Maple Bacon Wrapped Carrots (gluten-free)

These Maple Bacon Wrapped Carrots are the ultimate side dish to make to spice up your carrots! Made with just 4 ingredients and this recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free.

I have *the* carrot dish to make any time of the year. But particularly for the holiday season! Here is how I actually crave carrots for once and get my bacon fix in at one time. These roasted carrots wrapped with bacon and sweetened with maple syrup are pure perfection.

I recommend using large carrots for this recipe. Ones that are at least one inch thick and not too thin. That way they roast well with the bacon and don’t break or cook too quickly. Also helps the bacon crisp up a bit too.

These bacon carrots are one of the easiest recipes to make as a side. Kids love them, adults love them and they are a guaranteed hit at holidays and dinner parties. And they only take a few minutes to actually prep. The oven does most of the work cooking them and crisping them up for a bit!

Tip: use large carrots about 1-inch thick to make these so the bacon and carrots cook well together.

What ingredients you need to make maple bacon wrapped carrots:

• Large carrots – not the mini carrots! Washed and peeled large carrots work perefectly.
• Bacon – uncooked. I look for nitrate free and no added sugars or anything to the bacon. You could also try a turkey bacon if you prefer
• Maple syrup – I don’t recommend a sub for the syrup as this adds a ton of flavor to the bacon carrots!
• Coconut sugar – you can also use brown sugar too if you don’t have coconut sugar

How to make bacon wrapped carrots:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil and/or parchment paper or use a large baking dish
2. Gently wrap a piece a bacon around a carrot and add to baking sheet
3. Repeat for remaining carrots and bacon then add to oven to cook for 25 minutes
4. While they cook, mix together maple syrup and coconut sugar
5. Remove carrots from oven and gently flip them and coat them with maple syrup mixture with a brush then cook again for 20 minutes or until bacon is crispy
6. Allow the carrots to cool for a few then enjoy!

Tips for success:

• When shopping for carrots, get ones that are about 1-inch thick at least. If they are too thin then the carrots will overcook when the bacon is cooking still!
• Gently wrap the carrots in the slice of bacon. It’s okay if the bacon breaks, just wrap the carrot with the bacon pieces (you just want the carrots to be fully wrapped!)
• Don’t forget to flip over the carrots at the 25 minute mark so the other side can cook too and this helps them get extra crispy.
• I think this dish tastes best served fresh for dinners and holidays. But we do of course eat the leftovers! I heat up in microwave or stovetop to warm up.

A few other veggie side dish recipes to try:

Sweet and Hot Honey Sweet Potato Carrot Bake

Absolutely Delicious Mushroom Noodle Pie

Copycat P.F. Chang’s Spicy Green Beans (vegan)

Spicy Breadcrumb Brussels Sprouts