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Roasted Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes[/caption]
One of the easiest, most versatile side dishes is roasted vegetables. You’d be amazed at what 20-40 minutes in the good ol’ oven can do to your veggies. We’re talking crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, warm, comforting, and nourishing real foods.
What could be better?! I almost always have a mixture of roasted veggies in our fridge, either prepared to roast or ready to reheat (a bonus for those who love leftovers).
The process of roasting coaxes out the sweetness of the vegetables, which caramelize when cooked.
But the great thing about roasting vegetables is that it’s simple. You wash, chop, mix in a little olive oil, garlic and salt, a few optional spices, and pop it in the oven on a baking sheet. Seriously, this is win-win for many reasons. 
Roasted Cauliflower and Carrots
Single vegetables work fantastically. In fact, you’ll see two variations of just one veggie below. But adding in a little spice or combining a few vegetables together make for interesting side dishes that can be a great addition to your meals. Below are a few of my favorite pairings.
Best Vegetables to Roast
Below I’ve given you four quick and easy roasted vegetable recipes, but here’s a list of vegetables that work well oven roasted.
- Root vegetables like carrots (baby carrots work too!), yams, beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes, etc.
- Cauliflower or broccoli
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cherry tomatoes
- Bell pepper
- Butternut squash, winter squash, summer squash
- Red onion
- Green Vegetables
4 Ways to Roast Vegetables
Ingredients
Vegetables
- carrots (cut into sticks)
- cauliflower (into bite-size pieces)
- asparagus (trimmed)
- cherry tomatoes (whole)
- broccoli (into bite-size pieces)
- Brussels sprouts (halved, trimmed stems & remove wilted leaves)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Carrots & Cauliflower
- Season with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2-1 teaspoon of oregano.
- Roast carrots for 10 minutes. Add cauliflower and roast combined veggies for 30 more minutes.
Asparagus & Cherry Tomatoes
- Season with 4-6 cloves of garlic (peeled and chopped), 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, and salt to taste.
- Roast the asparagus and cherry tomatoes together on a baking sheet for 15-20 minutes.
Broccoli
- Season with 4-6 cloves of garlic (peeled and minced), 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, and salt to taste.
- Roast the broccoli for 25-30 minutes on a baking sheet.
Brussels Sprouts
- Season with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.
- Roast for 30-40 minutes on a baking sheet.
Notes
- The broccoli and Brussels sprouts recipes are very simple, but that’s the beauty of it. Try similar recipes with single ingredient vegetables, and don’t be afraid to change it up.
- Other seasoning ideas: balsamic vinegar, rosemary + thyme, or lemon juice.
- We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
Roasted Vegetable Cheat Sheet
Feel free to save this handy roasted vegetable cheat sheet, and have a reference guide for the next time you’re wanting to toss some roasted vegetables together!
Do you roast your vegetables, and if so, what are your favorite combos?
My favorite roasted vegetables are roasted cauliflower or asparagus brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with creole seasoning and parmesan cheese. I also love roasting new potatoes and sweet onions tossed with butter and garlic. You can also encourage kiddos to eat their veggies by making a healthy dip to go with it like hummus, homemade ranch, or homemade honey mustard. :)
I also really love roasting zucchini, yellow squash, and sweet onions–delicious!! :)
Oh, I love oven roasted veggies!
I put Tarragon on my Brussels Sprouts and I make savory Sweet potato cubes with olive oil, garlic and blackening spice (watch out for the high salt content or make your own with some paprika, chipotle, garlic powder, Italian herbs and a bit of salt). Soooo yummy :)
Love this. I always love to roast butternut squash and cauliflower together. I also love to roast a whole meal. I actually got my toddler to eat roasted brussels sprouts along with potatoes and sausage for a meal. It’s actually one of my favorite meals…here’s how we did it if you’re interested:
http://www.mamacado.com/2012/12/how-i-got-my-toddler-to-eat-brussels.html
Any thoughts on how to roast vegetables sans oil (or lard, butter etc.)?
I’ve personally never done it without; I’m afraid they’d almost burn without some oil/butter or something of the sort. Anyone else?
i roast many types of vegetables without oil or butter and it works just fine. While it can be done w/ most in my experience those with a higher water contents like zucchini or summer squash tend to do a bit better with just a smear of olive oil on the pan. It doesn’t have to be much but just a little helps w/ browning and not sticking.
Great ideas I did roast potatoes but never thought of roasting other vegetable!
Btw if you are not fan of beets try juice I love beets but my husband not so much then I realize he would drink the juice and he kind liked also then I start cooking my way instead of how he was use too and he liked. I cook just enough to be easy to bite but not soft then I let cool and season with olive oil, vinager/lemon and salt and he now like it!
The juice I make with beets, oranges and carrots! It’s was a family drink when I was little. Perfect for getting ready to be in the sun tanning.
Will 100 days of real food be covering the USDA’s decision to allow chicken processed in China to be sold in the US without labeling?
http://nypost.com/2013/09/15/schumer-blasts-usdas-decision-to-allow-us-chicken-processing-in-china/
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/china-chicken-usda/
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/09/sen-brown-wants-to-usdas-poultry-inspectors-assigned-to-china-charges-labeling-gap/#.Uj4vfYaTiSo
Can you start from frozen veggies?
Frozen vegetables cannot really be roasted well, they do better with steaming or sauteing.
I’ve roasted frozen veggies successfully, although it usually takes more time because they have to be roasted at a higher temp and/or for more time to get rid of the excess moisture.
You know, for a long time, I thought I didn’t like vegetables. Then I learned how to roast veggies. Roasted veggies are the most wonderful, delicious thing ever, and sometimes, I fear I might get tired of roasted veggies, because that is by far, my favorite way to cook them. But I really, really like roasted veggies — sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, asparagus, green beans — all of these I’d had and didn’t like before I figured out how to roast them. Mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, carrots — these get even yummier when they’re roasted.
It takes a little longer to cook veggies this way, but it’s so yummy and pretty easy!
My latest favorite is roasted green beans with olive oil and a little pure maple syrup with a sprinkle of sea salt!
We roast just about any vegetable in fall/winter. My FAV is cubed butternut squash with olive oil, S&P and dried thyme. BJs in Central VA has a great selection of dried organic herbs at a great price. Our other favorite thing to do with roasted or grilled mixed veggies is chop the leftovers into tiny pieces & use them for an omelet the following morning! This past week I delayed grocery shopping for 3 days longer than usual & we ate from the freezer. We roasted the frozen organic broccoli from BJs & it really improved the taste over simply steaming it!
Do you know apart from potatoes i never roast vegetables but after reading your article i’m going to give it a go.
Good for you! Let us know how it goes. Enjoy!
I have been roasting vegetable for years. We have a big garden, so it is great. Whatever is in the garden gets roasted. I use olive oil and then grill seasoning. Easy, one step, and the family loves them.
We love to roast asparagus. We marinade it in lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. Would you also consider doing a post on how to jazz up frozen vegetables? I have not been following you for very long so you might have already done this.
I roast green beans & onion together. sooo good:)
I need help!!! Is it okay to cook the slow cooker chicken on low for a longer period of time? I just want to be sure it is safe to do that. Please help!!
For the roasted sweet potato, at what temperature and how long do people roast them?
We love to roast parsnips, carrots, sweet potatoes with brussel srpouts. I really want to try roasted green beans.
For easy clean up try using a SILPAT mat from Bed Bath and Beyond… you can use it instead of parchment paper and you don’t have to throw anything away. You just throw it in some soapy water and it comes clean. I got one for my wedding and I love it!
Thanks for this suggestion. I don’t know if I still have my Silpat liner (I wanted to love it but never did), but I did try it once for roasting vegetables and as I recall I had another cleaning nightmare. HOWEVER I think that was probably because I thought you couldn’t immerse it. But I just looked at the care instructions and although they recommend wiping it dry, they don’t say don’t say NOT to let it soak. I am going to see if I still have mine and try it!
Hi, I love this handy chart and love roasted veggies. Do you also have a chart of roasting times for root veggies (beets/turnips/etc) and/or winter squashes like acorn or butternut? Thank you so much!
I made zucchini, crook-neck squash, eggplant and cherry tomatoes tonight after reading your post, and they were sooooo delicious! Thanks for the great ideas!
I do parsnip, pears and carrots.
I always disliked green beans until I had them roasted. Delicious!
I love roasting veggies. Yesterday I did beets & cabbage together. Some olive oil & Epicure Pot Herb spices. I roast either in a casserole dish, or on my Pampered Chef stoneware.
I love the variety of spices offered by Epicure, so there are lots of options. I also don’t mind mixing my veggies together. Beets, carrots, onions & cabbage go together nicely. Love roasting sweet potatoes (I add maple syrup).
Hmmm .. would have never thought of beets and cabbage. I will have to try that!
One of my favorite meals is roasted veggie tacos. We’ll make a big pan of a variety of veggies: potatoes, green onions, garlic, squash or zucchini, mushrooms, etc. and roast them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and chili powder (I like ancho). We serve them on homemade corn tortillas, topped with a homemade tangy green onion salsa, cilantro, and cheese. Soooo delicious.
I roast broccoli all the time, but it only takes me 15 minutes at 450.
I love roasting veggies, but no matter how I cut the garlic, it burns. Any tips on that one?
Do you make sure to mix it with your oil?
I LOVE roasted vegetables, and I especially love how easy they are to prepare.
I haven’t met a vegetable that I don’t like roasted tbh.
The most common in our house is beets, carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes., but I do a lot of other ones as well, even zucchini in the summer.
And I should add, Roasted onions and garlic – both are awesome! I use small onions and peel and halve them. And when I am roasting garlic I usually do it before peeling and then just pop the cloves out of the peel afterwards.
We love roasted veggies. Son still won’t go for the beets or eggplant-those have to be cooked differently for him to eat. Mixing turnips and beets (I slice both) makes a beautiful and delicious dish. I add a little olive oil, garlic and salt generally. I don’t think I add anything to the beets/turnips, but I wrap those in little foil packs. I haven’t had luck with ceramic or glass dishes. Broke one of each. Of course kale chips are about the easiest thing to roast.
My kids love roasted veggies! Even my “I only want my vegetables raw” kid! :)I don’t roast mine quite as long, only about 20 min, so they are still on the crisp side. I would love a recipe for roasted beets!
Judy, we roast beets with just olive oil and salt and the kids love them! They like to pretend the beets are lipstick, so it gets a bit messy. Just cut off the tops, roast, then rub the skin off after they are cooked. We had baby beets this week and ate them skin on. Yum! My sister recommends covering the dish, but I’ve done it both ways with success.
My kids favorite is cauliflower with turmeric: I put tons of it and a little garlic powder and salt then roast till it browns.
Another trick I’ve recently discovered is balsamic vinegar- drizzle some on a mix of veggies and its really good. And added some to some fennel this weekend, it came out melt in your mouth soft and delicious.(without the anis flavor I hate)
I have never liked the licorce flavor of fennel either. Nice to know that roasting gets rid of that. I’ll give it another try!
I, too, like roasted veggies. My tip is to add the seasonings to the oil/fat a while before cooking. Then when you toss the veggies with the oil, the seasoning is more evenly distributed. I keep an old pickle jar filled with olive oil & oregano in my fridge, and use it on salads, veggies, etc.
Butternut squash cut into bite size pieces with a sprinkle of oil and nutmeg
I love this! Especially with kids, it’s so important to prepare veggies in a variety of ways. Someone may not like asparagus, but when you add sweet tomatoes and some seasonings, it might be a different story. Thanks,Kiran, for the suggestions.
I am so glad you like it! I swear my kids like veggies roasted that they really don’t like to touch cooked other ways.
I love roasting vegetables. I never mix the vegetables when I’m doing this though. That way I don’t have to worry about different cooking times. I just take each type out when it’s ready.
I often find that a temperature over 375 burns my vegetables. I wonder if the olive oil I use is part of this issue (thanks for the info everyone!). But I do find that my vegetables need more tending than Kiran describes–frequent stirring, plus more time. I’m going to try higher temps again thanks to this post (& comments).
The only downside for me is the cleanup. I do not like to use parchment or foil because I hate the waste. But I have found cleaning up metal pans almost impossible otherwise. I haven’t done much indoor roasting since the spring, but I had switched to glass pans, which are much easier to deal with as far as cleaning. Now that it’s time for indoor roasting again, I’ll have to see if this still works for me.
I use my Pampered Chef Stoneware bar pans for roasting and the cleanup is easy. I also try to avoid using disposables.
I also use Stoneware for almost all my baking, and don’t deal with sticking. I actually bought a pizza stone from Pampered Chef about 10 years ago… back when all they had was the pizza stone & stoneware wasn’t very popular. That pizza stone has been used for pizza 1 time ever…. I use it for baking cookies, roasting veggies, baking chicken… pretty much anything, and once its good and seasoned, nothing sticks to that sucker.
@NancyV-The best way that I have found to clean a metal pan, post roasting, is to soak with hot water and baking soda for about 10 minutes or so(while washing the rest of your dishes). The baking soda will loosen most of the stuck on food particles, so you will not have to do as much scrubbing. Hope that helps! :)
I toss carrots with a little olive oil and honey and sprinkle with a little sea salt to roast them. Yum! And I don’t do this for my kid – he’ll eat carrots raw (yuck). I’m the one who needs them “candied” lol!
so one of my FAVORITE things to roast is broccoli and red onion. Toss with salt and pepper, olive oil and PARMESAN CHEESE! Keep the red onion in bid (broccoli sized) chunks and it is FABULOUS! and pretty – bright green and purple and a sprinkle of the white parmesan! YUM! Another favorite is turnips! They are SOOOO SWEET when roasted and when you do them with carrots kids think they are funny cousins of the carrot. but I bet they would be good with beets. yummmm, beeeets. makes me want to go home and roast some right now!
I love roasted sweet potatoes! Add some honey, cinnamon, or nutmeg for sweet flavors or some cumin and red pepper for some spice. I’ve also combined the sweet and spicy and it makes for a great dish, too. I usually turn them over halfway through cooking time to brown them on all sides. Delish.
Love, love, love sweet potatoes roasted (and I generally don’t like sweet potatoes at all!) Love your flavoring ideas.
Agreed, Kara! I also do the sweet & spicy thing with them. I toss mine beforehand in a bowl with coconut oil, then sprinkle with cinnamon and allspice, and a little sea salt and either cayenne for a kick, or garlic powder for a little savory. I go light on all of that, though. Being subtle with your flavors is key. But MAN, do sweet potatoes do well with whatever direction you want to go in.
Orange peppers and zucchini with olive oil, salt, and pepper. To change it up a bit, I sprinkle with Montreal Steak seasoning, instead.
I always finish our roasted broccoli off with a bit of lemon juice and zest and some parmesan cheese. Yummy!
Sounds fantastic!!
I’m stuck doing mine with a Mediterranean flare. SO good.
Bring those cherry tomatoes over from the asparagus and roast them up with the broccoli. When done, toss them with minced garlic, black olive slices and a little lemon juice. It’s so perfect. :)
I love roasted vegetables usually do a huge sheet with cauIiflower, asparagus, broccoli, red, yellow and orange peppers, carrots and green beans and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar, onion and garlic powder, Italian seasoning as well as kosher salt to mine and I have never had a smoke problem using olive oil
Our favorite vegetable to roast is fresh green beans. We like to roast them until they just start to brown. Delicious!
I am doing broccoli and cauliflower tonight… may add some carrots as well! LOVE roasted veggies. Never thought I liked cooked veggies until I had some roasted (my mom boiled everything).
Any leftover roasted veggies make amazing omelets, but I just love to have leftover broccoli or green beans for a snack! YUM!
Stefany – I used to steam all the time. I was SO happy to be turned on to roasting instead. We have turned limp veggies into full-of-life, crispy goodness. I also love snacking on leftovers!
Us too! I always used to steam broccoli especially and while that is ok, roasting really is so much flavorful. My kiddos (2 and almost 4) just pop those roasted veggies in their mouths like candy. Sooo yum. Roasting beets is next on my list, my husband and kiddos like raw beets (in salads) but I dont prefer them that much. I want to make a roasts beet dip I saw online, bright – how fun!
I have recently learned about smoke points of oils. Olive oil has a low smoke point and is apparently not good for this high of a temperature. Have you heard this? What would be good to use instead?
Thanks!
You are right, Tara. I only use olive oil in salads. Good high-temp oils are camelina, almond,coconut, and I think safflower is good too (would have to double check). Camelina is my stand-by for savoury dishes!
If you look at wikipedia for smoke point there is a nice list of smoke point for different oils. You could easily select one that meets your cooking needs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_point
Alice – great chart. Yes – if you are concerned about using olive oil, you can absolutely find another oil that suits your needs/wants.
I also try to avoid cooking with olive oil. I like to use melted ghee or bacon fat :-).
I recently learned and have used grape seed oil. It can take the high temperatures and it’s not a heavy oil .