About This Recipe
Honey, fresh orange juice and butter make a warm finishing glaze for carrots. Simmer the honey and citrus briefly, then whisk in butter off the heat. Drain cooked carrots well before tossing so their cooking water does not thin the sauce. The card covers the glaze alone.
The carrot photo shows a serving suggestion. The vegetables are prepared separately and are outside the glaze-only nutrition estimate.
Recipe
Honey Glaze for Carrots with Orange and Butter
Make a separate honey, orange and butter glaze to toss with cooked carrots. Six glaze-only portions include every measured ingredient, with no assumed uptake.
6Ingredients
Yield: 6 servings
- 63 g honey
- 45 g fresh orange juice
- 28 g unsalted butter, diced
- 5 g fresh lemon juice
- 1 g table salt
- 0.3 g dried thyme
Ingredient amounts scale; instructions show the original batch. Cooking times and pan sizes may need adjustment. Season to taste. Honey grams use US measures at 20°C and 17.5% moisture, a density estimate; weigh your honey for precision.
Instructions
- 1Simmer honey and citrusCombine the honey, orange juice, lemon juice, salt and dried thyme in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat, stirring. Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes until slightly thickened, keeping the sauce fluid.
- 2Finish with butterRemove from the heat and whisk in the diced butter a few pieces at a time. Let stand for 3 minutes, then stir again. The glaze should lightly coat a spoon and still pour readily.
- 3Divide the glazeDivide the complete batch into six equal glaze portions, by finished weight if needed. The 13-minute total covers preparing the sauce, simmering and the short rest; cooking the carrots is separate.
- 4Toss with cooked carrotsCook carrots by a complete vegetable recipe, then drain them thoroughly. Return them to a warm dry pan off the heat and add warm glaze a portion at a time, turning gently to coat. Serve promptly so the carrots retain their texture. Keep clean unused sauce separate.
Estimated nutrition per serving
69.08 calories · 3.81 g fat · 9.52 g carbohydrate · 0.13 g protein · 65.71 mg sodium
Serving: 1 of 6 servings
Calculated from ingredient weights and USDA FoodData Central: 169640, 169098, 173430, 167747, 173468, 170938. Estimates use ingredient input weights; actual portions, brands and cooking losses vary. Omitted nutrient values are unavailable, not zero.
A Butter-Orange Finish
Orange juice supplies the citrus liquid, and a little lemon gives additional sharpness. Whisking butter into the warm sauce off the heat makes a glossy coating. Stir again before pouring if the butter begins to separate while standing.
The thyme is measured and stays in the glaze. Use mild clover honey for a quiet honey note or wildflower for a stronger finish. This sauce has no starch slurry and should remain pourable.
Flavor intensity uses an editorial culinary scale: 1 is mild and 5 is bold. These are tasting suggestions, not laboratory measurements.
Sources: UC Agriculture and Natural Resources: cooking with honey; USDA FoodData Central: Orange juice, raw (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program); FoodSafety.gov: refrigerating leftovers; FoodSafety.gov: reheating leftovers.
1 = mild, 5 = bold. Editorial pairing guidance, not laboratory measurements; jars vary.
- Clover
- Orange and butter on carrots
- Wildflower
- Thyme and citrus glaze
- Orange blossom
- An aromatic orange finish
Get the Honey Buyer's Cheat Sheet (free PDF)
16 varieties on one page — color, flavor, best use and what a fair price looks like — from the 304 honeys we track.
Drain the Carrots before Coating
Steamed or boiled carrots can carry water into the pan. Drain them well, then toss with the warm glaze off the heat. Add one glaze portion at a time so the carrots receive a thin coat instead of sitting in a deep pool.
For carrot weights, cutting size and their full cooking method, see honey glazed carrots. Honey roasted carrots offers a separate oven method. This page gives the finishing sauce and its application, with vegetable cooking time counted separately.
For a honey jar to give alongside a cooking gift, see the Christmas honey gift guide.
Six Glaze-Only Servings
The estimate includes the full honey, citrus, butter, salt and thyme inputs divided into six portions. It excludes carrots and any additional garnish. Weigh the finished glaze before dividing if evaporation has changed its weight.
There is no assumed absorption or pan-loss percentage. A portion poured onto carrots is still a portion of this glaze calculation. The separate honey orange glaze uses a juice-led starch-thickened formula for brushing.
Warm Gently and Keep Leftovers Clean
Keep clean unused sauce separate from utensils used in the vegetable pan. Cool leftovers in a shallow container and refrigerate promptly, within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90 F (32 C).
Reheat leftovers to 165 F (74 C), stirring through the center. Use gentle heat and stir before serving; a small addition of plain water can loosen a sauce that has tightened in the refrigerator.
Choosing the Honey
Use Clover Honey or Wildflower Honey for the flavor described in this recipe. See our honey selection guide for other culinary choices.
