Cooking 101: Roasting Veggies
Roasting veggies is one of the easiest ways to cook vegetables. And make them taste like a million bucks!
I love a good fancy veggie dish, but honestly who has the time and wants to put that much effort into cooking veggies on a Wednesday night after a long day?
🙅 It’s a pass for me.
Today, I’m sharing the basics of roasting vegetables in the oven, some of my favorite vegetable mixes and the absolute best spices to keep it simple, easy and flavorful.
I'm convinced that anyone can LOVE vegetables if they are seasoned well and roasted to perfection. Give it chance?
Let’s do this.
Tools
Cookie Sheet
Parchment Paper or Aluminum Foil
Knife
Cutting Board
Large Mixing Bowl
Basic Ingredients
Vegetables
Olive Oil
Spices
Prep
The first thing you’ll need to do is wash and chop your vegetables. I like to do this at the beginning of the week to get ahead for fast dinner prep during the week.
Preheat your oven! I like to roast at 425F. I always forget to do this, so I thought it was worth the mention.
Place your veggies in the mixing bowl and drizzle on olive oil. The amount you’re gonna need will depend on the vegetables that you are roasting. Make sure there is enough to coat the vegetables, but not so much that there is oil sitting in the bottom of the bowl. Too much is no bueno! Always air on the side of too little oil. Mine looked like this:
Season the veggies with your spices of choice. Don’t be afraid to really on the spices. Veggies can take quite a bit of salt and other spices.
Most people under season on the first try. And if you don’t get enough on them this time, you can always add more to the next batch!
Tip: Drizzle the under-seasoned batch with a little lemon vinaigrette, parmesan or ranch. Roasting is not a perfect system, just trial and error! You'll get the hang of it after a few batches, promise. 😉
Once you’ve seasoned your veggies to your heart’s content, pour them onto a foil or parchment lined cookie sheet.
Now place them in the oven for cooking!
Roasting takes anywhere from 15-55 minutes depending on the vegetable and how small you cut it. I cooked this broccoli and snap pea mix for 15 minutes.
Tips & Things to Consider when Roasting Veggies
Tip 1: Different vegetables take different times to cook. So, if you want a mix of veggies try to group vegetable that have similar roasting times. But, I’m a firm believer that you can roast any veggies together. So if you know which veggies take longer to cook, you can just cut them smaller than the ones with shorter roasting times!
Tip 2: Give your vegetables room to breathe. They should be in one layer on the cookie sheet. Any stacking will make the veggies steam instead of roast. Not the goal!
Tip 3: Roast your veggies until they start to brown and get those beautiful crispy edges.
Tip 3: If you are using pepper to season your veggies, use freshly ground from a pepper grinder if at all possible. It makes all the difference!
Tip 4: You can use just about any seasoning on your veggies. My go to choices are salt, pepper and garlic powder. After a few batches, you’ll kind of figure out what seasonings you like and how much of each to put on them. Don’t give up if you don’t love your first batch.
Tip 6: When in doubt, more salt. And if one batch comes out a little bland, I LOVE to drizzle a little lemon vinaigrette over the top!
Tip 7: Cut and create veggie mixes one night a week so that you always have bags of veggies ready to roast up. It gives you fewer excuses to eat your veggies!
Vegetable & Spice Mix Ideas
Broccoli seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder. 15 minutes in the oven.
Sweet potatoes, Beets and Carrots with salt, pepper, about 1 tablespoon of honey. (It brings out the sweetness of the veggies and makes them caramelize beautifully!) 30-45 minutes in the oven.
Zucchini, summer squash and asparagus with salt, pepper and a sprinkle of parmesan. 10-20 minutes in the oven.
Butternut squash with seasoning salt and a small shake of cinnamon. 20-55 minutes depending on how small you cut it.
FAQs
Can I roast at other temperatures?
Yup! I’m also a fan of roasting at 450F. Just do a google search for the time to roast. For example, “how long roast butternut squash at 450F.” And when in doubt, check the veggies after 10 minutes and determine if they need a bit longer. Once you’ve done this a few times, you’ll be a pro! And trust me, after you conquer this you’ll be roasting veggies like it’s your job!