How to Roast Vegetables Perfectly Every Time
Roasted veggies are delicious as sides or by themselves, but it can be easy to overcook them into unrecognizable charred lumps. Here's how to get great results every time.
Roasting is a simple technique that elevates just about any vegetable to crave-worthy status. But if done incorrectly, you could end up with burnt bits mixed with undercooked chunks instead of the tender, golden nuggets of veggies you were aiming for. To get amazing results every time, here are some tips to follow.
Sequence Your Vegetables for Roasting Evenly
More than one kind of vegetable can be roasted at the same time, but because different veggies cook at different rates, you'll have to add them to your pan in a sequence or roast them on separate pans. Root vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots and turnips take the longest, followed by hard squash and cruciferous vegetables like butternut squash, cauliflower and broccoli. Tender items like cherry tomatoes or zucchini come next, then cooking greens, which have the shortest roasting time.
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Cut Veggies with Care
Start with a hot oven — 400 to 450 degrees F. Cut your vegetables into equal-sized pieces. This helps them cook at the same rate. Having same-sized pieces is much more important than having perfectly shaped ones.
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Season Well
Toss the veggies with some olive oil and season well with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Use enough oil to fully coat the vegetables. Otherwise, they won't get crisp.
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Don't Crowd Your Pan
Lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet. And don't crowd the pan — this lets the hot air circulate and prevents steaming. If you're roasting a lot of veggies, use more than one pan.
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Stir Halfway
Roast until the vegetables begin to soften. Then give them a quick stir to help them brown uniformly.
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Add Quick-Cooking Veggies
If you have a vegetable with a shorter cook time — like broccoli — now is a good time to add it. You can also add seasonings that could burn like brown sugar or maple syrup.
Let Them Roast
Pop them back into the oven until the vegetables are tender, golden and lightly browned.
Here's How to Use Your Roasting Skills:
Felicia Perretti
