Chef John's Five-Spice Carrots
These five-spice roast carrots are amazingly aromatic and delicious. The ingredients are so simple. Exotic, but familiar and not too exotic.
These five-spice roast carrots are amazingly aromatic and delicious. The ingredients are so simple. Exotic, but familiar and not too exotic.
No Chinese five-spice powder on hand? Here is what I learned about this ingredient while searching for a substitute. Different five-spice blends use various spices. In his video, Chef John makes jokes about his jar listing seven ingredients. The term "FIVE SPICE" actually refers to the five flavors the blend yields: sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty. A workable substitute is 1/8 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger, black pepper, and anise OR fennel seeds.
Read MoreI was not a fan of this side dish. Maybe I didn't cook them long enough, who knows. This was my first time using 5-spice. Maybe I don't like that?
Read MoreNo Chinese five-spice powder on hand? Here is what I learned about this ingredient while searching for a substitute. Different five-spice blends use various spices. In his video, Chef John makes jokes about his jar listing seven ingredients. The term "FIVE SPICE" actually refers to the five flavors the blend yields: sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty. A workable substitute is 1/8 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger, black pepper, and anise OR fennel seeds.
Simple and delicious. I was out of olive oil so I used grapeseed oil, but I did everything else as written until the very end. The last few minutes of cooking I turned the oven to broil. I like my roasted carrots to have some slight browning in places. Be careful not to over-do it and watch carefully if you decide to broil at the end. I've walked away for a minute before and came back to ruined vegetables! The whole family loved these carrots; even the young kids! I've seen some low rated reviews based off not liking Chinese Five-Spice. For those of you who have never tried five spice, it comes in many variants but the most common mixture contains Star anise, Cloves, Cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and Fennel. It has a warm, spicy-sweet flavor and is primarily used in Chinese cuisine but also used in other Asian and Arabic cookery. *Depending on brand, some ingredients may be different and can include ginger root, nutmeg, turmeric, Amomum villosum, cardamomum, licorice, Mandarin orange peel or galangal.
I completely agree with the part about "exotic, but familiar and not too exotic". I served these as part of Easter dinner (the bunny didn't eat all of the carrots), and people ate larger portions than they ordinarily would eat of carrots. Accordingly, I suggest planning on 1 1/2 - 2 carrots pp. A nice change from my typical roasted vegetables with just salt and pepper. Thank you.
The Five-Spice is so unique, it balances out the sweetness of the carrots and gives them some depth in flavor. I purcahsed the five-spice for a pumpkin pie receipe of Chef John's - so I knew what I was dealing with in terms of flavor. Ill make these again for sure because they are a little bit different, or "Jazzy" as my mom would say... but very delicious.
Hands down the best carrots I've ever eaten. Made exactly as directed. Fantastic and super easy.
The ginger in the Chinese Five-Spice is a nice compliment to the sweet, soft carrots. I usually use sea salt and pepper to season, but this is a nice variation. Very, very good!
Easy and a great taste. DO NOT go crazy with the five-spice powders. A little goes a long way with this spice. I added some black pepper to it.
Couldn't ask for anything easier & with flavor. Will be making again, but with a little less oil. If you want something that will be different & taste good, this is it.
Sorry I hit enter too fast. I used multi-color carrots and was so happy with this dish. Everyone loved it! Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
This was so easy to make and delicious too. It took it from "I'll eat the carrots because they are good for me" to " this is tasty, I'd like some more please". I used the "Dion" Chinese 5 spice blend and it was excellent. A definite keeper!
My wife and I made this but seasoned with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. So good!
I was not a fan of this side dish. Maybe I didn't cook them long enough, who knows. This was my first time using 5-spice. Maybe I don't like that?
Really easy recipe with great flavor. Didn't change anything and it came out great!
No Chinese five-spice powder here in the Middle East, that I could find anyway. So I took the knowledge that Joyce Litoff researched and made this dish from her post. I love it! Thank You, Joyce and Chef John
These are amazing. I couldn't convince the kids that these were not sweet potato fries!!! Simple to prepare. Delicious!
Easy Peasy.....I love the 5 spices. I used greens on, garden fresh carrots. Now I’ll eat carrots.
Mine got a little burnt, but I blame my oven. They tasted great all the same, so I will try again, but cooking it more slowly at a lower temperature.
Im not a big cooked carrot fan but I was more than pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed these. I used baby carrots.
Loved it. Used 2 lbs of carrots slice diagonally with a touch of avocado oil. 1/8 tsp cinn, 1/8t pepper, 1/8t fennel seed, 1/8t ginger, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8t ground cloves. Convection roast 400 for 30min
LOVED IT! my husband likes cooked carrots but I've never been much of a fan until I tried these. I followed the recipe using the exact measurements of oil and spice, only change was I used 5 carrots because they were huge and the recipe called for an even layer in 2 qt dish.
the best roasted carrots I've ever made. the spice compliments the carrots perfectly.
These were so good!!!! Super-easy and tasty. The only change I made was to squirt a little honey over them the last few minutes of cooking...WINNER!
Prepare to make your kitchen smell incredible. Would be interesting to add a little something to make them just a bit sweeter, maybe honey or a touch of brown sugar. One thing: don't short yourself in terms of cooking time. You'll need to keep them in the oven for the full term if not more so they get to the right texture.
I loved this recipe and I am NOT a fan of carrots at all. My family of course went ga-ga over them. I made as written with the exception of using baby carrots cut on a bias. I served these with Lebanese stuffed onions and roasted potatoes. Thanks Chef!
The ratio of spice to carrot was too much with the carrots I used. I also don't recommend this as leftovers- the carrots don't heat up well, and aren't great cold.
Delicious and super simple! Not normally a cooked carrot fan but these won me over! No changes to the recipe would make again. Just the right balance of salt and spice. Used organic carrots.
Good recipe! I never peel carrots, to me that's where all the flavor is. Didn't have any of the spice so just used salt, pepper, onion powder and drizzled my own honey over the carrots and they were AWESOME!!
With recipes like this, I mix the oil and spice(s) in a bowl first, then put the carrots (or potatoes or whatever) in the bowl then toss. I liked the five spice flavor, but I think next time I will dissolve maybe 2 tablespoons brown sugar in the oil before I toss the carrots in. Maybe my baby carrots were a little too bitter? I tried putting a little sugar on the carrots after the first couple tastes and they were much better.
I've taken this to two potlucks and it always gets cleaned up. I'm usually asked how much brown sugar and butter is in it. When I say "none, just Chinese five-space and olive oil" people are always surprised.
I loved them. I used th mix of spices one of the reviewers mentioned using 1/8 teaspoon of each spice.
Delicious, made exactly as described with no modifications.
Will make again, but maybe not roasting the carrots, but cook on the stove top till tender, then add the spice mix.
I love using 5-spice, this was a simple yet power packed dish. Thank you! I did however give the carrots a quick 3 min steam first before adding the oil and spice to absorb the 5-spice instead of it just coating them.
Wonderful! Used the suggested substitute for the 5 spice powder, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly and they were perfect. The seasoning adds just an intriguing difference. I'll be making these again!
I loved this. Added a pat of butter and a small amount of grated ginger before roasting - it was naturally sweet & smelled great.
It was ok for me. The Five-Spice is really strong so I guess it depends on your taste. My kids and my husband loved it though so it really depends. I use this Five Spice on my potato salad which gives great flavor with all the mixed ingredients. I will definitely twink it to my taste though
Wonderful! And the kitchen smells great too - very aromatic and delicious.
Made these tonight for the first time and the fam raved about them. They were so tasty and were a nice change from the glazed carrots I usually make. These are going in my regular rotation for sure! Thanks Chef John for another winner.
These are excellent! A new twist to serving carrots and everyone loved them.
i took this idea and made it in a frying pan with and added an apple. i cut the carrots in 4th's and added the mixture to my frying pan with a pork chop (that was seasoned with salt and pepper ) that was fully cooked on one side (4min) in olive oil and butter. flipped the chop over added mixture and covered 4 min later served with instant sage stuffing . my family and i enjoyed this recipe with pork chops. my favorite was the apples. the 5 spice seasoning was a perfect way to start off the fall season. thanks, sandy
I thought I had Chinese five-spice at home but when I went to make it, it was Japanese seven-spice (hahaha). Anyway, I used the Japanese and it turned out great. I'll try the Chinese version next time.
Wow- the seasoning took these to the next level. Super easy
Thanks to Chef John. Another ten star dish. Wish Chef has more roasting veg recipes for us.
I took it to a party. Everyone loved it. I used olive oil and baby carrots.
Wonderful recipe for the humble carrot! Be generous with the "salt to taste". So tasty, so healthy and a great side with just about anything! To those who add honey or sugar...DON'T do it! It defeats the whole purpose and detracts from the natural sweetness of the carrots! Try it.
I served these with pork chops and Sweet & Spicy Green Beans. Simple yet flavorful. Thanks for sharing.
I liked the consistency of the carrots. But I wasn't a huge fan of the 5-spice powder. I think I'll stick with oil and balsamic vinegar glazed carrots going forward.
Excellent carrrot recipe. Easy and delicious. I made it yesterday to accompany brisket for Passover. It was perfect.
Enjoyed this quick and easy dish! The spices complemented the carrots nicely!
perfect ...no changes to recipe.... my kitchen also smells soooo delicious!!
So simple, easy, and good! worst part is cutting the carrots as instructed, but worth it!
This was good but not my favorite way to do carrots. I really like the honey ginger carrots from this site. This recipe had flavor but I am not sure if I will make them again. I think it was the 5-spice that I didn't like. Made this a second time and still don't care for it. Will not make again.
The carrots were cooked and still crunchy as I like them but I didn't care for the taste. I love 5-spice powder but didn't care for it with carrots. Thanks Chef John it's always fun to try new things.
i julianned my carrots so they cooked much faster but we loved the spice that infused each string of carrot.
I tossed in a touch of sea salt. Everything was just as I'd hoped it would be!
Easy and tasty recipe. The next time I make this I will double the five-spice.
I made these exactly the way the recipe is written. They were delicious, I'll be making them again!
I cut them even thinner than what was stated. Some pieces were still hard. It need a longer time to cook or else a higher temperature. By the way, I have 5 Spice Chinese spices not 7.
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