce is always on borrowed time, carrots can have a surprisingly long shelf-life. You'll have to store your carrots in the refrigerator, but how you store them can actually make a difference. Raw carrots, when properly stored will usually stay fresh for around 3 to 4 weeks in the fridge.

What to eat with cooked carrots? ›

What to Serve with Roasted Carrots. These oven roasted carrots are a delicious, healthy side dish for any meal! For a simple weeknight dinner, pair them with your favorite protein, a grilled cheese sandwich, lentil pasta, or baked feta.

People living with diabetes or those who want to keep their blood sugar stable should eat carrots in moderate portions or eat them as part of a balanced meal or snack. While carrots are generally considered suitable for those living with diabetes, eating too much at once may lead to high blood sugar.

Eating how many carrots a day is too much? One carrot, on average, has about four mg of beta-carotene in it. Eating about 10 carrots every day for a couple of weeks may cause carotenemia. This occurs due to the deposition of beta-carotene in the skin.

Because carrots are a root, they're lower in sugar and carbs than tuber vegetables like potatoes. One medium (61-gram) raw carrot provides ( 2 ): Calories: 25. Protein: 1 gram.

“Steaming allows you to retain more of the nutrients compared with boiling,” Jenna Hope confirms, because leaching, whereby some nutrients draw out into the water, doesn't occur as much. “Naturally, it may not provide as much flavour as, for example, roasting, so serve with a pesto or tahini.”

Whether you decide to peel a carrot or not is up to you. From our tests, there is perhaps only one time when it makes sense to always peel; that is, when you're steaming. The peel of steamed carrots can be tough, dry, and extra chewy.

Cook the carrots for eight minutes, or until a fork can gently pierce them. Toss them with unsalted butter, brown sugar (or maple syrup or honey), salt and pepper for an easy side dish.

The onion and potatoes will take about 30 - 35 minutes to cook, the cabbage and carrots 15 minutes (or a bit more), so start cooking 35 minutes before you want to serve your meal. If using a steamer, fill bottom with about an inch of water.