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Home Veg and Salad Sides

Roasted Vegetables

By:Nagi
Published:19 Jul '21Updated:9 Aug '21
108 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

Knowing how to make Roasted Vegetables well is a life essential! For the best results? Don’t mix root vegetables with high moisture vegetables like eggplant and zucchini. For the garlic, use smashed whole cloves instead of minced so it won’t burn. Finally, roast in a moderate rather than hot oven so the vegetables have time to sweeten and caramelise evenly!

Close up of tray of Roasted Vegetables fresh out of the oven

Roasted Vegetables

I regard oven-roasted vegetables as a basic cooking skill everybody needs to master. It’s up there with cooking rice, making a soup, and whipping up a simple roast. It’s also a brilliant way to use up lots of vegetable odds and ends you might have lurking in the vegetable crisper at once.

Roasted vegetables is one of those recipes that readers have been asking for years but I kept shelving because I thought it just wasn’t exciting enough or so simple I didn’t have enough information to warrant writing about it. “Cut ’em, toss ’em in oil, salt and pepper, then throw ’em in the oven!” I’d tell friends who asked, with feigned sageness, because … how hard is that to do?

This would inevitably be followed up with a rapid series of questions: “But what temperature? Can I add flavours?? How big do I cut the vegetables??”

Upon which I would just pick up the phone and dictate to them the recipe I’ve written down below.

So, as it turns out, I do have information to impart about how to roast vegetables!

Bowl of Roasted Vegetables

Vegetables I use

Here is a typical combination of vegetables I use when making a tray of roasted vegetables. I like this root vegetable medley one because there’s a nice mix of colour, texture and flavours. It’s also seasonal and economical, being winter here in Australia. Plus, other than the onion, the vegetables take the same length of time to roast in the oven which simplifies things.

See recipe notes for using other vegetables, including roasting time and how to cut.

  • Vegetables – (See below for how I cut each vegetable.) As mentioned at the beginning, this recipe will work for any roast-able vegetable. However, I recommend roasting starchy and hardier root vegetables separately from high moisture vegetables, such as eggplant.

    It’s just easier because a) the roasting methods are quite different (high moisture vegetables do better with higher heat to rapidly caramelise and seal in the moisture); and b) nobody wants the watery insides of vegetables like eggplant bursting out and mixing with their potatoes!

  • Garlic – These are used whole, but SMASHED! This is when garlic is flattened with the skin on using the side of a knife so they burst open but largely stay in one piece. It imparts a lovely garlic flavour throughout the vegetables AND you get the treat of eating roasted garlic – so good!

    As mentioned above, if you use minced garlic instead, you end up with lots of little bitter burnt bits of garlic throughout the vegetables. Not very nice!!

    See below, or the recipe video, for a visual for how to smash garlic cloves.

  • Herbs – I’ve used fresh sage and thyme here which are two herbs that do well to impart subtle flavour when roasted. Other woody herbs like rosemary would also work well here.

    More delicate herbs like oregano, chives, marjoram, basil etc, can’t withstand long oven cooking and will wilt and lose their flavour. Instead, sprinkle fresh over the vegetables once roasted.

    Dried herbs option – Dried herbs will work just fine too, but they won’t add flavour in the same way fresh herbs do. To use dried herbs, just add when tossing with salt and pepper.

  • Parsley – This is just used as a garnish so it’s optional. Chives or chervil would also work nicely here.


How I cut vegetables to roast

Here are some diagrams illustrating how I cut vegetables for roasting. It doesn’t really matter what shape you cut them in as long as they are:

  1. Same size – they are all roughly the same size so they roast in the same time; and

  2. Large(ish) – they are not cut too small because bear in mind they shrink about 25% (nobody wants pea-size roasted veg!). We also want the vegetables to hold up in the oven for long enough so they caramelise nicely on the outside (small pieces = cooks faster on inside = not enough time for colour).

How I cut parsnip for roasting

For parsnip, I cut the thinner end differently from the thick end. Since it’s hard to make them exactly the same size, second best is to aim for batons / chunks that are roughly the same in weight so they cook in the same time.

  • How to cut parsnip for roasting
  • How to cut parsnip for roasting

How I cut carrots for roasting

I like to cut the carrots on alternating diagonals for a bit of visual interest and also because more surface area = more caramelisation = more flavour!

  • How to cut carrots for roasting
  • How to cut carrots for roasting

How I cut red onion for roasted vegetables

Cut the red onion into 2 – 2.5cm / 1″ squares. To do this, I cut the onion in half, then each half into 3 – 4 wedges (depending on size). Then I cut the wedges into 3 or 4 pieces.

How I make roasted vegetables

To make roasted vegetables, I separate the onion and from rest of the vegetables because onions take less time in the oven.

How to make roasted vegetables
  1. Toss red onion with olive oil, salt and pepper in a separate bowl to the other vegetables, then set aside. We will add these onto the tray 30 minutes into the roasting time;

  2. Remaining vegetables – Place the remaining vegetables in a separate bowl with the smashed garlic, thyme sprigs and hand torn sage (just tear the leaves off with hands, break sprigs in half). Toss it all with the oil, salt and pepper.

    You will be surprised how much herb and garlic flavour is imparted to the roast vegetables using whole herbs/garlic instead of minced which you might be used to. As noted above, this works better because minced garlic/herbs just burns. Nobody wants bitter little bits of garlic littered throughout their sweet roasted vegetables … but everyone wants THIS ↓↓↓(“this” being sweet caramelised roasted garlic!).

Close up photo of roasted garlic
Roasted garlic in the skin. Squeeze and pop into your mouth – you’ll love the sweet, caramelised garlic flavour!
  1. Oven 30 minutes – Spread the vegetables on a large roasting tray and roast for 30 minutes at 200°C/390°F (180°C fan). If you want to reduce clean up, line the tray with paper. But it’s not essential because we are using sufficient oil so the vegetables will not stick.

  2. Add red onion – After 30 minutes, add red onion then give everything a quick toss.

  3. Roast 60 minutes – Roast for a further 60 minutes, tossing halfway.

    1 1/2 hours total roasting time might sound like a long time for roasted vegetables. But the longer roasting time at a slightly lower temperature than the hot ovens some recipes call for means the vegetables have time to sweeten which makes them all the more delicious!

  4. Sprinkle with parsley if desired, then serve immediately!

Tray of Roasted Vegetables fresh out of the oven
Fork picking up roasted carrots and potatoes

I don’t think you need me to tell you what to serve roasted vegetables with. (Answer is – everything and anything!)

And while they are excellent as a side, don’t underestimate the deliciousness of a big bowl of roasted vegetables as a meal in itself (and a guilt-free one, no less.) It is literally what I just had for lunch not 1 hour ago! – Nagi x


Watch how to make it

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Close up of tray of Roasted Vegetables fresh out of the oven

Roasted Vegetables

Author: Nagi
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 1 hr 30 mins
Total: 1 hr 40 mins
Sides
5 from 21 votes
Servings5 – 6 people
Tap or hover to scale
Print
Recipe video above. Knowing how to make Roasted Vegetables well is a life essential! For best results? Don't mix root vegetables with high moisture vegetables like eggplant and zucchini. Use smashed whole garlic cloves instead of minced which just burns. Same for herbs.
And roast in a moderate rather than hot oven so they have time to sweeten and caramelise evenly!
I like this mix of vegetables for colour, flavour and texture. Plus (other than the onion) they roast in the same time which keeps things simple.
See recipe notes for variations, including other vegetables, herbs etc. Use this recipe for any roast-able vegetables, but separate starchy/dense from watery vegetables.

Ingredients

  • 400g / 14oz small potatoes , skin on (10 or so)
  • 2 carrots , medium/large, peeled
  • 1 large parsnip (250g/8oz), peeled
  • 1 red onion , large, peeled (200g / 7oz)
  • 5 garlic cloves , smashed (Note 1)
  • 5 thyme sprigs
  • 3 sage sprigs
  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp cooking/kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper

Garnish:

  • 2 tbsp parsley , finely chopped

Instructions

Cutting vegetables:

  • Potatoes – Cut in half. (For large, cut into 3 or 4)
  • Carrots – Cut into 3cm / 1.2" triangles on the diagonal (see diagram in post).
  • Parsnip – Cut into 4cm / 1.5" lengths. Then cut into batons / chunks so they are roughly equal size (see diagram in post).
  • Red onion – Cut in half, then cut each half into 4 wedges. Then in cut into 3 or 4 so you get 2cm/ 0.8" squares.
  • Smashed garlic – Place side of knife on unpeeled garlic clove. Hit firmly with palm of hand so the garlic bursts open a bit but mostly stays in tact.

Roasting:

  • Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan).
  • Onion – Toss onion in one bowl with 1 tablespoon oil, and a pinch of the salt and pepper. Set aside – we add these later.
  • Other vegetables – Put all other vegetables, thyme and garlic in a separate bowl. Tear sage leaves and stems with hands, add into bowl. Toss with remaining oil, salt and pepper. Spread on a large baking tray.
  • Roasting – Roast 30 minutes. Add onion, toss vegetables. Roast for a further 1 hour, tossing halfway, until cooked through with golden edges.
  • Garnish & serve – Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately!

Recipe Notes:

1. Smashed Garlic – This method of smashing opening garlic releases garlic flavour into the vegetables as they roast but keeps the garlic whole so a) it won’t burn like minced garlic does; and b) you get to squeeze out the slow roasted garlic and eat it – it’s so good!!
2. Herbs – I’ve used Sage and thyme here which are two herbs that do well to impart subtle flavour when roasted. Being a hardier herb, rosemary would also work well here.

More delicate herbs like oregano, chives, marjoram, basil etc, can’t withstand oven cooking. Instead, sprinkle over the vegetables once roasted.

Dried herbs option – Dried herbs will work just fine too, but they won’t add flavour in the same way fresh herbs do. To use dried herbs, just add when tossing with salt and pepper.
3. Other vegetables – Of course, other vegetables work! But I do recommend roasting starchy / root / hard veg (potatoes, carrot, parsnip) separately from high moisture / soft vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, capsicum / bell peppers) because they call for different roasting times. Also, nobody wants juice accidentally bursting out from eggplant making their potatoes wet!
Add hard veg at the beginning, softer veg later. Here are some guides.
Other hard veg (same roasting time per recipe, cut into similar sizes)
  • Sweet potato
  • Turnip
  • Swedes
Soft Veg – Roasting time required at temp in recipe (don’t crowd the pan else they just sweat instead of browning)
  • Capsicum / bell peppers – 2.5cm / 1″ squares, 20 minutes
  • Mushrooms (large) – halved, 40 minutes
  • Pumpkin, squash – 4cm / 1.5″ cubes, 30 minutes
  • Zucchini – 4cm / 1.5″ chunks, 25 minutes
  • Eggplant – See this recipe for best method
  • Jerusalem artichokes – halved, 40 minutes
  • Fennel – 2cm / 1″ slices, 45 minutes

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 209cal (10%)Carbohydrates: 25g (8%)Protein: 3g (6%)Fat: 11g (17%)Saturated Fat: 2g (13%)Sodium: 492mg (21%)Potassium: 592mg (17%)Fiber: 5g (21%)Sugar: 4g (4%)Vitamin A: 4261IU (85%)Vitamin C: 29mg (35%)Calcium: 47mg (5%)Iron: 1mg (6%)
Keywords: Roasted vegetables
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

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108 Comments

  1. Ewa says

    August 24, 2021 at 11:15 pm

    5 stars
    How can this serve 5-6 people?! I just ate the entire bowl for lunch 😇🤣 so good!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      August 25, 2021 at 9:25 am

      I know this feeling all too well!! N x

      Reply
  2. Jeannine says

    August 23, 2021 at 8:53 am

    I have been doing this all summer, better each time. I recommend throwing in a handful of garden radishes. Also delicious!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      August 23, 2021 at 5:57 pm

      YUM! Great idea Jeannine! N x

      Reply
  3. Joy and Zayla says

    August 16, 2021 at 11:28 am

    5 stars
    Nagi, I consider myself a keen home cook and an outstanding eater lol. I have cooked numerous meals over my life and roast veggies are always a regular. Interestingly…. what you consider your ‘basic recipes’ are often my most profound ‘ah ha’ moment. Roast pumpkin and roast potatoes should never be in the same pan!! woohoo – of course that makes sense now – thanks to your logical explanation!! Can’t wait to have this medley of veggies tonight with your incredible slow cooker roast lemon chicken tonight. We will enthusiastically charge our glass of wine to you tonight!!

    Reply
  4. Sherry T says

    August 3, 2021 at 2:30 pm

    5 stars
    I added Brussels sprouts and finished with an aged Balsamic drizzle. Topped with bacon bits. OMG. Thanks for the lesson!

    Reply
  5. Red says

    July 28, 2021 at 10:24 am

    5 stars
    Tried this yesterday, absolutely yummy. Found that the smell of roasting garlic (I put extra in as I’d done far too many veg) was so beautiful it’s made me decide to put it in with anything that I’m roasting 🙂

    Reply
  6. Magda says

    July 27, 2021 at 9:51 pm

    Great dish although I had to lower my oven to 170 and then to 160 after an hour or so and had to stop cooking about 15 minutes before the suggested time as things were getting too brown. I must have a powerful oven. Delicious result.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 28, 2021 at 7:12 pm

      Sorry you had issues Madga, sounds like your oven runs slightly hot – have you got an oven thermometer that you could check? N x

      Reply
    • Beth Tennison says

      August 15, 2021 at 3:25 am

      I agree. Mine cooked quicker. May have been that I used a large pan and with the veggies so spread out they cooked quicker. Very good though.

      Reply
  7. MAUREEN williams says

    July 23, 2021 at 3:51 am

    5 stars
    Thank you , So pleased, great taste, (including a couple of garlic cloves down my belly, soon learnt ! We included your recipe for baked honey chicken, so gorgeous Did cheat a bit, I used the sous vide first on the thigh’s. So moist and tasty using these in your recipe. We are enjoying using your recipes, and gaining weight; who cares at 81 years (wife, and 76 me Vic. Thanks Nagi abs of course “Dozer”.xx

    Reply
  8. jen says

    July 22, 2021 at 3:55 am

    Love these vegetable Nagi
    perfectly done .So easy.
    Thank you

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 24, 2021 at 4:24 pm

      You’re so welcome Jen!! N x

      Reply
  9. Dara says

    July 21, 2021 at 9:26 am

    Love these! I used potatoes, kumara (NZ sweet potato), yams and red onion, and topped them with roasted walnuts and goat’s cheese just before serving . Thank you for the hint about the garlic – yum!!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 21, 2021 at 9:40 am

      Absolutely perfect Dara!! Walnuts and goats cheese are a match made in heaven!! N x

      Reply
  10. Redonia Moore says

    July 21, 2021 at 4:03 am

    5 stars
    These roasted vegetables are addictive. I used Butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, white onions , cabbage sections and lots of garlic. I believe I could eat vegetables this way every day. They were great! As usual you are spot on with the most wonderful foods. Thank you so much,

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 21, 2021 at 9:41 am

      Couldn’t agree more Redonia!!! N x

      Reply
  11. Melna Skillingstead says

    July 21, 2021 at 3:50 am

    I love this one – we started roasting veggies lately – but some are disasters.

    What is the serving size for your this roasted veggies recipe? I am doing Noom to lose weight and it helps to know this detail! Thanks.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 21, 2021 at 9:42 am

      Hi Melna, the recipe above serves 5-6 – N x

      Reply
  12. Steven says

    July 20, 2021 at 11:36 pm

    5 stars
    Hi Nagi and Dozer, just finished another of your amazing recipes thank you. I added a couple of extras, 1 table spoon of chilly flakes, a tablespoon of honey, and two spoons of balsamic vinegar, Simply delicious.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 21, 2021 at 9:42 am

      YUM! Great idea Steven, I’m loving everyones tweaks! N x

      Reply
  13. Andy Johnston says

    July 20, 2021 at 10:12 pm

    This is a great way to roast veg. Great tips. I wanted to share my method of doing the garlic with you if you wanted to try it. I got the idea from when I roast a chicken breast wrapped in baking paper. (got it from an old recipe, to act like the chicken shin)

    So I tried the same thing with the garlic, where I peel the whole head, then wrap it in baking and roast it for 40-50mins in with the other veg.

    I love this method as it emparts the flavour, yet you don’t have to squish the garlic out if you don’t want to. You can scatter the cloves on top, or mash them into the other veg. It’s versatile, and avoids handling the hot head of garlic too!

    Love your channel and recipes. Thanks so much for sharing.
    Andy

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 21, 2021 at 9:43 am

      What a great idea Andy – thanks for letting me know, I’ll have to try it!!! N x

      Reply
  14. Carol says

    July 20, 2021 at 8:27 pm

    Arrrrrr Dozer you are beautiful and funny 😂 you always make my day 😂😛👍👏🤗🥰

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 21, 2021 at 9:43 am

      Thanks so much Carol! N x

      Reply
  15. Dan says

    July 20, 2021 at 3:35 pm

    This looks easy and delicious. Will try this asap.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 21, 2021 at 9:43 am

      Enjoy Dan!! N x

      Reply
  16. Lucy says

    July 20, 2021 at 12:52 pm

    Hi Nagi! Just wondering if this will work in an air fryer and what temperature/time to use if so?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 21, 2021 at 9:44 am

      I haven’t tried just yet sorry Lucy, but I suspect the vegetables would be too crowded in the air fryer – N x

      Reply
  17. April says

    July 20, 2021 at 12:22 pm

    5 stars
    I made this tonight with fresh potatoes, carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, and green peppers from my veggie garden. I used rosemary because I had some growing in a pot. SUPER good!! Excellent tips. Thanks for posting this Navi! 💕

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 20, 2021 at 6:02 pm

      Sounds perfect April!!! N x

      Reply
  18. Macy says

    July 20, 2021 at 12:18 pm

    He’s still beautiful…even wearing mud.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 20, 2021 at 6:07 pm

      😂 Not inside though…

      Reply
  19. Diane Schaefer says

    July 20, 2021 at 7:43 am

    Hi Nagi we love roasted roots!! Suggestion to try: Balsamic reduction on the finish – delish!!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 21, 2021 at 9:46 am

      I’ve done that before Diane – absolutely fabulous! (some feta crumbled on top as well is another idea for you!) N x

      Reply
      • Diane says

        July 21, 2021 at 11:51 pm

        👍

        Reply
      • Diane says

        July 21, 2021 at 11:52 pm

        5 stars
        👍

        Reply
  20. Gillian says

    July 20, 2021 at 6:18 am

    Great roasted veg recipe..we are into summer so will save this for later date HOT now so avoiding doing much OVEN work.

    Hugs to Dozer will email you re our Luca

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 20, 2021 at 6:07 pm

      What I’d give for some warmer weather Gillian! Enjoy the summer!! N x

      Reply
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