These Air Fryer Honey Roasted Carrots are coated with butter and honey in two layers for the ultimate sweet and glossy glaze. It’s a tasty way to level up on regular plain roast carrots and especially perfect for roast dinner feasts and festive spreads.
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I’ve made these honey roast carrots a little differently to my straight up air fried roast carrots recipe. In that I air fried those carrots directly from raw. But here I’ve part-boiled the carrots first before glazing and roasting them. Why? Because I kind of prefer them that way! I like how soft the carrots become and how the honey glaze has lots of time to bake on to the carrots without them getting dried out.
If you want to just throw them straight in then by all means do. Just add the butter at the beginning and the honey with around 10 minutes to go on the cook.
How to Serve
These honey roasted carrots are best served hot, straight from the air fryer while they’re still sticky, glossy and just a little bit charred. They make a fantastic side dish for all sorts of meals, from everyday dinners to special occasions.
They’re perfect as part of a traditional roast dinner alongside dishes like my air fried whole roast chicken, pork shoulder joint or butterflied lamb leg.
I’ve served them here as a side to my air fried bacon and onion suet roly-poly, a heap of minted potatoes, sauteed cavolo nero and simple sweetcorn.
You could also serve them with quicker weekday meals like with mashed potatoes, air fried thick sausages or pork chops and onion gravy.
Ingredients
Carrots
I’ve stuck with nice large and thick orange carrots here but you can use any you like. They are easier to cut into even sized batons when they’re thick and straight but we don’t discriminate. You might just need to get a bit more creative with the peeling and cutting. As long as they’re all a similar thickness so they all cook at the same time, that is all that matters.
Honey
Runny honey works best here because it’s easier to toss with the carrots and creates a nice even coating. If your honey is very thick or crystallised, you can warm it first in the microwave or just throw it in with the carrots and put the whole pan over a low heat.
You can use a flavoured honey for an extra layer of flavour but as you aren’t really getting the full force of the honey, I do generally just use an everyday good value honey rather than anything fancy.
Butter
Butter adds richness and helps the honey form that beautiful sticky glaze. I always use salted butter, but you can use unsalted if you prefer and add a little more sea salt.
You can alternatively use olive oil or vegetable oil if you prefer to not use dairy in the recipe.
Allergen Information
This recipe is free from egg, gluten and nuts.
Dairy Free: To make this recipe dairy free, simply swap out the butter for a good quality dairy-free alternative or use oil.
Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.
How Long to Air Fry Honey Roasted Carrots
This isn’t the absolute quickest way to cook carrots but I think it is the best. There are a few stages to the cooking process, none of which are difficult, you just need to be a little hands on.
Firstly the carrots are boiled in water until just soft or nearly soft for around 15 minutes. Then they’re air fried in two stages for a total of 20 minutes.
Halfway through the air frying, I toss them in any remaining butter and honey left in the pan. This builds the layers of the glaze and ensures that all the butter and honey is going on the carrots and not coating your air fryer.
How to Air Fry Carrots From Frozen
If you buy frozen carrots, you can skip the boiling stage of the recipe. Instead just run the carrots under water until they have lost all of their outer ice crystals. Dry them well then add to a saucepan along with the butter/honey/salt. Put the pan over a low heat until everything is melting and starting to coat the carrots. Add to the air fryer and carry on per the recipe.
Because the carrots were previously frozen, they have a head start on being soft. You can also cut and freeze your own carrot batons.
Leftovers – Storage & Reheating
If you’ve got leftover honey roasted carrots, they keep really well for a few days in the fridge. Simply air fry for around 5 minutes to thoroughly reheat them. You can also microwave them if you don’t mind them being extra soft.
You can freeze leftover honey glazed carrots. If you want to reheat them from frozen, lay them out on a tray and open freeze them. Then move them to an airtight bag or box for longer term storage. This way they won’t all stick together in a clump. If you can’t do this, just make sure to defrost the carrots before you want to reheat them.
Common Air Fryer Questions – A Brief Guide to Air Frying
- What exactly is an air fryer?
- What are the benefits of using an air fryer?
- Are all air fryers the same?
- Is an air fryer always better to use than an oven?
- Do air fryers need to be pre-heated?
- What is the best temperature to air fry at?
- What setting is best to use? Air fry, bake, dehydrate, etc…
- Can food be cooked from frozen in an air fryer?
- Can I reheat food in an air fryer?
- Are air fryer liners a good idea?
The Air Fried Feast Community
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What Exactly is an Air Fryer?
Very simply, an air fryer is a small convection (fan) oven. The benefit is that the hot air is circulated all around the food being cooked which speeds up the cooking time and cooks the food more evenly.
What are the Benefits of Using an Air Fryer?
Size, time and energy usage. Air fryers are ideal for cooking smaller quantities. Heating up a space that the food just fits into requires less energy and means that the heat source is much closer to the food. Combining these two things can speed up the cooking time.
Are all air fryers the same?
Nope! The term air fryer is now used very broadly. I consider there to be 4 main types:
Basket Air Fryers
These are what I would consider to be the most common, especially in the UK. A boxy type unit has a pull out drawer/basket. Food isn’t usually visible whilst cooking.
Some larger models have two drawers so different items can be cooked at different temperatures or for different times.
This is the type that you’ll see in the images in this recipe. I mostly use a Cosori Lite 3.8L (CAF-LI401S) with a 3.8 litre capacity. The square(ish) shaped basket is 21cm x 21cm and 24cm on the diagonal. It isn’t an overly expensive or fancy model.
I’ve also recommended to several friends and family the model with a slightly larger basket. This is the Cosori 4.7L (CAF-L501) with a 4.7 litre basket. The unit is no larger than the 3.8 litre model on the outside but does have a larger internal basket capacity. I’ve since bought this version to use for some recipes where my smaller model was just too small. I’ll always note this in the recipe.
Rotary Air Fryers
Round air fryers with a paddle in the centre that rotates to move the food. This is the type I used for years – the most common is a Tefal Actifry.
Rotary types are not usually good for recipes where the food is breaded, glazed, likely to break up or in a tray/container. They do however make the best chips and roasted veg.
My 2 in 1 version like the one I’ve linked also has a rotating tray for things that could be broken up by a paddle, but the height clearance with the lid isn’t deep enough to use it to cook some items like sausage rolls. I’ve now actually retired by Actifry in favour of having my two basket type fryers.
Mini Oven Air Fryers
These usually have a glass door, shelves and overall are really quite large. You can cook quite a decent quantity of food in them so are best if regularly cooking for multiple people. They often come with extra features like a rotisserie spit or kebab skewers.
Multicookers with Air Fryer Functions
Some like Ninja 11 in 1 and some of the earlier versions with a few less functions, have an air fryer option. They mostly operate the same as a basket fryer but the basket drops in the top rather than sliding in like a drawer.
Some electric pressure cookers like Instant Pots can also air fry when used with a specific lid.
Is an air fryer always better to use than an oven?
As much as I do love air frying, the honest answer to this is no. And the more detailed answer is that it will always depend on what you’re cooking, how much of it you’re cooking and what type and size of air fryer you have.
Once you need to cook in more than 2 batches, it often makes more sense to use an oven. If you already have the oven on to cook other items, it may make more sense to throw one more item in rather than using an additional appliance.
I don’t think either method is often necessarily better than the other. The important point to note is that there is absolutely no difference in the finished product.
Do Air Fryers Need to Be Pre-Heated?
The answer to this is rather annoying – it depends. It depends entirely on your model and type of air fryer. The best advice I can offer is to check your manual and follow their guidance. My Cosori models have a preheat function. I press a button and it heats at 205c/400f for 4 minutes.
It’s also worth noting that regardless of whether you are supposed to pre-heat or not, if you are cooking in batches, it is quite likely that anything after the first batch will cook a little quicker because of the retained heat. It is best to check on them before the cooking time is completed.
What is the best temperature to Air Fry at?
It will always depend on what you are cooking and from what state. All of my air fryer recipes don’t use temperatures above 200c/390f because many of the most common fryers in the UK don’t go above this. Mine goes to 230c/450f and I use this temperature a lot but it is no help for me to share recipes which many people can’t use.
What setting is best to use? Air fry, bake, dehydrate, etc…
Not all air fryers have different settings like this. When they do it usually relates to the fan speed. The default setting to use will always be “air fry” so unless something else is specifically stated in the recipe, always use the air fry option.
There are other air fryers that have an additional heating element which cooks from underneath rather than just the top. Just as with the other settings, unless you are using a recipe which states to use a second heating element, stick with just using the top down air fry option.
Of course if and when you become more confident with air frying, using recipes and the settings of your air fryer, you can start adapting them to suit.
Can Food Be Cooked From Frozen In An Air Fryer?
Absolutely! To cook from frozen you usually will need to reduce the cooking temperature and increase the time to make sure your food is cooked right through to the middle.
It is best to check my individual recipes for cooking from frozen advice as some items are a little different. And there are occasionally exceptions to the rule.
Can I Reheat Food In An Air Fryer?
Yes. As a general rule I reheat food for roughly 1/3 of the original cooking time at the same temperature. Or at 10 degrees lower for half the time for larger items.
Are Air Fryer Liners a Good Idea?
Unless otherwise stated, I do not use liners when air frying. Basket and rotary type air fryers are designed to be used without liners. Mini oven types will generally require some kind of tray like with a regular large oven although most come with crisper racks to use.
There are many air fryer liners available including quite thick silicone ones. These will affect the cooking times and possibly temperatures of your cooking/baking. I also don’t like how cooking juices are prevented from dripping through the basket rack. This can stop food from crisping all the way around.
When I do want to collect the juices, I mostly use some foil, or occasionally a foil tray which can be washed and reused.
If you do prefer to use them, once you have got a feel for how they affect your cooking and baking, you may need to make adjustments to the recipe accordingly.
More Air Fryer Recipes
All my recipes with instructions for how to cook or bake them in the air fryer can be found in my Air Fryer Recipe Index.
Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?
Still Have Questions?
Simple! Just contact me and I will do my best to help as quickly as I am able. Head over to my Contact Me page, any of my social media channels or post a comment at the bottom of this page and I’ll see what I can do.
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The Recipe
Air Fryer Honey Roasted Carrots Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 500 g Carrots
- 2 tsp Fine/Table Salt
- 1 tbsp Salted Butter
- 1 tsp Sea Salt Flakes
- 2 tbsp Runny Honey
Instructions
- Put a full kettle onto boil and grab a small saucepan. Or put a saucepan of water onto a high heat.
- Top, tail and peel 500g Carrots.
- How you actually cut the carrots will depend on how exactly how big they are.I've used chunky long carrots so I start by cutting them in half to make shorter pieces that are easier to work with. Then cutting slices around 1cm thick.
- Cut each of the slices into batons/sticks. I've kept them quite chunky as they do lose a lot of volume as they roast.
- Put the carrots into the saucepan and cover with boiling water. Add 2 tsp Fine Salt and bring the water to a boil over a high heat. Allow them to boil for around 15 minutes until the carrots are just nearly cooked through.
- Thoroughly strain the carrots them then leave them to sit in the warm pan for a minute to steam dry a little.
- If your air fryer has a preheat setting, start this now.
- Add1 tbsp Butter and 2 tbsp Honey to the carrots. Sprinkle on 1 tsp Sea Salt Flakes.
- Toss to coat the carrot batons with the butter as it melts and the honey as it warms. You can put the pan back on the heat for a minute if there isn't enough retained heat.
- Carefully move the carrots into the air fryer basket. I like to use tongs for this to prevent the carrots from breaking up and to leave any leftover butter/honey in the pan. Try to aim for one layer of carrots as much as possible. Set the empty saucepan aside for the time being.
- Air fry for 10 minutes at 200c/390f.
- Return the part roasted carrots to the saucepan (or another bowl if you like extra dishes to clean).
- Toss the carrots in the butter/honey remaining in the pan then return the carrots to the air fryer.
- Air fry for a further 10 minutes at 200c/390f.
- The carrots should be sticky and a little charred – if you want them to be darker, cook for a little longer until you are happy.
Notes
- Portion Size – The portion size given assumes that the carrots are being served as a main side. If wanting to serve as part of a larger meal like a roast dinner with multiple side options, halve the recipe (or consider the portion number doubled).
- This recipe is tested in a Cosori Lite (CAF-LI401S) with a 3.8 litre capacity. The square(ish) shaped basket is 21cm x 21cm and 24cm on the diagonal.
- Not all models advise preheating is required. Please follow the recommended instructions for your model. Mine has a specific preheat setting which is 4 minutes at 205c.
- For this recipe, I managed to fit in 500g of carrots with room for air flow but not many more carrots at all.
- As all air fryer models are a little different, you may find that you can fit more or less in at a time. Some models include stacking shelves which will increase capacity.
- Required cooking times and temperatures can also vary between models and brands. If you know that your air fryer runs a little hotter than most recipes suggest, use a lower temperature. And vice versa. Equally if you find that food cooks more quickly in your machine than instructions usually state, reduce the cooking time (or check it earlier) and vice versa.
Janice says
What a great recipe. So easy to make and the honey really brings out the flavour of the carrots.
Karen says
These roast carrots were perfect, I also added some cumin seeds to the mix – delicious with a lovely sweetness. Far more flavour than just boiling the carrots.