Harissa-and-Maple-Roasted Carrots (2024)

2 garlic cloves, finely grated

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tablespoon harissa paste

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

1 freshly ground pepper

2 1/2 pounds small rainbow carrots, scrubbed, tops trimmed to about 1/2", halved

1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed

Leave a Review

• Wow. Just delicious 🤤

  • Anonymous

  • Montréal

  • 10/9/2022

• Great crowd pleaser. Love dishes like this that are perfect served after being prepared some time ago. Great when feeding a lot of people.

  • Wine Guy

  • NYC

  • 4/30/2022

• I make this recipe often- easy and very tasty!

  • jmfregulia

  • Helena, MT

  • 3/29/2020

• Amazing. Made pretty much exactly as written. Probably added a bit more (spicey) harissa to taste. I cut the rainbow carrots into roughly 2" batons rather than simply in half. Roasted for 35 minutes at 450 but then finished for another 30 minutes or so at 375. Very thinly sliced lemon. The lemon was absolutely critical to the dish and caramelized beautifully. This was served at Thanksgiving - I was afraid it would be too spicey or exotic for my family but they loved it. Made with rainbow carrots and served in a beautiful teal dish, it was visually striking. I also cooked it in a throwaway foil pan, so no cleanup. It's absolutely a keeper for me. The flavors got better as the night went on - next time I might try making it the day before and reheating.

  • Anonymous

  • Central NJ

  • 11/29/2019

• This was great as modified based on other reviews. I cut the cumin seeds to 1 tsp instead of 2, chickened out on the lemon (mistake), baked on foil split between two pans to get a nice single layer, and cut the carrots into thick batons (I had giant carrots, halved was not going to work). Since I cooked them as smaller pieces and spread out, I had to reduce the cooking time (probably 25 - 30 min total). Will cook again but use the recommended amount of lemon - it is important to slice those very thin. They became nice and sweet, really enhanced the carrots. Will stick to 1 tsp cumin seeds.

  • FromPHX

  • Phoenix, AZ

  • 11/24/2018

• Perfect blend of spicy and sweet! Definitely making this again!

  See Also

  Carrot Pancakes with Salted Yogurt

  • lksebastian

  • 10/19/2018

• Oops, I put way too much harissa and could barely eat it, this stuff is spicy!

  • rahappygirl

  • League City, TX

  • 3/21/2018

• I followed the recipe exactly and used a disposable pan per other reviewers suggestions to make for easy clean up. I thought the flavor profile was interesting and enjoyable, but I think the cumin seeds overpowered the wonderful combination of harissa, maple syrup and garlic. The lemons were positively delicious and enhanced the dish (my opinion). I will make again with just a little less cumin seed or try leaving it out altogether. My Easter dinner guests rated the dish "just OK". I served them with grilled lamb chops and roasted fingerling potatoes. The presentation of the tricolor carrots were beautiful. I really think this dish would be terrific with the suggested roast turkey or chicken.

  • shulka

  • Germantown Hills, IL

  • 4/17/2017

• Made this for Thanksgiving - everyone loved it. Great flavors to break-up the typical Thanksgiving profile. It was not too spicy - just right. I mixed everything together the day before and put in a Ziplock bag for prep and to keep the "day of" chaos to a minimum. Texture and color was fine. I did use a disposable foil pan to aid with clean-up; I agree with the previous reviews that this would have been messy. I did keep them single layer, which helped for cooking.

  • clmorrell

  • San Francisco

  • 11/26/2016

• Question: How far in advance can this be made? One person mentioned " a few days in advance," and the recipe says 6hrs. Would love to hear from the other cooks out there! Review: I made this last year for Thanksgiving for 55 people, and everyone loved it. It has been requested again this year, but considering I need the roasting pans for other dishes on the day of, I was hoping to get this out of the way earlier than I did last year. Thoughts? Would most appreciate your input!

  • vijayapriyadarshini

  • 11/15/2016

• Good, got lots of comments from guests. Some suggestions: roast carrots in salt pepper and oil for 20 minutes while softening the garlic, harissa, and cumin in a small amount of olive oil on stove top. Mix this in with the maple syrup for last 15-20 minutes of roasting. Prevents garlic from being too harsh or discolouring, and maple syrup from burning.

  • graceross

  • Ottawa, Ontario

  • 4/24/2016

• made it for Easter, will make more often; did make a mess of the roasting pan..

  • Anonymous

  • raleigh, nc

  • 3/28/2016

• Enjoyed the sweet spiciness of this dish. I let a little too much of the sauce on my baking dish which caused a few of the carrots to get a bit burnt, but over all a nice side.

  • jenncc

  • L.A.

  • 1/16/2016

• I have made this several times, including for Thanksgiving, and it always gets rave reviews. One trick I have discovered is to make it in a large enough roasting pan so that the carrots can spread out and really caramelize. If they are stacked on top of one another, they don't cook as well. That goes for the lemons as well - they should really caramelize and that should help with the bitterness some other reviewers have described. We love Moroccan food and always keep some of Mourad's Quick Harissa (http://www.7x7.com/recipes/secret-recipe-quick-harissa-aziza) in the fridge, which we use for this and so many other things we cook.

  • silwood

  • Washington, DC

  • 12/29/2015

• So supe delicious! So beautiful on the table! Used the rainbow carrots but chopped them up for ease of eating. I used Indian chili paste- couldn't find harissa- and could have used a bit less so warned kids off. Served to 15 at Christmas- interesting addition to my traditional menu. Used Meyer lemon- they are pretty sweet. Not a bite leftover. Would absolutely make this again! Everyone wanted the recipe. Super delicious.

  • annluce

  • San Francisco Bay Area

  • 12/28/2015

TagsHarissaCarrotRoot VegetableVegetableLemonCitrusFruitSideDinnerGluten FreeNut FreeVeganVegetarianDairy FreeMake AheadEasyRoastThanksgivingChristmasPassoverFallWinterBon Appétit