Name: Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 2 lb carrots (about 8 medium, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch coins); ¾ cup water; 3 tablespoons unsalted butter; ¾ teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal; use 1/2 teaspoon Morton); ¼ cup light brown sugar (packed); ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 tablespoon fresh parsley (chopped (optional))

My brown sugar glazed carrots cook in one skillet on the stovetop, so the oven stays free for everything else. Carrot coins simmer in water, butter, and salt, then the brown sugar goes in and the liquid boils down to a glaze that clings instead of pooling. Twenty minutes start to finish, and I make them on a Tuesday as often as at Thanksgiving.

Brown sugar glazed carrots served in a bowl with a spoon and fresh parsley

Brown sugar carrots for a stove that is already full

I host Friendsgiving most years, and I am usually the only vegetarian at the table. The oven is booked solid from mid-morning with my vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes, so any side that needs a sheet pan has to wait its turn. These carrots never wait. They go in a skillet on the back burner and come out glossy while something else is still roasting.

The carrots cook in the glaze from the start instead of getting glazed at the end. Water, butter, and salt steam the coins tender under a lid. Then the brown sugar goes in, the lid comes off, and the same liquid reduces to a syrup that coats every piece. There is no separate glaze to make and nothing to whisk. The part that took me a few rounds to trust is the last two minutes. The pan looks watery, then it doesn’t, and I pulled it early more than once before I learned to wait.

The same skillet handles the variations. A pinch of cinnamon with the sugar leans sweeter, thyme in the water keeps them savory, and orange zest at the end is the one I bring to the Thanksgiving table. The plain version is the quickest and the one I make most weeks.

What makes a brown sugar glaze for carrots cling

Ingredients for brown sugar glazed carrots.

Full ingredient list and detailed instructions in the recipe card.

Whole carrots cut into 1/2-inch coins glaze more evenly than bagged baby carrots, which come in mixed sizes and cook unevenly. Buy medium ones, about 8 for 2 pounds. The very thick late-season carrots have a firmer core that lags behind the outside.
Light brown sugar gives a glaze that tastes like caramel without taking over the carrots. Pack it into the measuring cup; a loose quarter cup is noticeably less sugar and the glaze stays thin.
Unsalted butter is what turns sugar water into a glaze. Vegan butter does the same job and makes the dish vegan. Oil does not work here, so don’t swap it in; the liquid stays thin and slides off.
Kosher salt amounts are for Diamond Crystal. Morton is denser, so use 1/2 teaspoon instead of 3/4.

Shruthi’s Top Tips

Getting stovetop glazed carrots to glaze instead of steam

This recipe only goes wrong in the last five minutes.

Cut the coins evenly at 1/2 inch. Thinner turns to mush before the glaze forms, and thicker stays crunchy in the middle after the pan goes dry.
Use a 12-inch skillet. In a smaller pan the carrots pile up, the liquid has less surface to boil off from, and the carrots overcook while waiting for it.
The glaze looks like nothing until the last two minutes, then goes from watery to syrup fast. Stir often once it thickens so the sugar does not catch on the pan.
If it still looks watery, keep boiling. If it seizes and turns sticky, add a splash of water and toss. Both fixes take under a minute.

How to make brown sugar glazed carrots

Combine the carrots, water, butter, and salt in a 12-inch skillet, cover, and boil over medium-high heat until a fork slides in with slight resistance, 8 to 10 minutes.
Uncover, stir in the brown sugar, and keep boiling, stirring often, until the liquid turns to a syrup that clings and the pan is nearly dry, 4 to 6 minutes.
Take the skillet off the heat, add the pepper and parsley, and toss to coat.

Sliced carrots cooking in a skillet with water, butter, and salt.

Brown sugar glazed added to the carrots in a skillet.

How to serve brown sugar glazed carrots

These are a side, so the plate gets built around them. At Thanksgiving they sit between my sweet potato casserole with no marshmallows and the extra-creamy green bean casserole, with one of my vegetarian Thanksgiving centerpieces holding the middle of the plate. On a weeknight they go next to a pot of lentils or a lentil loaf and that is dinner.

Kids eat them without the pepper. When the stove is as full as the oven, make the last-minute mashed potatoes for a crowded stove in the microwave and let the carrots have the burner.

Variations

Add a pinch of cinnamon with the brown sugar for carrots closer to candied carrots.
Drop a few thyme sprigs into the water in step 1 for a savory version, and pull them out before serving.
Grate orange zest over the top after the pepper goes in.
Swap the butter for vegan butter to make this vegan.
For carrots as a casserole instead, my carrots and peas in a creamy cheese sauce bakes with a panko top.

Storage and reheating

The make-ahead that works is stopping after step 1. Cook the carrots in the water and butter up to a day before, refrigerate them in the skillet liquid, then finish step 2 the next day with 2 tablespoons of water added to restart the glaze. Leftovers keep 4 days and come back glossy in a skillet over medium heat with a splash of water.

Brown sugar glazed carrots with a glossy glaze, black pepper, and fresh parsley in a bowl.

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