These Cracker Barrel baby carrots bring the beloved restaurant’s signature sweet and tender side dish to your home kitchen. With just four simple ingredients and minimal hands-on time, you can recreate the nostalgic flavors that have made these glazed carrots a family favorite nationwide. The combination of earthy baby carrots, rich brown sugar, and a touch of margarine creates the perfect balance of sweet and savory, transforming ordinary vegetables into an irresistible comfort side dish.
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Cracker Barrel Glazed Baby Carrots
Cracker Barrel is one of those restaurants that likely brings back a ton of memories for diners. Whether you remember it as a welcome break on long road trips or as a family favorite for casual breakfasts, lunches, and dinners out, the homestyle food and friendly service are a reliable feature all across the country, particularly the South.
Alongside comfort food main courses like biscuits and gravy, chicken and dumplings, and country-fried steak, Cracker Barrel’s sides also shine as a bright spot on the chain’s menu. One fan favorite is Cracker Barrel baby carrots.
What Makes Cracker Barrel Carrots So Good
One bite of these carrots, and you’ll be instantly whisked back to time spent in the chain’s “porch front” rocking chairs or shopping in the old country store. The simple flavors are classic comfort food and provide some nutritious veggies for the sometimes less-than-healthy down-home meals.
Why You’ll Love These Brown Sugar Glazed Baby Carrots
Cracker Barrel baby carrots are an ideal low-stress side on busy weeknights or as part of bigger family dinners. The vast majority of the 35-50 minute cooking time occurs as the carrots gently simmer, allowing you to prep the rest of your meal or take a well-deserved break. In addition, baby carrots are affordable and always in season, making them a reliable choice year-round.
Parents will also likely love these carrots. After all, what better way to get kids to eat their veggies than making them sweet, delicious, and bite-sized?
Recipe Ingredients
For the Glazed Carrots:
- Fresh baby carrots – Provide the perfect bite-sized pieces with a natural sweetness that intensifies during cooking
- Margarine – Creates the authentic Cracker Barrel flavor and helps bind the glaze to the carrots
- Brown sugar – Adds caramel-like sweetness that balances the earthy carrot flavor
- Salt – Enhances all flavors and brings out the natural sweetness of the carrots
Optional Enhancement:
- Ground nutmeg – Adds warm, woody complexity that elevates the overall flavor profile
Ingredient Substitutions and Variations
Some may be surprised to find margarine used here instead of butter. While this is the most authentic choice for those looking for the classic Cracker Barrel baby carrots experience, you can easily use the same amount of butter instead.
It’s also simple to replace baby-cut carrots with normal-sized carrots that you peel and cut to the appropriate size yourself.
How to Make Cracker Barrel Carrots
It’s easier than you think to whip up this copycat Cracker Barrel baby carrots recipe with just a few minutes of active prep and cooking time.
- Rinse and drain carrots, and place in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover.
- Place lid on the pan and bring the water to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the carrots are fork tender, 30-45 minutes.
- When the carrots are tender, pour half of the water out of the pan, leaving the carrots and remaining water in the saucepan.
- Add the margarine, sugar, and salt on top of carrots and recover the pan.
- Cook until the carrots are completely tender but not mushy.
Finish the dish with a pinch of nutmeg, chopped parsley, or thyme on top of the carrots for garnish.
What to Serve With Carrots
It might be a shorter list of what doesn’t go well with these deliciously tender carrots. Naturally, they’ll pair well with nearly anything from the Cracker Barrel lunch and dinner menu. In particular, try serving them with:
- Ham
- Pot roast
- Meatloaf
- Chicken fried steak
- Chicken and dumplings
- Roast turkey
- Pork chops
- Salisbury steak
The carrots will generally work well with any savory or meaty dish, with their contrasting sweetness balancing the main course’s flavor.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Reheating Methods: Microwave in 30-second intervals until heated through or gently on the stovetop with a splash of water. Avoid overcooking during reheating to prevent mushiness.
- Refrigerator Storage: Store in airtight containers for 3-5 days, maintaining quality and flavor
- Freezer Storage: Freeze in freezer-safe containers for 10-12 months, though the texture may soften slightly
Love Cracker Barrel? Try these Copycat Recipes
- Loaded Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole
- Cracker Barrel Potatoes
- Country Fried Apples
- Eggs in a Basket Recipe
- Cracker Barrel Roast Beef
- Cracker Barrel Homestyle Chicken
More Carrot Recipes
- How to Cook Carrots
- How to Cook Frozen Peas and Carrots
- Roasted Honey Glazed Carrot
- Shredded Carrot and Raisin Salad
- Easy Carrot Souffle Recipe
- Carrot Pudding
- Carrot Sheet Cake
Be sure to check out more of the best vegetable side dish recipes and copycat Cracker Barrel recipes.
Cracker Barrel Baby Carrots – Sweet Glazed Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh baby carrots
- 2 tablespoons margarine
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg optional
Instructions
- Rinse the carrots and place them in a 2-quart saucepan with just enough water to cover the carrots. Cover the saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, until the carrots are fork tender.
- Pour off half the water from the pan and add the margarine, sugar, and salt. Cover the pan and continue cooking until the carrots are completely tender but not mushy.
- Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and/or a pinch of ground nutmeg if desired.
Fantastic! We loved these they were outstanding! Surprised for the family. Thanks so much for posting this very helpful recipe.
No such thing as baby carrots. They are made from much larger carrots by a machine.
You’re an idiot John for thinking that this point was necessary or important. The origin of the carrot was not in question. This is a recipe for making carrots, regardless of their size, shape, or molecular structure, taste like those you buy from Cracker Barrel. That’s all.
Save your rants for the football and political pages. I’m sure you’ll fit right in on those.
I HAVE BEEN AN ACTUAL CRACKER BARREL COOK FOR 9 YEARS! I have made our carrots countless times, and it is so much simpler than you all seem to think. These copycat recipes always crack us up. LOL We use frozen baby carrots, brown sugar, liquid margarine, and water. That’s it. Add the margarine and brown sugar to the water and bring it to a boil. Add the frozen carrots and cook for 15-20 minutes until soft. There is no corn syrup, salt, bacon grease, parsley, etc in our recipe.
Carasith can you share Cracker Barrel’s B9NE IN SOUTHERN fried chicken? NOT the boneless SUNDAY fried chicken? I have watched Cracker Barrel’s FB ad for this chicken and still cannot figure out ALL thesecret ingredients!
There is no corn syrup, salt, bacon grease, parsley, etc. in this recipe either….
Thank you. I was questioning this recipe as well. After the initial cooking, pouring off about half of water and cooking until tender using fresh carrots, the flavors of the seasonings are not absorbing into the carrots very well. I’ve been cooking these for 45 minutes to try to get the flavors into them. I eat carrots every time I go to Cracker Carrel and this recipe don’t really taste like the Cracker Barrel ones. I’m with you some of these copycat recipes are over prepared with too many steps. However, this recipe is good, just don’t taste Cracker Barrel’s.
I saved your reply, will definitely use frozen carrots and cook them the way you say. Thank you.
Fix my sweet carrots today using frozen carrots though they were sliced and they tasted like the ones I get at Cracker Barrel.
When simmering the carrots is the lid on or off
I normally do this with the lid off.
I didn’t know fresh vegetables could taste so good!
Absolutely LOVED these they were outstanding! Surprised family with these ( they are a favorite side when we go out to Cracker Barrel) they asked for seconds !!! Thanks so much for posting this 👍🏼💕
I have made this recipe and it is every bit as good or better then what I had at Cracker Barrel…Yummy…
I don’t think they have bacon grease in them, their carrots are not greasy and if any grease is used the food will taste like it no matter how slight
I have seen several recipes for these carrots and all of them have the bacon grease listed.
I worked for cracker barrel, the recipe is accurate above. There is no bacon fat in it or honey. Just a bunch of butter/margarine, brown sugar, little bit of salt and some water. Thats it.
The “original recipe” I have uses 2# baby carrots,1tsp. salt,1tsp. bacon drippings,1/4c. br. sugar,packed,1/4c. melted butter, and 1/4c. HONEY. melt bacon drippings in pot. Add carrots and enough water to cover carrots THEN PROCEED with the rest of the recipe on this site!