Sugar Glazed Mint Carrots and Peas The Ultimate Side Dish

This vintage sugar-glazed mint carrot and peas side dish recipe is super delicious! You can pair it with your favorite potato and lamb dish; these glazed carrots make a sweet side dish everyone loves. It’s seasoned with lots of fresh, chopped mint leaves and has a beautiful springtime feeling!

If you love simple sides, be sure to see our basic garden salad recipe!

Carrots were always plentiful growing up. My mother had a huge vegetable garden, and in it, she was sure to have planted a couple of rows of carrots. I recall how pulling carrots right from the ground was both frustrating and rewarding. The carrot tops were often ripping right off the carrot that I could see peaking out of the earth. How I wanted that crisp carrot, and it eluded me. My fingers would poke angrily around the carrot, getting dirt under my nails and making me feel frustrated. Those early garden lessons were great for teaching me patience and perseverance. As well it instilled a great connection to where food comes from. How hard it is for farmers to grow food for the masses.

Peas, on the other hand, were a springtime favorite of mine. They were easy to find and polish off right from the vine. My mother often grew both sugar snap and edible peas, which meant as a small child, I learned that edible pods were a whole lot easier to digest. Also, the taste of fresh peas grown in the best soil can’t be beaten!

It was this nostalgia for the garden and my mother’s vegetables that made me think of this side dish. It’s a classic carrot, peas, and mint. Let’s not dawdle. Our veggies are at hand!

 

 

Are you using canned peas? Wait until the carrots are fork-tender. Once the carrots have reached the fork-tender stage, which is about 15 minutes drain the peas and carrots. Add them back to the saucepan and add the butter and the sugar. Stir the mix now to coat the carrots and peas thoroughly. Let it cook for five more minutes.

 

 

The sugar glaze should become glassy looking on your vegetables. Once that happens, you can add your chopped mint leaves to the carrot and peas and any black pepper to taste.
This springtime side dish makes enough for a family and is sure to be a refreshing change from plain old cooked carrots. Serve them hot at the table and watch them disappear!

I love recipes that use carrots because they are such inexpensive root vegetables packed full of vitamins. Also, they keep well in the fridge or cold dark storage, making them a great buy in bulk!

 

Your Questions Answered:

 

Can I use regular carrots instead of baby carrots?

Yes you can but if you want them to cook relatively fast make sure you slice them thin enough.

 

Can I use fresh peas?

If you’re lucky enough to have whole fresh peas that you can shell you totally can. We live in a short growing season area so peas are a springtime treat for sure.

 

That seems like a lot of butter and sugar can I reduce the amount?

You can scale back on the butter a smidge and the sugar but not much or you won’t have enough glaze for your dish.

 

NOTE: Money-Saving Tip. Butter has increased in price here in Canada. Last year in 2022 I was able to purchase a pound of butter for $2.99 on sale. Now the sale price if we’re lucky is $4.99 and the regular price in 2023 is nearly $8! So if you have the chance to purchase butter on sale and use it regularly for baking/cooking freeze it for later. To thaw simply pull from freezer and leave it on your counter.