Roasted Rainbow Carrots {Only 4 Ingredients!}

Name: Roasted Rainbow Carrots
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 3 bunches rainbow carrots; 2 tbsp. olive oil; salt (- a liberal sprinkle); pepper (- a liberal sprinkle)

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

This 4-ingredient roasted rainbow carrot recipe is the most effortlessly elegant side dish you’ll ever make! These colorful little carrots don’t need any bells and whistles to taste exquisite; just a little salt, pepper, olive oil, and 20 minutes of roasting time is all you need to impress every guest!

A wooden platter of roasted carrots on a lace tablecloth beside flowers..

Did grandma ask you to bring a side dish to Thanksgiving, but you’ve already hit the road by the time you’ve remembered? Stop by the grocery store on the way, pick up a few bunches of rainbow carrots and you’ll have a side dish everyone will love!

Seriously. Put that garlic powder down! Just a little salt, pepper, and olive oil is all you need to create the tenderest, sweetest, yummiest, crispy-tipped roasted carrots!

I made these carrots for my Autumn New Moon dinner party, and they were so bright and colorful! I served them with juicy, herbed Cornish game hen, creamy rosemary and chive mashed potatoes, white wine mushroom sauce, a beautiful grape and kale salad, and a gorgeous blackberry Sorel cheesecake!

All I had to do was prep these carrots ahead of time in less than 5 minutes and pop them in the oven 20 minutes before serving!

How To Make These Carrots

1. Preheat oven to 450 F. (230 C.) Wash 3 bunches of rainbow carrots and slice off the stems. I like to leave about 2-3 inches of stem. It just looks prettier.

Rainbow carrots on a cutting board with sliced stems.

2. Place carrots on a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil, and use your hands to make sure each carrot is nicely coated. Give carrots a good sprinkle of salt and pepper, then bake for 20 minutes.

Rainbow carrots on a foil-lined baking sheet, sprinkled with salt and pepper.

A Few Tasty Garnish Suggestions

If you want to be EXTRA fancy about your roasted rainbow carrots, you can add a garnish of parsley and pomegranate seeds as I’ve done. Here are a few more garnishing ideas:

crumbled feta and chopped olives
crumbled blue cheese and sprouts
a drizzle of apple cider vinaigrette
shaved almonds and dried cranberries
pepitas and sliced cherry tomatoes
a drizzle of tahini, crushed walnuts and goji berries
a drizzle of balsamic glaze
crushed pistachios and tzatziki

The parsley and pomegranate garnish on roasted rainbow carrots.

Common Questions

Where can I find rainbow carrots?

You may not find them in every single grocery store. They tend to show up in stores like Whole Foods, Union Market, specialty groceries, and farmers’ markets. If you can’t find them in a store near you, you can often find them on Fresh Direct.

How do I reheat them?

You can microwave them for 30 seconds, or place them in the oven at 400 F. for 10 minutes. Sadly, reheated roasted carrots won’t be as tasty as they were when they came out of the oven. They’ll be a little limp and overdone, but they’ll still taste pretty yummy though!

Do rainbow carrots taste different than orange carrots?

Yes, they do! Each color has a slightly different taste. Orange carrots are somewhat sweet with an earthy flavor, whereas yellow carrots are milder, though sweeter than orange, and purple carrots are very sweet with a delicate spice to them. Red carrots taste very similar to orange ones, they’re earthy and sweet, but they have a more dense texture, and are better cooked than eaten raw.

A wooden platter of roasted carrots, garnished with parsley and pomegranate seeds on a lace tablecloth.

For more inspiration, subscribe to my newsletter, and follow me on Instagram, on Pinterest, tiktok, and Facebook! And if you ever make any of my tasty drinks or treats, take a picture and tag me. I want to see!

More Easy Side Dish Inspiration