These bourbon maple-glazed carrots are so magical and the perfect addition to the Thanksgiving table.
We have totally been down this little bourbon road before. I mean I’ve kind of been indulging in the stuff lately.
cooking with it…
brewing beer with it…
drinking it straight out of the bottle…
Kidding. Kidding! I swear, I do not have a “problem.” Please don’t judge me.
Please.
In all seriousness though, I love to cook with bourbon. Especially when a sweet veggie is involved. These bourbon maple glazed carrots taste like candy. They are uber sweet, this coming from the sweetness from the bourbon, maple syrup and brown sugar. The sweetness is toned down just a little bit with fresh herbs, salt and pepper.
They are the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving spread. I like to make them ahead of time and then keep them warm in a low oven. They get better as they sit for an hour or so.
Trust me on this.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup good-quality bourbon or whiskey
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- salt and black pepper
- 2 teaspoons chopped dill plus more for garnish
- 1 1/2 pounds carrots peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
Instructions
- In a saute pan, add the bourbon. Cook over medium-high heat until the bourbon has reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
- Add the butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, a sprinkle of salt and black pepper, chopped dill and carrots. Toss to combine.
- Reduce the heat to medium to medium-low and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the carrots are tender but still have a nice snap.
- Remove from heat. Garnish with fresh dill and serve immediately.
- Enjoy!
86 Comments
These carrots are incredible! I have never seen carrots look so amazing.
Aw, you are too sweet, Jocelyn! Thanks, girl!
Hey there! I saw these on food gawker and had to come check them out. These look so delicious and would be perfect for Thanksgiving. Pinning!
Thank you so much for stopping by, Erin! I totally agree!
These look great. Can you recommend some “good quality” bourbons? I’m not really a bourbon or whiskey drinker, so I’m not sure what to buy.
These look great. Can you recommend some “good quality” bourbons? I’m not really a bourbon or whiskey drinker, so I’m not sure what to buy.
Hi Kimberly! Hm, I tend to lean towards Maker’s Mark or Knob Creek. They aren’t insanely expensive, but still have a good taste! I hope this helps and I hope you enjoy the recipe! Thanks!
Do you think there’s a way to make these in the crockpot or maybe ahead of time? I want to make them for Thanksgiving but finding any extra stove top space that day is going to be a problem! :(
Hi Lindsay! Well, that’s a tough one. The only reason I would say no, is that after a while of cooking, carrots can get very tough and weird, but in a slow cooker, cooked at a low temp it might be ok. I mean we braise beef over carrots right? They usually come out mighty tasty. I would maybe TRY the recipe in the crock pot before Thanksgiving and see how it goes? Again, cook them at the very lowest setting. Let me know if you try it and if it works out for you because I may have to try it too! Thanks for stopping by, Lindsay!
Justine, these look fantastic! i featured this in a round-up post on my own blog today. I hope that’s OK!
Thank you so much, Chelsey! No problem at all!
I would love to make this today but only have cooking wine or Rum on hand, would either of these work in place of whiskey? Thanks
Hi Debbie! I wouldn’t use the cooking wine, but rum would be the perfect substitute. Thanks for trying out the recipe! I hope you enjoy it!
The rum works out very very well!!!
Do you think this would be good with roasted pecans?
Hi Alli! I think roasted pecans would be AMAZING in these carrots! I’m kind of sad I didn’t think of it first! Happy Holidays!
I’ll let you know how they turn out! Thank you, Happy Holidays!
These look so good! I can’t wait to try them :)
These look amazing! I want to make this for my company’s pot luck thanksgiving dinner. The problem is, I would need to cook them ahead of time and then have to transport them to the office to eat so it could be like 1-2 hours between the time I cook them and then we eat them… do you recommend a strategy? Maybe cook them and then place them in a cockpot to heat up before eating? Not to sure…Thank you!!
Hi Sarah! I would do exactly what you said. I would cook them in full (less the dill – add that at the pot luck), and then place them in the crockpot to just keep warm (either on the warm or low setting). I think they would do very well at a potluck! Hope this helps!
Made these tonight using spiced rum instead of bourbon and they were amazing!!!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear this! Thanks for trying out the recipe!
I am actually making these right now! I found this recipe at Thanksgiving last year while combing Pinterest for an alternative to squash or sweet potatoes. When I saw this I knew it was a winner. The folks in my family aren’t big dill lovers… So I sprinkled crispy bacon on top. **faint** My Thanksgiving side dishes usually sit in the fridge until they are science experiments but people were fighting for the remaining bites in the bowl. I learned my lesson and doubled the recipe at Christmas. Thank you so much for a new staple in my holiday menu!
Make them every Thanksgiving!!! Awesome!!
Had a turkey in the freezer and decided to have a Thanksgiving dinner while on stay at home order and these carrots had were amazing! Hubby is a big bourbon fan but was not sure how these would turn out…now he’s glad he let me use his bourbon on this recipe. Definitely a keeper. Stay safe y’all!
Best recipe for glazed carrots! Just the right amount of sweet. I never knew whiskey was the key.
Hey! I just found this recipe and it looks DELICIOUS!! I saw some other folks had mentioned trying it in the crockpot, I was just curious if the theory had been tested and how it turned out. Thank you!!
Hi, Danielle! This recipe does REALLY well in the crockpot, but doesn’t take very long (2-3 hours max). Good luck!
I make these every year at Thanksgiving! Everyone loves them!
Hi I saw that you said it does well in the crockpot- what temp and for how long do you cook? Just trying to figure out what to change with the recipe/instructions. Thank you!!
Hi, Jess. For the crockpot, I usually do these carrots on low for about 2 hours. It is obviously going to depend on your slow cooker, but this usually does it for me. Hope this helps!
I’m not sure if you are active on this website anymore or not, but I wanted to let you know my family requests this dish every thanksgiving now, for the last 9 years. It’s always on our menu. I actually just screenshot it incase you ever delete this post. They would be crushed lol. We’ve been vegan almost 10 years now, and thanksgiving is more exciting now than it ever was before. I spend the entire week making 9-10 dishes so we don’t ever feel like we are missing out. And these carrots are incredibly delicious. And I don’t even like carrots :)
Hi, Tiffany! We are “semi-active.” :) We are actually in the process of redoing and rebranding this site, so the recipe should never really go away, but I appreciate you saving the recipe and loving it!
Making these for Thanksgiving in a few days! Everyone requests them every year! I was thinking I might change it up and use a different herb this time. Have you ever tried rosemary or thyme with this recipe?
Hi, Tina. I have never tried this recipe with either of these ingredients, but I can’t imagine it would be bad! Rosemary can get a little overpowering, so I wouldn’t go too crazy with it. Thanks for continuing to make this recipe! We appreciate you!
I’ve made this a few times and each time I run into the same thing… once the carrots are done, there’s still a decent amount of liquid in the pan. Do you include it in the dish you’re serving it in? Do you reduce it more and then add it? Do you just toss it? Either way, it’s delicious, just wondering what you do with the excess liquid?
Hi, Melissa. I have run into this issue as well. I usually just leave the excess liquid, but you could definitely drain it as well. Thanks for making this recipe!