Carrots and ginger are a natural pairing and these Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Ginger Brown Butter Sauce are a next level version of that classic flavour combo. That’s a mouthful of a recipe title, I know, so let’s take a closer look at what goes into this deliciousness.
Roasting vegetables is a simple way to bring out their flavour, and carrots are no exception, with roasting bringing out their sweet, caramel, earthy notes. But we’re not just roasting carrots, we’re roasting rainbow carrots, in a glorious autumnal array of amber, orange, vermillion, and a deep dark purple. Hello, instant visual appeal!
PRO TIP
It’s easy to prepare the carrots for roasting. Just give them a good scrub! After that, you can peel them if you want. I don’t peel mine, that’s just my personal preference. You do want to cut them into approximately the same size pieces so they will roast evenly. Before you pop them in the oven, brush them with a tablespoon or so of melted butter or margarine, or olive oil. The roasting usually take about 30 minutes or so, but again, the doneness level is a matter of what you like!
Making the Ginger Brown Butter Sauce
The Ginger Brown Butter Sauce adds a gingery, buttery, nutty layer of goodness that will have you standing at the kitchen counter dipping your roasted carrots into the sauce, before they even make it to the table. This zingy, palate-pleasing sauce starts with either vegan brown butter or regular brown butter. If you’re not a convert to brown butter yet, this is a good place to start. Brown butter’s one of those magical ingredients that makes everything that it touches better. And it’s so simple to make! Just one ingredient for the vegetarian version and two for the vegan version. Once the brown butter’s made, it’s a matter of sizzling up a generous amount of diced ginger in the butter, and then pureeing the ginger/butter mixture until smooth. That’s it!
Our gingery, buttery, colourful carrots are finished with a healthy sprinkling of roasted sunflower seeds for a subtle crunch, and cilantro for a bright, citrusy freshness. If you’re one of those unfortunate people who finds cilantro unpleasantly soapy, fresh parsley would make a good replacement.
Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Ginger Butter Sauce, a beautiful and tasty side, easy enough for a weeknight dinner, but festive enough for a special occasion too.
Eating Together Made Easy
If you’ve been to not not nutritious before you’ll know that I’m a self-appointed mediator of mealtime — always looking for ways to make it easier for groups with mixed diets to eat together.
For this recipe, you can roast the carrots with melted butter, margarine, or even olive oil, so it’s easily made vegan. The sunflower seeds and cilantro are off course vegan-friendly too.
You can make the Ginger Brown Butter Sauce vegan or vegetarian. If you have a mixed group, it’s easy enough to make both versions, as the Brown Butter base takes about the same amount of time, and follows a very similar process, but obviously you will need to make it in two separate pans.
Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Ginger Brown Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 pounds rainbow carrots, sliced into even-sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine, or oil
For the Ginger Brown Butter Sauce
- 1/4 cup fresh ginger, diced
- 1/2 cup brown butter or vegan brown butter {See Instructions for links}
To Garnish
- 1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro {Or sub with parsley if you don’t like cilantro}
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Prepare the carrots:
Slice the carrots lengthwise into relatively even-sized pieces. Place them on a baking sheet and brush with melted butter/margarine or oil. Roast for about 30 minutes, or until desired tenderness. - Prepare the ginger brown butter sauce: Make the brown butter or vegan brown butter and take the butter off the heat as it starts to turn amber brown. If you are making the vegan version, remove the pecans and reserve for another recipe.
Add the diced ginger to the brown butter and cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes to soften the raw ginger flavour. Transfer the brown butter and ginger to a blender and blend until smooth. - To serve, pour some ginger brown butter sauce on the roasted carrots, then sprinkle with the sunflower seeds and fresh cilantro. Serve the extra sauce alongside.
Notes
Nutritional Information
Nutrition information is an estimate only and is based on using butter in the recipe, and a serving size of 1 tablespoon of the ginger brown butter sauce.Nutrition
Other Awesome Veggie Recipes
- Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters (Vegan with vegetarian topping options)
- Vegan Green Bean Casserole
- Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup (Vegan)
- Cheesy Roasted Cauliflower (Vegan
- Pan-Fried Brussel Sprouts (Vegan)
