These honey orange roasted carrots with labneh and basil oil are proof that simple ingredients can create the most elegant dishes. Sweet, oven-roasted carrots tossed in citrus and honey caramelize beautifully before getting paired with creamy labneh for the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. Whether you’re hosting a spring brunch or looking for a standout vegetable for your holiday table, this roasted carrot recipe is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

Seasonal, impressive but easy, perfect for dinner parties or as an elevated vegetable side. These honey orange roasted carrots with labneh and basil oil (what a mouthful) are not only beautiful, but also complex in flavors: roasting brings out the carrots’ natural sweetness that pairs perfectly with labneh’s tangy and creamy taste.

Why You’ll Love These Honey Roasted Carrots

Picture this: a sweet, citrusy, creamy flavor profile. An exciting contrast between hot, orange-honey carrots straight out of the oven and cold labneh straight out of the fridge… the heat of the carrots making the cold labneh melt. Only a handful of ingredients.

I don’t know about you, but to me it sounds like the perfect spring side dish! This simple, but healthy and luxurious dish is really easy to put together and requires very little prep.

It’s a great side dish to add to any spring dinner or brunch table. It celebrates the best the season has to offer. Serve it alongside grilled meats, like lamb or chicken, perhaps a grain bowl or mezze spreads. It can either be a side or a dinner party starter. For texture and crunch, try topping it with toasted nuts!

Honey Roasted Carrots

When roasted, carrots release an intense flavor. Roasting slowly brings out their sweetness, enhancing their universally endearing flavor.

In this recipe, the carrots are tossed in a mixture of olive oil, honey, and orange. Citrus fruits pair really well with carrots and lend some of its brightness to the dish. The honey helps the carrots caramelize to an even sweeter degree.

I like to think of each recipe as a starting point. So feel free to taste and adjust as you go. Cooking is all about tasting, feeling, and smelling, after all. So pay attention and use all your senses when making yours.

Because this is a recipe that really highlights the carrots, I like picking young organic ones. When buying carrots, pick ones that are brightly colored, smooth of skin; firm, not lim, and not cracked.

For this recipe specifically, I prefer small to medium-size carrots to the overly large, which are not as sweet. I like keeping the tops on, solely for aesthetics, but you can cut them off. Before using the carrots, rinse them in cold water, cut off a very thin disk from the stem end, and peel them using a vegetable peeler.

Labneh Alternatives & Customizations

Labneh is fairly easy to find, but it’s also easy to make at home. I go into more detail here, but I’ll also do a more in-depth post on it soon.

If you can’t get your hands on labneh or don’t have time to make it, you can use Greek yogurt or whipped feta.

I usually like adding flavors to my labneh base. That’s the bed where your carrots will lie on, so look at it as an opportunity to build flavors. For this recipe I kept it simple with some chopped chives and minced garlic, but you can try a few other options, too: add harissa for a spicy kick, lemon for a sharper citrus flavor or even a little bit of cumin for a warm, earthy touch.

Basil Oil

I’m a bi fan of basil oil. It’s easy to make and it adds a vibrant, bright look and taste to a lot of dishes, from salads to toasts. You can find the recipe here.

It’s very easy to make and it lasts for about a week in the fridge, so you can also add it to your morning eggs and stuff like that.

In this recipe, it adds a beautiful green touch to the overall look and a nice, peppery taste that ties the dish together. If you don’t have basil oil or can’t be bothered, regular olive oil will do. Or you can try this orange infused olive oil. It’s delightful!

These honey orange roasted carrots with labneh and basil oil will steal the show—no matter what you’re serving them with. If you make this dish, tag me on Instagram or leave a comment below with how it turned out!