Oven Roasted Vegetables

Nearly any vegetable can be roasted, and once roasted, can go with nearly any dish. Oven Roasted Vegetables are the perfect side that can be made year round. We’re dishing out all of our best tips for how to roast vegetables in the oven for for dinners or meal prep.

Oven Roasted Vegetables for Any Season

When done right, oven roasted vegetables can compliment just about any dish you can think of and are truly delicious. At it’s heart, roasting vegetables is basically just placing them with some oil on a sheet pan and sticking them in the oven! But with a few basics rules and tricks, we’re showing you how you can roast just about ANY vegetable to serve with just about any side.

What vegetables are good for roasting?

Nearly any! But for the purpose of this post we are breaking down the vegetable in two main groups of softer summer vegetables and harder winter vegetables.

“Soft” vegetables are crops that are largely harvested in the spring and the summer and are quicker cooking vegetables like:

• zucchini
• spring onions
• tomatoes
• asparagus
• green beans
• peppers
• kale

“Hard” vegetables are crops that are largely harvested in the fall and winter and they are heartier vegetables that take longer to cook like:

• potatoes
• cauliflower
• brussels sprouts
• winter squash such as butternut or spaghetti
• carrots
• root vegetables
• onions
• cabbage

We recommend roasting the softer vegetables for 20-25 minutes roughly, and the harder vegetables for 40-50 minutes. The exact timing depends on how small you cut the vegetables, especially the heartier winter ones.

Rules for Roasting Vegetables

In short, roasting vegetables can be as simple as putting some oil on a pan and roasting! But we’re sharing a few tips we’ve learned about how to make the best roasted vegetables.

1. Cut the vegetables to similar sizes. Making sure the vegetables are the same size means they will cook evenly. This is especially true for root vegetables and potatoes.
2. Use an oil with a high smoke point. We like avocado oil because it works well in high heat and is a healthy fat.
3. Make sure to use enough oil! Using a decent amount of oil is key if you want to get a good browning on the vegetables. Part of what makes vegetables taste so good when they are roasted is that they can get caramelized in parts and it gives the veggies a really good flavor. Oil helps the vegetables actually roast and makes sure they cook evenly. Use roughly 1-2 tablespoons of oil per sheet pan of vegetables. Toss them with your hands to make sure they are evenly coated. You can do this either in a bowl or directly on the sheet pan.
4. Give the veggies some space. Another key to roasting is to make sure that whatever you are roasting isn’t crowded, that way air can circulate properly. If the pan is crowded the vegetables steam instead of roasting. Make sure the veggies have some space in between and have contact with the bottom of the sheet pan. Use a second baking sheet if you need to to give the vegetables room.
5. Flip halfway through and moving the veggies around the pan. Flipping the vegetables halfway through the cooking time allows for even cooking on both sides, of course.
6. Make sure your oven is hot. It’s ideal to preheat the oven well, and roast at a high temperature. We recommend roasting vegetables at 400 degrees, but it can even be increased up to 425 degrees if you wanted more caramelization or a bit faster cooking time.

How to Know What Veggies to Pair Together

You can roast vegetables alone, or you can pair them with others. When you pair them together, make sure to choose vegetables that will not only taste good together, but that will also cook in the same amount of time.

Using our guide of dividing up the vegetables into two categories of “soft veggies” and “hard veggies” is a good place to start in terms of cooking times. Soft summer veggies like zucchini, peppers and green beans will all cook at the same time and taste good together. Hard winter vegetables like potato, carrots and onions also will cook at the same time and taste great.

You can also stagger the vegetables if you wanted to cook two vegetables together that take different roasting times. For instance, you could cook potatoes, onions and peppers together, but you might want to add the peppers half way through roasting time since they cook quicker than potatoes and onions.

Adding Flavor to Roasted Vegetables

At the minimum, oven roasted vegetables need oil and salt. And often that is all roasted vegetables need to taste delicious. But a sheet pan of roasted vegetables are a great canvas to add so many flavors to. You can add:

• Dried herbs and spices
• Fresh herbs either while they roast (like thyme, rosemary or sage) or add it in at the end (like cilantro or parsley)
• Grated cheese (parmesan would be great here)
• Citrus zest or juice

Make Ahead

Oven roasted veggies are perfect to make ahead in a large batch at the beginning of the week (just don’t forget to spread them out to give them space while roasting). They can be reheated in a toaster oven or the oven while you are cooking your main dish. They’re also great used in salads, in soups or within other dishes cooked throughout the week.

Looking for something to pair with perfectly roasted vegetables?

• Pork Carnitas (Instant Pot and Slow Cooker)
• Gluten Free Turkey Meatballs with Spinach
• Classic Gluten Free Meatloaf
• Cajun Pork Tenderloin (Keto)
• How to Cook a Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot

If you like this sheet pan recipe, check out these others:

• Sheet Pan Kielbasa Sausage and Sauerkraut Dinner
• Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas
• Sheet Pan Ranch Chicken and Vegetables
• Sheet Pan Cod with Vegetables in Lemon Herb Sauce

SHEET PAN ROASTED VEGETABLES

Nearly any vegetable can be roasted, and once roasted, can go with nearly any dish. Oven Roasted Vegetables are the perfect side that can be made year round. We're giving all our tips for how to roast vegetables in the oven for an easy accompaniment for dinners or meal prep.

Servings 4 -6 cups

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4-6 cups vegetables
• 1-2 tablespoons avocado oil or other high heat oil
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400ºF and place the rack in the lower part of the oven.
• Cut (and peel if needed) vegetables into bite sized pieces that are similar in size. If pairing vegetables together, make sure to choose ones that cook in the same amount of time. See the body of the post for pairing vegetables.
• Arrange vegetables on a baking sheet and add oil, salt and pepper. Mix together with your hands then evenly spread out the vegetables, making sure to leave room in between.
• Roast soft vegetables such as peppers and green beans for 20-25 minutes, flipping half way through and hard vegetables such as potatoes and root vegetables for 40-50 minutes, flipping half way through.

Notes

1. The body of this post has a lot of information about roasting vegetables, including tips and suggestions on pairing vegetables together.

Nutrition

Calories: 87kcalCarbohydrates: 5.6gProtein: 2.3gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 37mgFiber: 2.2gSugar: 1.5g

Course: Side Dish

Author: Lexi

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