Creamy Carrot Casserole Recipe (Easy Holiday Side Dish)
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This delicious carrot casserole is our go-to recipe to bring to a holiday party! Whether for Thanksgiving, Easter, or 4th of July, these carrots are a major crowd-pleaser hit. Creamy and delicious, these baked carrots are an easy way to sneak vegetables onto a packed holiday plate.
We brought these carrots to a friend’s house for a holiday potluck, and we didn’t have ANY leftovers to bring home! We should have doubled or tripled the batch. These creamy baked carrots are absolutely delicious, sweet and savory, and are so good you won’t believe you are eating veggies.
This Creamy Carrot Casserole is
- Garlicky
- Warm
- Sweet
- Herby
- Vegetarian (with an easy vegan option)
- Can easily be made gluten free
- Great for make-ahead holiday prep!
Comfort Food Holiday Side Dish Recipes
This creamy carrot casserole with Ritz cracker topping is the tastiest, coziest dinner meal. It’s perfect for a hearty meal for the family, and also great to make for company if you are having guests for dinner.
It makes a great holiday meal as well. The oven does most of the work, so you can enjoy hands-off time while you prep appetizers or a salad!
What’s In These Creamy Carrots in the Oven?
Be sure to visit the recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and recipe instructions!
- Carrots
- Classic Mayonnaise: I like to use classic mayo to keep this recipe plant-based, but you can use whatever mayo that you would normally use in recipes. If you don’t normally like mayo, try my homemade dairy-free version… it’s creamy but still plant based.
- Garlic Cloves
- Garlic Powder: Also a major pantry staple ingredient that gets used in our house daily! I love this garlic powder and add it to a lot of recipes that I would use fresh garlic in too.
- Onion Powder: adds a delicious and savory flavor to this dish as well, and the onion powder pairs nicely with the garlic flavor.
- Herbes de Provence: my favorite spice blend! This French blend has a mix of rosemary, thyme, sage, and savory for a wonderful and complex flavor.
- Butter
- Ritz/Butter Crackers – I like to keep it traditional with classic Ritz butter crackers for the perfect crumbly topping for these carrots!
- Salt and Pepper
- Steamer Basket Insert – I steamed my carrots with one of these handy pot inserts… if you don’t have one, I’d highly recommend! We use ours all the time to steam fresh vegetables all year long, and they’re inexpensive too!
Make Baked Carrots Vegetarian for a Holiday Side Dish
This vegetarian garlic baked carrots recipe is a simple way to get extra veggies on your plate. I’m all about making recipes plant-based when I can. Vegetarian cooking does NOT have to be bland, boring, or flavorless… It’s quite the opposite when done right.
By building meals around vegetarian pantry staples and swapping in a few plant-based ingredients you can make better meals for you and your family.
How Do I Make This Oven Baked Carrots Casserole?
- Set oven to 375 Fahrenheit
- Steam the carrots: Bring about 2 cups of water to a boil, add a steam insert, and steam the carrots for 6-7 minutes or until softened. You can also pressure cook them for 2 minutes, and quick release the pressure.
- Reserve 1 cup of the carrot cooking liquid, and drain the rest.
- Transfer carrots to a large 13×9 baking dish.
- Mix the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, herbs de Provence, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Add the 1/2 cup of reserved carrot cooking liquid to thin. Pour over carrots.
- In that same bowl, combine melted butter and cracker crumbs. Spread evenly over the top of the carrots.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until heated through and bubbling at the edges.
Dietary Modifications
- To Make These Vegan, replace the mayonnaise with a vegan option, use plant-based butter, and use a vegan cracker to top.
- To make these Gluten-Free make sure you use a gluten free cracker for the crumble topping (or skip it all together). Also ensure any mayonnaise or spices used are certified gluten free.
More Easy Vegetarian Holiday Side Dishes You’ll Love!
Pot Luck Greek Salad with Homemade Vinaigrette
Oven-Baked Marinated Veggie Kabobs
Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes
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Creamy Carrot Casserole
Equipment
- Large Pot
- Steamer Basket Insert
- 13×9 Baking Dish
Ingredients
- 3 lbs carrots sliced diagonally into coins
- 2 cups water save 1 cup of carrot cooking liquid
- 1 cup mayonnaise use plant-based if vegan
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 4 cloves garlic minced/pressed
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon Herbes de Provence
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup Crackers use Ritz crackers for a vegetarian, or dairy free for a vegan version
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit.
- Steam the carrots: Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add a steam insert, and steam the carrots for 6-7 minutes or until softened. You can also pressure cook them for 2 minutes, and quick release the pressure.
- Reserve 1 cup of the carrot cooking liquid, and drain the rest.
- Transfer carrots to a large 13×9 baking dish.
- Mix the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, onion powder, herbs de Provence, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup of reserved cooking liquid to thin (if you need the sauce thinner, add 2 tablespoons of water at a time until desired consistency is reached). Pour over carrots.
- In that same bowl, combine melted butter and crushed cracker crumbs. Spread evenly over the top of the carrots.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbling at the edges. Serve and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
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This is a delicious recipe! I used baby carrots cut in thirds, low fat mayo, whole wheat Ritz crackers, and unsalted butter. It is easy to halve the recipe, which I did. I also make my own herbs de Provence mix (without lavender), so I had that ready to go. My pork pie required an hour of baking at 325°, so I baked the half casserole with it for about 45 minutes.
A great way to use that veggie