Herb Butter Is Your Secret Weapon For Irresistible Roasted Carrots

Salty, creamy, fatty, smooth, and spreadable, butter is a glorious ingredient all on its own. While it's hard to improve upon existing perfection, there are a few ways to elevate your home cooking to restaurant-level dishes, and compound butter does that with ease. With just a few simple and easy-to-find ingredients, herb butter will be your new secret weapon for dinner time, taking roasted carrots from average to irresistible. 

The combination of fresh herbs and lightly salted, luscious butter is a quick and easy way to imbue nutritious, roasted carrots with upgraded flavor and a silky mouthfeel to what can often be a fairly mundane dish. Bright herbs are a welcome contradiction to the natural earthiness of carrots and compound butters can be found at most grocery stores. 

If you prefer to make your own herb butter, there are a few tips you need when making compound butter. That said, the possibilities for add-ins and flavor combinations are endless.

Although there are mistakes you should avoid when making compound butter, the basic instructions are marvelously simple. Mix fresh herbs or other flavorings into high-quality, room-temperature butter, then roll into a log in plastic wrap or parchment paper, and chill in the refrigerator. If you're pressed for time, all the ingredients can be thrown into a food processor. Or, compound butter can be made by stirring together finely chopped ingredients and butter in a bowl. Herb butters are low-effort, high-reward as they will last in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Soft, fresh thyme is a wonderful herb to add to a compound butter to pair with roasted carrots for a more savory depth of flavor, whereas dill and tarragon bring a bright freshness to carrots. A mix of toasted cumin, lime zest, and cilantro makes for a zingy contrast to the natural sweetness found in carrots, especially when skillet roasting carrots, as it's the simplest way to bring out their true sweetness. For a spicy twist, mix harissa and fresh mint into butter and slather it on top of the carrots while they're still hot so the butter melts without cooking the fresh herb. Try swapping out a sauce for an herb butter the next time you roast carrots, like in this roasted carrots over lentil hummus and lemon yogurt recipe.