Make these Slow Cooker Glazed Carrots with fresh baby carrots, brown sugar, and butter. A simple, slow cooker side dish that even picky kids love.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
This is the perfect vegetable side dish to serve at Thanksgiving dinner or any other special occasion, and has been a family favorite recipe for years. Slow cooker baby carrots have only a few simple ingredients and are easy to make.
With all of the recipes we have on our site, we love coming back to this perfect side dish. It can complete the rest of the meal for just about any occasion, or if you are looking for holiday side dishes or to add at dinner time, that even your pickiest eater will enjoy.
Key Ingredients and Flavors
Fresh baby carrots are the best type of carrots to use in the crock pot. They are already prepped, in small pieces, and generally consistent sizes, meaning the slow cooker carrots will cook evenly.
Butter and brown sugar are what make this a whole family favorite side dish. You can use either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar to simmer the tender carrots in. Using dark brown sugar will give you a bit more of the bitter molasses flavor.
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to Make Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots
- Start cooking the slow cooker carrots by spraying the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
- Pour carrots into the bottom of crock pot and then sprinkle on salt for added flavor, and pour in the ½ cup of brown sugar and top the carrots with the diced butter.
- Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or until carrots are desired tenderness and you can smell the delicious buttery brown sugar aroma in the air.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove carrots from the slow cooker, leaving the juices in the crock pot, and place them in a serving bowl.
Pro Tips
- To make this fancy, add a little flavor with chopped fresh parsley.
- If you want a thicker sauce for this carrot recipe, remove the lid of the slow cooker for the last 30 minutes of cooking, or add a cornstarch slurry to the sauce.
- Pour in a little maple syrup for another flavor variation to this tried-and-true recipe.
Storage and Reheating
Storing Leftovers: Any remaining cooked carrots can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days after they have cooled to room temperature.
Reheating: The easiest way to reheat the pounds of baby carrots, is in the microwave in 30-second increments or by dumping everything in the slow cooker on low and letting it cook for 3-4 hours during the day.
Frequently Asked Questions
When making the brown sugar mixture for this recipe, you can use either dark or light brown sugar; however, I note that dark brown sugar has a more bitter taste, which is why we normally use light brown sugar.
No, you do not need to precook or boil the carrots ahead of time for this simple slow cooker glazed carrots recipe. The slow cooker will do all of that for you during the cooking time in the crock pot. With the lid on it will help cook and steam the carrots.
If you want to use a few pounds of carrots to serve a crowd, you will want to add 1-2 hours of cook time to get the best results.
Enjoy More Delicious Side Dishes
Need the perfect compliment to your main dish? You’ll want to try these delicious side dishes. Browse our comprehensive collection of simple side dish recipes.
- Grandma’s Corn Pudding
- Honey Roasted Carrots
- Instant Pot Corn on the Cob
- Italian Roasted Vegetable Medley
- Orange Glazed Carrots
- Oven Roasted Vegetables
- Parmesan Ranch Corn
- Slow Cooker Creamed Corn
- Slow Cooker Roasted Vegetables
Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots Recipe
Ingredients
- 32 ounces baby carrots, 1 bag
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
Instructions
- Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
- Pour carrots in the bottom of crock pot. Sprinkle on salt and brown sugar and top with butter.
- Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or until carrots are desired tenderness.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove carrots from slow cooker and place in serving bowl.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
I lovvveee carrots and this recipe tastes delicious. Great job!
What size crockpot would you recommend using? A 4 quart or does it need to be something even smaller? Thanks.
4 or 6 quart works best!
If I were to double or triple this recipe for a large crowd, should I plan for a longer time in the slow cooker? Thanks!
I have the same question.
It may take a little longer to cook. Watch them closely and check them.
Anyne ever tried doubling and then freezing? I’d love to know what you thought of the carrot texture after reheating.
Can this recipe be frozen? If so, before or after cooking? Does freezing change the texture of the carrots? Thanks for sharing!
I did a little research on freezing cooked carrots. Frozen carrots can end up a bit rubbery due to moisture loss from the freezing process. For this reason, I DON’T recommend using frozen carrots in recipes where their crisp texture shines. The best way to lessen this texture change, as much as possible, is to blanch carrots prior to freezing. How to blanch carrots – Water blanch small whole carrots 5 minutes, diced or sliced 2 minutes and lengthwise strips 2 minutes. Cool promptly, drain and package, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal and freeze. I hope this helps.