Honey & Vinegar Glazed Carrots with Cranberries & Parsley Recipe

I’m going to put this out there and say that this is probably one of the most perfect Thanksgiving Day side dishes available. It’s relatively simple to prepare, it tastes incredible and it’s somewhat unique in its flavors. And the best part is that the ingredient list is super short. You probably have most of what you need already in your kitchen.

The Recipe

What makes this side dish so special is its glaze. It’s a combination of honey, white wine vinegar and dried cranberries, among a few other ingredients. This flavor combination coats the tender carrots and gives you a food that tastes extraordinarily good. The carrots are softened in a salty combination of olive oil and vegetable stock, which does the dish justice. I think you’ll thoroughly enjoy this one.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

1 1/2 Pounds Carrots, Trimmed, Peeled and Cut in Half and Sliced Lengthwise
1 Tablespoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Vegetable Stock
1 Tablespoon Butter
1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
2 Tablespoons Honey
2 Tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
1/4 Cup Parsley, Chopped

Step-by-Step Instructions

I’d like to thank the fine folks at Lodge for their wonderful resource titled The Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook. I pulled this recipe from it. I’ve tackled some recipes from this book in the past and they’ve all turned out perfectly. I’m looking forward to more dishes from it in the future.

Prep the Carrots

Before you do anything else, you’ll need to prep the carrots. First, trim both ends from them. Then, peel them. Finally, cut them in half crosswise and then in half lengthwise. For the larger carrots, you’ll likely need to cut the long halves in half again.

Combine Carrots & Oil

In a large bowl, add the carrots, oil and salt. Mix these ingredients well until the carrots are thoroughly coated with the oil.

Warm Skillet & Add Carrots

Warm a large cast iron skillet over medium heat for about five minutes. Then, when that’s done, add the carrots to the skillet and let cook for about three minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cook the Carrots

Next, add the vegetable stock and butter to the skillet. Cover it and reduce the heat to low. Let the carrots cook for about 15 minutes or until they become just tender. Here’s an “after” shot of mine.

Prep Remaining Ingredients

While the carrots are cooking in the skillet, you can go ahead and get the rest of the ingredients ready. I did this and took a few photos along the way. First, I measured out the dried cranberries.

After that, I combined the honey and vinegar in a bowl to make things easier later on when I need to add these ingredients to the skillet. After I added them to the bowl, I mixed them thoroughly to loosen up the honey.

And finally, I chopped the parsley.

Make the Glaze

After the carrots have softened, you can remove the cover from the skillet. Add the cranberries and the honey and vinegar mixture. Increase the heat to medium high and let the liquid in the skillet boil and reduce until it has the consistency of a light syrup. Stir occasionally. This should take less than five minutes. Once that’s done, add in the parsley and mix everything together.

Add Carrots to a Serving Dish

I suppose if you were going for the rustic look, you could place the cast iron skillet right on your table and serve from it. I prefer to make things a bit more elegant, so I decided to transfer the contents of the skillet to a nice serving dish (also known as a small casserole). Feel free to follow my lead.

The Final Glazed Carrots with Dried Cranberries & Parsley

Well, here you go. Doesn’t this look fabulous? I didn’t even do anything special to it. I merely moved what was in the skillet to the casserole. Sure, I sprinkled some extra parsley on top for looks, but I think it’s the glaze that really takes this dish home. Anyway, definitely give this recipe a try. I think you’ll love it. Thanks for reading!