These Maple and Miso Glazed Roasted Carrots have a slightly sweet, caramelized flavor and are packed with umami! The salty and sweet glaze strikes a perfect balance for the tastiest vegetable side dish that everyone will love.
When I’m roasting vegetables, I like to keep them classic but sometimes I couldn’t help but be a little playful by marrying them with Japanese flavors. Like these Maple and Miso Glaze Roasted Carrots!
The humble carrots are roasted until tender on the inside, perfectly crispy on the outside, and so tantalizingly caramelized with a surprisingly sweet-savory glaze. My family enjoyed these carrots so much that they have been a regular item on my holiday menu for years.
Why You’ll Love These Maple and Miso Glazed Roasted Carrots
- While maple syrup imparts subtle sweetness with a hint of caramel note, miso delivers a deep savory oomph, making them an irresistible combo on roasted carrots.
- Easy and literally no fuss!
- The glaze is so versatile. You can use it in other roasted veggies of your choice – try eggplants, zucchinis, butternut squashes, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, or a mixture of colorful vegetables.
- It’s an outstanding side that fits in just as well with a weeknight dinner as with a holiday feast.
You’ll Need Only 5 Ingredients
- Carrots – I use rainbow carrots with the tops on for their rustic appearance and concentrated sweetness. The colorful rainbow hues make them an elegant yet eye-catching side dish.
- Extra virgin olive oil – Or any oil that is good for roasting veggies.
- Maple syrup – Use a good maple syrup! You can sub with honey or brown sugar.
- Miso – More about it later.
- Soy sauce – A tiny splash goes a long way.
What Miso to Use and Why
If you’re unfamiliar with miso, it’s a fermented soybean paste that’s essential in Japanese cooking, best known as the key ingredient in miso soup. But miso has so much more to offer. The Japanese use miso in pretty much everything – from soups to marinade to sauces and glaze. You can read more about it in this post.
There are many miso paste brands out there, but my personal favorite is Hikari Miso. For this roasted carrot recipe, I used Enjuku Koji Miso Reduced Sodium.
Enjuku Koji Miso is Hikari Miso’s long-selling product for over 20 years since its introduction in 1993. The preservative-free miso features a mild flavor and rich fragrance incorporated with natural sweetness and robust umami of koji. The Reduced Sodium contains 25% less sodium than regular Enjuku Koji Miso.
10 Tips for The Best Roasted Carrots
Here are my tips to make the best-roasted carrots that are perfectly caramelized and deliver a WOW in the flavor department.
- Avoid pre-cut baby carrots – Those baby ones that come in bags don’t have as much flavor as whole carrots. Plus, they have fewer nutrients.
- Choose uniform size – Since we’re roasting the carrots whole, try to select carrots of similar sizes so they are cooked evenly at the same time.
- No time? Shorten the roasting time by cutting the carrots into smaller pieces; they will cook faster.
- Coat with oil thoroughly – Coat the carrots with oil using your hands.
- Arrange a rack in the middle or higher – To get more char, use the top rack in the upper third of the oven. Also, the back of the oven is hotter so place the thicker ends of carrots toward the back.
- Use convection oven – If you have one, do use it. I’d convection bake at 400 ºF but the cooking time will be shorter than the recipe with the hot air circulating.
- Adjust roasting time – Your cooking time may vary depending on how thick your carrots are. I like to roast the carrots just long enough to get a few caramelized edges without sacrificing their toothsome nature, but if you prefer your carrots to be meltingly tender, simply roast them for 3-4 minutes longer.
- Miso burns quickly – It’s important to brush the carrots with the glaze only in the last 5 minutes of roasting.
- Don’t leave the oven door – When you glaze the carrots, quickly take out the baking dish instead of leaving the oven door open. That way, the oven won’t lose heat.
- Herbs on top – Not necessary, but if you have a fresh sprig of herbs you used for other holiday dishes, garnish some on top.
Maple and Miso Glazed Roasted Carrots: The Perfect Holiday Side Dish
Make your holiday lineup extra colorful and nutritious with this roasted carrot recipe! You can literally pair them with just about any simple main. Besides the regular turkey, ham, and roast chicken, here are other delicious pairings I’d like to suggest:
- Instant Pot Sticky Asian Ribs
- Smoked Miso Butter Turkey Breast on Traeger
- Salmon Potato Gratin
- Kabocha Gratin
- Miso Cod
- Honey Garlic Pork Chops
Leftovers? Polish it off on top of a salad the next day!
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Maple and Miso Glazed Roasted Carrots
Ingredients
- 1 lb carrots (I used rainbow carrots)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
For the Maple and Miso Glaze
For the Garnish
- fresh thyme (optional)
Instructions
- Arrange a rack in the middle position of the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F (220ºC). Gather all the ingredients. If your carrots still have some moisture after washing, be sure to pat them as dry as possible; the drier the vegetable, the better it will roast.
- In a small bowl, mix together 1 Tbsp maple syrup, 1 Tbsp miso, and ½ tsp soy sauce.
- Peel 1 lb carrots (and if they are large, cut them into uniform slices so that they will roast evenly and finish cooking at the same time). Place the carrots in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper for easy clean-up. If the carrots are arranged too closely together or are on top of one another, they will steam, making them mushy rather than caramelized. In that case, use two baking sheets or a bigger baking sheet.
- Drizzle the carrots with 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. You want each carrot to have a light coating of oil (the oil keeps some moisture in for that interior tenderness). A good rule of thumb is about 2 Tbsp of oil per full-sized baking sheet (I‘m using a half sheet).
- Toss or roll the carrots in the oil and seasonings.
- Place in the oven and bake for 20–30 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through to ensure that the carrots are getting equal exposure to the heat and have an equal chance at getting crispy and caramelized. The roasting time may vary depending on the size of the carrots (young thin carrots require less cooking time). When the carrots are lightly browned and almost tender when pierced with a wooden skewer, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Why almost tender? We still need to roast for 5 more minutes after brushing with the sauce.
- Brush the maple and miso mixture on one side of the carrots. Then, flip over the carrots and coat the other side. Put the carrots back in the oven to finish cooking, about 5 more minutes. The vegetables will start to brown on the bottom first (the side in contact with a hot surface will brown faster), so you‘ll need to flip over the carrots for even browning.
- Remove from the oven. Garnish with fresh thyme if desired and serve warm.
To Store
- Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3–4 days. They do not freeze well.
These were fantastic! I’m trying to eat healthier and carrots have always been a difficult food for me, but I ate about three of these at once, no problem. I even overcooked them a bit because of a dog emergency but they’re still delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Eden! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed Carrots!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your experience with us!
Do you think I can substitute maple with honey or transparent syrup? Thank you!
Hi Ni J, Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
Yes, you can substitute with honey. Another option will be brown sugar. We hope this helps!
I love all of your sauces. And this maple miso glaze is so delicious, I used leftover sauce as a dip for blanched broccolinis, and it was so amazing. This will easily become a dip in my kid’s lunchbox soon!
Hi Cin, Aww… We are so happy to hear you love all of Nami’s sauces! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.🥰
My parents went nuts over this one! We served them with grilled shrimp & all of the Thanksgiving trimmings. They said I can come over any time to make them again! Almost two weeks later, & they’re still raving!
Hi Tess,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for sharing your story with us.
We are so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed it very much!☺️
Thanks to recipes like this, JOC has become my to-go site (can’t find a cookbook better than JOC). I’m new to Japanese cooking and this fantastic site is perfect for me.
My family loved this recipe and it was a great accompaniment to chicken domburi.
Hi Marie!
Awwww….. You have no idea how much your kind words meant to us!
Thank you very much for your kind feedback!!! We are so happy to be your to-go site.
Thank you for trying many of JOC’s recipes!☺️
OUTSTANDING CONTENT!
JOC offers valuable, detailed explanations to the world of Japanese cuisine and foods. Wonderfully aesthetic website and content.
Hi Michael!
Aww…. You have no idea how much your kind words meant to us!
Thank you very much for your feedback. ☺️
You do know that you have gotten me hooked on miso, don’t you? I can’t wait to try it with these roasted carrots, one of my favorite sides. Thanks Nami!
Hi mjskitchen!
Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
We hope you enjoy this miso flavor too!☺️