Roasted Carrots with Tapenade Dressing
on Aug 21, 2020, Updated Aug 27, 2023
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These roasted carrots have a tangy dressing and are a gorgeous and colorful side side to all sorts of meals from holiday feasts to weeknight dinners. Serve warm or room temp!
This is my newest go-to vegetable side. And I think you can see why. And I hope you will make them and you will taste why, too.
These can be served at room temperature or warm, making them a wonderfully flexible side dish. I basically think most, if not all, roast vegetable side dishes are appealing at room temperature, and I love how that offers up so many make ahead possibilities. Incredibly useful for entertaining and holiday dinners. And always beautiful—if you are ever in doubt about how to beautify a dinner party or buffet table, a platter of roasted vegetables is always a good call.
And if you want a surefire wow dish, go for whole young multi-colored carrots. You don’t even need to go further than oil and salt and still end up with an impressive side. Look for carrots with a bit of the tops still attached, firm and bright, and slice them lengthwise unless they are very thin. If they are young you might only need to scrub them, and leave the peeler in the drawer—your call.
Tapenade Dressing for Roasted Carrots
The green olive tapenade anchors the dressing perfectly, and if you are making tapenade of any kind you will like have leftovers, and be looking for smart ways to put it to use. I originally made the tapenade to pair up with a pasta I was creating for Food 52, and it’s just pretty hard to make a small amount of tapenade, so figuring out ways to use it up is key—and also very fun. This was one of the happy results.
You could add a bit of minced garlic or shallot to the dressing if you want more of an onion fam kick. There is a touch of garlic in the tapenade, but not a whole lot, so if that’s your craving you may want to bump it up a notch.
Just sprinkle the dressing over the carrots while they are still on the baking sheet, and toss them to coat. Transfer them to a serving dish.
A sprinkle of fresh parsley at the end is really pretty.
These roasted carrots have a tangy dressing and are a gorgeous and colorful side side to all sorts of meals from holiday feasts to weeknight dinners. Serve warm or room temp!
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What to Serve with Roasted Carrots with Tapenade Dressing:
Here they are alongside some Cajun Roasted Cod with a salad with pears and dried apricots.
And here they are with some Yogurt Marinated Chicken, a slivered salad of bitter lettuces, and some bulgur wheat with caramelized onions.
They go with everything.
More Roasted Vegetable Recipes:
- Roasted Broccoflower and Shiitake Mushrooms with Rosemary and Garlic
- Roasted Butternut Squash with Creamy Sauce
- Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing
- The Best Parmesan Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Also more vegan recipes for Thanksgiving and the holidays!
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Roasted Carrots with Tapenade Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds carrots preferably multi-colored, peeled
- 5 tablespoons olive oil divided
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- ¼ cup Green Olive Tapenade
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Slice the carrots in half lengthwise. Place them on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle over 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and toss the carrots so they are well coated with the oil. Spread them out in a single layer. Roast for about 20 minutes until they are tender but not soft, and browned along the edges.
- While the carrots are roasting , stir together the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, tapenade, and lemon juice. Let the carrots cool to warm or room temperature, then drizzle the with Tapenade Dressing, toss, sprinkle with the parsley, and serve.
