Grilled Cinnamon Carrots

In today’s post, I will be sharing a simple side dish you can make for your family or guests, Grilled Cinnamon Carrots.  A friend recently asked me where I get my recipes for Oven Hug.  I didn’t have a simple answer because I don’t have a single resource.  I often try something at a restaurant and then go home and try to emulate it.  Recently I was inspired by a ‘small plate’ of grilled carrots we ordered while lunching at Vesta.  The carrots were so unexpectedly flavorful.  I loved the smoky, sweet grilled taste and the combo created by dipping them in a lemony yogurt sauce.  In my version, I slimmed down the oils and simplified the spices.  I’m hoping this recipe will please your kids, teens, picky-eaters, vegetarians, and gourmands alike!

inspired by spicy grilled carrots with lemon yogurt sauce at Vesta restaurant

I use my favorite grill pan to make these carrots.  If you’ve been an OvenHugger for awhile you’ll remember that what I love about the grill pan is that you can grill and barbeque all year round.  It’s easy to cook light with a grill pan because you can cook with little to no oil.  I’m on my 2nd pan currently as I completely wore out my first one.  I picked up my current pan from Target for about 30 bucks.  A couple of you OvenHuggers have shared with me that you have picked up your own grill pan…if you don’t have one, no worries – these carrots can also be baked in the oven.

Aside from the special pan you’ll need to grab a couple bunches of whole carrots.  I like the Bugs Bunny style whole carrots with the stems still attached.  Thinner carrots will cook through faster.

buy skinny whole carrots with the stem

There are all sorts of cooked carrot recipes out there on Pinterest – carrot hots dogs and carrot fries.  I don’t know about your but those both just sound gross to me.  Carrots are carrots!  I don’t want to set expectations that carrots are going to taste anything like hot dogs or fries!

Carrots are one of the sweeter veggies so they tend to be crowd-pleasers, even served raw and plain.  We dress them up just a little with simple spices and a yogurt sauce.  If you have a picky eater at home who is turned off by cooked carrots I would suggest you keep trying.  Cook them in different ways with different spices.  It can take 8 tries for a kid/teen to like a new food.  After enough tries, it will get gobbled up!  When that happens I’d love to hear about it.

Delicious served with lemon yogurt

If you like this recipe you will surely also love our recipe for Roasted Root Vegetables with Sumac as well as Grilled Balsamic Cauliflower Steaks!

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