30 minutes and six ingredients are all you’ll need to make these easy and delicious roasted carrots topped with a fresh and zesty dill gremolata, crumbled feta cheese, and pistachios.
When spring strolls around, I get giddy with excitement over its bounty. From radishes and peas to asparagus and carrots, I can’t get enough. But if I’m playing favorites, carrots are the tops (see what I did there?) because I love their tenderness and sweet, flavor when roasted—my favorite easy way to cook them. Plus, carrots are chock-full of health benefits. They’re rich in beta carotene, fiber, potassium, calcium, vitamin K, and antioxidants.
While you can make them any time of year, these roasted carrots with dill gremolata are the perfect spring side dish. I start with fresh carrots (no need to peel, just trust), and toss them in olive oil and salt. They roast in the oven, where they become super tender and beautifully caramelized. They’re then topped with a bright, zippy, herbaceous gremolata—an Italian seasoning mixture made with parsley, garlic, olive oil, and lemon zest. I subbed fresh dill for the parsley because carrots and dill are a classic match in heaven. It was a good move. Finally, crumbled feta lends a briny saltiness to every bite, and chopped pistachios add a great texture.
What’s in These Roasted Carrots
You only need six ingredients (not including olive oil or salt) to make these easy roasted carrots. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Carrots—for this recipe, you’ll want to use bunches of carrots with the tops still on, versus the bagged carrots. They tend to be a bit more slender and uniform in size, so they will roast up a bit quicker and more evenly.
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Fresh dill—like in my Crab Spaghetti, gremolatas normally contain parsley but this version uses dill since it plays so nicely with carrots and is perfect for spring
- Lemon zest—this is a key ingredient in gremolata and will give the carrots a bright, fresh flavor
- Garlic—this is another central ingredient in gremolatas, and depending on how much of a garlic flavor you’d like, you can use 1 teaspoon or 1/2 teaspoon
- Feta cheese—you can use already crumbled feta or block feta that you can crumble
- PIstachios—But them already shelled then give them a rough chop
How to Make Roasted Carrots with Dill Gremolata
This recipe couldn’t be simpler and only takes 30 minutes.
Roast the carrots. Drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt, then use your hands to roll them around on the sheet pan and get them nice and coated.
Make the gremolata. While the carrots are roasting, whisk together olive oil, salt, lemon zest, garlic, and dill.
Top and serve. Arrange your carrots on a serving platter, spoon gremolata overtop, and sprinkle with crumbled feta and pistachios.
Do You Peel Carrots Before Roasting
You can certainly peel these carrots prior to roasting if you prefer, but you don’t need to. I personally like them best unpeeled—the carrots become so tender in the oven that you don’t even notice the peels are still there. Plus, those peels are nutritious. Simply give them a good scrub under running water and you’re good to go.
How Long Does it Take to Cook Roast Carrots
These carrots roast in just about 25 minutes and will be perfectly tender and caramelized thanks to the hot oven (roasting coaxes out their natural sugars, resulting in caramelization).
Roasted Carrots with Dill Gremolata
You only need 30 minutes and 6 ingredients to make these easy and delicious roasted carrots topped with a fresh and zesty dill gremolata, crumbled feta cheese, and chopped pistachios.
CourseSide Dish
CuisineAmerican
Keywordroasted carrots
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings4
Calories58kcal
Ingredients
- 2bunches carrots with tops , (about 1 ½ pounds), carrots scrubbed and tops trimmed to about 1-inch
- ½cup extra-virgin olive oil , divided
- ½teaspoon plus ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt , divided
- 2tablespoons fresh dill , chopped
- Zest from 1 lemon, (about 1 teaspoon)
- 1garlic clove , finely chopped (½-1 teaspoon, depending on how much garlic you like)
- 2-3tablespoons crumbled feta
- 2-4tablespoons pistachios (optional) , chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Arrange the carrots on a large sheet pan. Drizzle ¼ cup of the olive oil overtop, and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of the salt. Use your hands to roll the carrots around the pan, making sure they’re well coated. Place in the oven to roast for about 25 about minutes. The carrots should be tender and slightly caramelized.
- While the carrots roast, make the gremolata. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil, dill, lemon zest, garlic, and remaining ⅛ teaspoon of salt, and whisk together. Add 1-2 more tablespoons of olive oil if needed (to make the mixture less pasty). Once the carrots are finished roasting, arrange them on a platter and spoon the dill gremolata over them. Sprinkle with crumbled feta (crumble any large pieces into smaller ones) and pistachios.
Nutrition
Calories: 58kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 409mg | Potassium: 146mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 5162IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 1mg