Sauteed Julienned Carrots in Maple Thyme Glaze

Maple glazed julienned carrots are such an elegant and delicious side dish to add to your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. They are easy to prepare and fit most diets. These sauteed carrots will surely be a real crowd-pleaser not just among adults, but among kids as well.

The best side dishes are the ones that are quick and easy to make. Usually, we pay more attention to preparing the main course, but sometimes a perfect side dish can steal the show. I am talking about you, delicious roasted asparagus, and you, soy-glazed sauteed mushrooms. 

Why julienned carrots?

You can sauté whole carrots, halved carrots, diced carrots, sliced carrots, or even shredded carrots. But to let me tell you why you should sauté julienned carrots.

• Not whole or halved – Carrots are hard root vegetables that need a lot of time to sautee/roast especially if you leave them whole or even halved. All other veggies are already tender when whole carrots are only halfway through.
• Not diced or sliced – Diced and sliced carrots belong in soups and not as a side dish. They don’t look elegant enough at all to pull off being a Thanksgiving side dish.
• Not shredded – They just turn to mush after one minute. They are perfect though to add to a lentil loaf or any veggie patties.

Matchstick carrots are the perfect size to make a delicious side dish. They are large enough to sauté them without falling apart, but not too large so you can get them ready quickly. This way, you don’t need to pre-cook them in boiling water. Also, you get to impress your family and friends with your awesome knife skills. It is a win-win in my book.

Ingredients

To make this yummy sweet and aromatic sauteed carrots recipe, you need the following ingredients:

• Carrots –> Choose young, small, or medium carrots as they are sweeter than large, thick ones. The sweetest ones are those where you can see the fresh, soft, young carrot greens, which by the way are also edible. Baby carrots are actually the small parts that break off large carrots and then are polished to look smooth and well-shaped. They are not as sweet and are not suitable to cut into matchsticks.
• Maple syrup -> you can use other liquid sweeteners like agave syrup
• Fresh thyme -> both fresh and dried ground thyme can be used
• Oil -> use a high heat resistant oil like sunflower oil or coconut oil or dairy-free butter
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Nuts (optional) -> We love to add raw or toasted walnuts or pecans. We don’t sauté them together as the nuts can absorb the moisture especially if they are raw and you end up with soggy, soaked nuts. Any other nuts would also be awesome like pistachios, almond slices, or cashew bits. Let us know your favorite combination in the comments!

🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Instructions

How to julienne carrots?

Julienned carrots are a fancy French word for matchstick carrots. Cutting a vegetable julienne-style means that you create long and thin carrot sticks similar to matchsticks.

Restaurant-style julienned carrots mean that they trim the edges and only work with perfect matchstick look-alikes. But as a conscious home cook, I don’t get rid of the not-so-perfect trimmed matchsticks. They are equally delicious.

So let’s see how to cut carrots at home. If you have young carrots, then you don’t need to peel them. Just wash them and you are ready to start cutting. What you need are a clean cutting board and a sharp chef’s knife.

1. Take one carrot to the board and cut it in half to have approx. 4-inch long (approx. 10 cm) carrot pieces. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be exactly this long. It is just a reference. 
2. Cut one thin slice (¼-inch thick (approx. 5 mm)) vertically off from one side.
3. Place the carrot on its flat side down and start cutting thin planks (¼-inch thick (approx. 5 mm)) as many as you can.
4. Stack the planks and start cutting thin strips (¼-inch thick (approx. 5 mm)) as many as you can.
5. Voila, you will have lovely uniform matchsticks.

How to sauté carrots?

Here comes the fun part. My husband always jokes about the fact that I like to cook everything on the highest heat to get things done quicker. I agree, not always the best method. Maybe that is why I am the baker and he is the cook. But in this regard, he had to do the same. 🙂

1. Pre-heat the frying pan to medium-high heat and add oil.
2. When the pan is hot enough, add julienned carrots.
3. Add salt and black pepper. Then let them cook in a single layer. Try not to stack them too much. Work in batches if you must. Don’t stir until 2-3 minutes so that your carrots can get a nice golden brown color on one side. Try to flip every carrot stick when you eventually stir them. We recommend using a slotted turner.
4. After another 2-3 minutes add maple syrup and freshly chopped thyme. Continue to sauté the matchsticks on high heat. They will be ready in approx. 5 minutes when they are fork tender.

Top tips to make them perfectly

• You can choose to sauté whole, halved, diced, or sliced carrots, but we recommend julienned/matchstick carrots. They are large enough to sauté them without falling apart, but not too large so you can get them ready quickly. This way, you don’t need to pre-cook them in boiling water.
• If you choose to sauté carrots in other sizes, we recommend pre-cooking them in boiling water if you go with larger or thicker carrots.
• We use young carrots as they are sweeter than large, thick regular carrots and surprisingly even sweeter than baby carrots.
• Arrange the carrots in a single layer to get them ready quicker.
• You can definitely use a wok or a heavy pan like a cast-iron skillet as they will help to keep the pan steady hot if you have to do a large batch.

Equipment

If you don’t trust your knife skills, you can try one of these 3 different types of equipment:

• Julienne peeler will give you thinner matchsticks like approx. 8-inch or less thick slices. To be honest, we prefer larger ones in a side dish. 8-inch or less is more like for zucchini noodles. I also find it hard to use a julienne peeler with carrots since I really have a hard time holding it in place especially if I am more than halfway through. Like these tutorials always show the first 1-2 slices, but it gets really tricker at the end.
• Julienne slicer (aka mandolin with a julienne blade) is somewhat easier to use since it usually comes with a food guard. It also helps you to finish cutting the whole carrot and gives you fewer scraps.
• A food processor with a julienne disc is, to be honest, the most expensive option but it will give you the fastest and easiest result. Be sure to check the size of the holes on the disc so you don’t end up with carrot noodles instead.

FAQs and substitutions

What other sweetener can you choose?

We tested this recipe only with honey and maple syrup. I bet rice syrup, agave syrup, or even date syrup works perfectly. Quick note though: We recommend only liquid sweetener so you can have that yummy caramel glaze on the carrots without much hassle. You can find more honey substitutes here.

What other spices can you use?

We love sauteed carrots with thyme, rosemary, or parsley. Let us know what is your favorite below in the comments.

How to store it?

You can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days without a problem. You need to re-heat it in a pan or in a microwave as they can get very sticky when they are cold.

Can you freeze it?

Yes, you can. Make a larger batch ahead and froze them for later use. Thaw them and re-heat them in a pan before serving.

What to serve with it?

This tasty sweet sauteed carrots recipe is the perfect side dish to add to your Thanksgiving or Christmas Menu. Here are our favorite main course meals to pair them with:

Allergen info

This Maple Glazed Sauteed Julienned Carrots recipe is meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free.

• Vegan – All ingredients are supposed to be vegan.
• Nut-free – It is optional to add nuts, which you can substitute for any seeds you like. I think carrots are best if you pair them with sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
• WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) – If you want to skip the oil, we recommend dry sauté or with a bit of water since the veggie broth will change the final flavor for sure.
• Gluten-free – All ingredients are supposed to be vegan.
• Soy-free – All ingredients should be free from any soy products.

More side dish recipes

You can browse through our vegan gluten-free side dish Recipes or check out

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UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in September 2019. Step photos, detailed tips, and more FAQ were added, and it was republished in July 2022.