These Balsamic Roasted Carrots and Beets are an easy side dish that upgrade any meal, from a weeknight dinner to your holiday table.
If you want to get fancier with these beets and carrots, try drizzling them with this Tahini Yogurt Sauce or serving with a Horseradish Aioli.
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Why Make This Recipe
- Roasting brings out the natural sweetness of beets and carrots
- An easy honey balsamic vinaigrette adds even more flavor
- This dish is so pretty on the table
🥗 Ingredients
- Beets: Look for firm, deep red beets. Avoid beets that feel soft or spongey. If the beet greens are attached, look for beet greens that look fresh and not wilted. Golden beets would be lovely as well!
- Carrots: Choosing carrots that are around the same size will help them cook in the same amount of time. Very skinny carrots will need less time than thick carrots. To save time, you can use prepackaged baby carrots.
- Balsamic Vinegar: A basic balsamic vinegar is fine for this dish—no need to use a fancy aged balsamic.
- Honey: Substitute maple syrup, agave syrup, or brown sugar if you don’t have honey or prefer a vegan version of this recipe.
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Peel 1 ½ pounds raw beets (about 4 medium-large beets), then chop into 1-inch chunks. Peel 1 pound carrots, then chop into 2-inch batons.
Whisk 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and 1 teaspoon honey together in a small bowl, then whisk in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir in ½ teaspoon kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
Place beets into a medium bowl, and toss with half of the vinaigrette. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, then put beets on one half of the sheet pan. Wipe out the bowl with a paper towel.
Add carrots to bowl and toss with the remaining vinaigrette. Use your hands to scoop out the carrots, leaving any extra vinaigrette at the bottom of the bowl.
Put the carrots on the other half of the sheet pan. Make sure the vegetables are in an even layer on the pan. Roast vegetables for 15 minutes, then stir.
Roast an additional 5-8 minutes, then remove carrots when they are done.
Continue to roast beets for another 15-20 minutes, until tender.
Arrange on a serving platter. Garnish with fresh thyme and crumbled feta cheese, if desired.
🧐 Recipe FAQs for Roasted Beets and Carrots
Roasted vegetables really taste best when right out of the oven, but you can prep all of the components of this dish in advance. Peel and chop the carrots and beets, and keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Make the balsamic vinaigrette ahead of time too—you can keep this in an airtight jar on the counter.
This recipe is vegan except for the honey in the balsamic vinaigrette. For a vegan version, replace that with maple syrup, agave, or brown sugar.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
Note that beets will easily stain your fingers. Wearing a pair of thin latex gloves is a great way to protect your fingers when you are peeling and chopping the beets. This is also the reason that this recipe calls for you to toss the vegetables with the vinaigrette separately. If you put them in the same bowl, the carrots will turn purple from the beet juice.
If you have a very well-seasoned sheet pan, you don’t need to use the parchment paper under your vegetables. You may get a better char on the roast carrots and beets as well! You can also use nonstick aluminum foil as an alternative to parchment paper.
Use a fork or the tip of a skewer to determine when the beets and carrots are tender. Note that the cooking time for carrots is much shorter than for beets—this is why it’s best to keep them separate on the baking sheet. That way you can remove just the carrots when they are done.
Want to add even more flavor to this dish? Add fresh herbs! You can garnish the carrots and beets with fresh thyme, fresh mint, fresh basil, or fresh rosemary. If you want to roast the vegetables with the herbs, put the herbs in just 10 minute or so before the vegetables are done—otherwise the herbs will burn.
Prefer roasting beets in foil instead? See our instructions in this Beet Feta Salad recipe, then slice into chunks and toss gently with some of the vinaigrette.
Want to make this into a complete meal? Serve as a side dish to a main course like this Black Garlic Chicken, these Maryland Crab Cakes, or these Turkey Zucchini Meatballs. For a fancy dinner, you could pair with a Pan-Seared Filet Mignon.
Other Roasted Vegetables
Roasting is my favorite way to prepare root vegetables, but this technique works with everything from starchy vegetables to leafy greens. Try Roasted Golden Beets, Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower, or Roasted Broccoli Rabe next, or check out a few other favorite recipes:
If you try this recipe, I would love to hear from you! Please rate this Roasted Beets and Carrots recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to me.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I’d love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
📖 Recipe
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Roasted Carrots and Beets
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds beets
- 1 pound carrots
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Fresh thyme and feta cheese to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450° Fahrenheit.
- Peel beets, then chop into 1-inch chunks.
- Peel carrots, then chop into 2-inch batons.
- Whisk balsamic vinegar and honey together in a small bowl, then whisk in olive oil. Stir in salt and pepper.
- Put beets into a medium bowl, and toss with ½ of the vinaigrette.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, then put beets on one half of the sheet pan.
- Wipe out the bowl with a paper towel. Add carrots to bowl and toss with the remaining vinaigrette.
- Use your hands to scoop out the carrots, leaving any extra vinaigrette at the bottom of the bowl.
- Put the carrots on the other half of the sheet pan.
- Make sure the vegetables are in a single layer on the pan.
- Roast vegetables for 15 minutes, then stir.
- Roast an additional 5-8 minutes, then remove carrots when they are done.
- Continue to roast beets for another 15-20 minutes, until tender.
- Serve, and garnish with fresh thyme and/or feta cheese, if desired.
Notes
Roasted beets and carrots will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave or in an air fryer. Expert Tips:
Note that beets will easily stain your fingers. Wearing a pair of thin latex gloves is a great way to protect your fingers when you are peeling and chopping the beets. This is also the reason that this recipe calls for you to toss the vegetables with the vinaigrette separately. If you put them in the same bowl, the carrots will turn purple from the beet juice. If you have a very well-seasoned sheet pan, you don’t need to use the parchment paper under your vegetables. You may get a better char on the roast carrots and beets as well! You can also use nonstick aluminum foil as an alternative to parchment paper. Use a fork or the tip of a skewer to determine when the beets and carrots are tender. Note that the cooking time for carrots is much shorter than for beets—this is why it’s best to keep them separate on the baking sheet. That way you can remove just the carrots when they are done.
Nutrition
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More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Carol DeLong says
I tried this and the beets took over an hour and a half and then were kinda burned. How do you ensure the beets and carrots roast properly? Should I put the beets in foil? Or boil first?
Molly Pisula says
The beets are definitely tricky that way. I found that if you cut them in smaller chunks (1-inch max) so they are about half the size of the carrots, they will roast well without burning. They do have a little more chew to them though than if you steam your beets. I like the texture difference between the slightly crunchy beets and the softer carrots. But if you want super tender beets, I would do the steaming in foil method. I have a beet salad with feta recipe on this site that uses that technique.