Pan Roasted Carrot Recipe – Oma's Pfanne geröstete Karotten

by: Gerhild Fulson  / Oma Gerhild shares easy, authentic German recipes you can trust, rooted in family tradition and featured in her cookbooks.

Published: January 19, 2011, Updated: May 23, 2025

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Pan-roasted carrots ... Oma's best carrot recipe and so quick to make.

Oma's best carrot recipe is one of the quick easy vegetarian recipes that are part of a traditional German meal, vegetarian or not. The carrot goes by various names in Germany: Mohrrübe, Möhre, Karotte, and Wurzel. 

Pan roasting is one of the ways I love making them. Why? Because it's one of the ways my Mutti used to make them and the way I loved them most. I'll often use baby carrots for this, because that makes this dish so quick.

What About Using baby carrots

There are many views on using baby carrots. Most think that ALL are made using chemicals in the peeling process. However, that's not the case. Just make sure you're using organic (if that's important to you) baby carrots and you'll be fine. 

For further reading about this, check out article from Craving Health, Baby Carrots – 3 Myths You Need to Know.

Personally, I don't often use baby carrots. For me, regular carrots are more economical and easy to use. But, sometimes, especially when I want something to look extra special, I'll use them instead, like I did above. I always try to have them in the freezer for those just-in-case-I-need-it moments. :)

The new way Germans Cook Veggies

 The newer, more modern German kitchen recognizes that a vegetable that still has a bit of crunch and has been cooked in the least amount of water possible, is much more nutritious and tasty than the traditional way of cooking them.

The traditional way for most vegetables was that they were cooked and cooked until almost mush! I think many of us Germans grew up with mushy cooked veggies, whether carrots, cabbage, or more. However, that has now changed, for the most part.

Sometimes, though, when a 'comfort food' is wanted, cooking the way we were brought up, with the mushies ... well, that's ok too.

There are carrot recipes for soups, stews, and casseroles. This easy and quick carrot dish adds wonderful flavor and color to the plate.

The recipe posted below uses a method that can be used with so many vegetables - the only alteration would be the cooking time and that some may need a bit of extra water added.

If you love carrots, then be sure to try my carrot soup as well. It's an easy-to-make recipe that can easily be altered into a variety of vegetable soups.

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Sometimes I let them get a bit of color on them like these below. I love the "roasted" flavor this gives. In fact, this makes them very similar to oven roasted carrots, a definite favorite of mine. However, doing them on the stove-top means they are ready a lot quicker. There's no preheating of the oven required. 

Here's an awesome carrot recipe ... just like my Mutti used to make. So good.

Oma says:

Full of vitamins, it's important not to cook carrots too long or in lots of water.

They're best steamed in their own juices. Therefore, keep the water content of this recipe at a minimum :-)

Ready to make these pan roasted carrots?

Print Recipe

Pan Roasted Carrot Recipe – Oma's Pfanne geröstete Karotten

Make this pan roasted carrot recipe when you're wanting quick and easy carrots just like this German Oma makes them. Similar to oven roasted, just quicker. YUM! 

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings:

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds carrots 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ cup water
• salt, sugar, pepper
• 2 teaspoons butter
• fresh parsley

Instructions:

1. Peel or scrap carrots. Rinse. Cut into slices. If using bagged mini- or baby carrots, just leave them whole. 
2. In frying pan, heat olive oil.
3. Add carrots and lightly sauté, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes.
4. Add water, season with salt and sugar.
5. Cover and simmer until just tender, about 10 minutes. Either drain or let the liquid evaporate.
6. Add butter.
7. Serve with freshly ground pepper and parsley over top.

Notes/Hints:

• Add 4 tablespoons raisins and 4 tablespoons sour cream if desired. This variation is often served with fried liver.
• For a delicious change, use orange juice instead of water.
• Instead of parsley, use dill.
• If you're concerned about using baby carrots, check out this article, Baby Carrots – 3 Myths You Need to Know.

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Unless otherwise noted recipe, images and content © Just like Oma | www.quick-german-recipes.com

07.25.2021 revision update

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Hi, I'm Oma Gerhild! As a food writer and cookbook author, I'm always looking to find ways to pass on my German heritage using local ingredients. Quick and easy. That's my goal. Wunderbar food. That's the result.