My roasted carrots and parsnips are such a classic side dish, and for good reason! The oven transforms them, intensifying their flavor, caramelizing the sugars, and browning the outsides with very little effort from you!
I grew up with this dish. My Mom (who’s from the UK) made roasted carrots and parsnips at least once every week, and I am so happy that she did! Roasting will forever be my favorite way to make vegetables even better. This happens with our favorite roasted carrots recipe, and it happens with this recipe, which adds parsnips to the party.
If you are unfamiliar with parsnips, they are between a carrot and a potato (sweet like carrots and creamy like a potato). I love them! We also use them to make creamy parsnip puree, which I think rivals mashed potatoes any day.
Key Ingredients
- Carrots: Use any variety of carrots for this recipe. Orange carrots are the most common, but yellow, purple, or more exciting varieties are great! Scrub your carrots clean and then skip peeling them (helpful on a busier night when time is limited) or peel them.
- Parsnips: Often sold near other root vegetables, parsnips look like white carrots. Look for firm, smooth, and evenly colored parsnips with no soft spots. Like the carrots, you can scrub them clean and then skip peeling or peel them.
- Oil, Salt, and Pepper: I love avocado oil or olive oil. Then, I simply season the carrots and parsnips with salt and pepper. You can swap for my favorite seasoned salt, or use an herb blend like Herbes de Provence.
- Fresh Mint: When I have it on hand, I love tossing the warm roasted veggies with chopped fresh mint. Other herbs are lovely too! You can even make a herbed butter like I do for my buttery roasted carrots.
Roasted Carrots and Parsnips
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Carrots and parsnips are lovely together, and you can make this roasted version in about 30 minutes. Roasted carrots and parsnips are great with just oil, salt, and pepper, but we especially love them tossed with fresh mint just before serving!
You Will Need
1 pound (450g) carrots, peeled, 4 to 5 medium
1 pound (450g) parsnips, peeled, 4 to 5 medium
2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, optional
Directions
1Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat.
2Trim the carrot and parsnip ends and slice them diagonally into 1-inch-thick slices. As the carrots roast, they will shrink. (Depending on how wide the thicker ends of the parsnips are, you may need to slice each stick in half, lengthwise.)
3Add the carrots, parsnips, oil, salt, and pepper to a large bowl, and toss until well coated. Spread them in one layer on the prepared baking sheet.
4Roast for 15 minutes, stir, and then roast until the carrots and parsnips are tender and caramelized around the edges, 5 to 10 minutes longer. (For even more caramelization, roast for another 5 to 10 minutes.)
5Toss with chopped mint and serve.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Place roasted carrots and parsnips in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. To freeze them, freeze them in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe container, and they’ll keep for up to 3 months.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
This recipe looks so yummy! My mom always mashed the carrots and parsnips. I never even thought of making them any other way but mashed. I can’t wait to try them like this tonight!
Wonderful. Loved them. Thanks for the nice clear photos of the prep stages, they were very helpful. Parsnips are basically sweet, too bad more people don’t know use them more often. Here in Michigan, I find only small quantities in the produce stores, none in the supermarkets. Also, they help sweeten and flavor a vegetable soup when you have no meat or chicken bones to help with flavor. Carrot, celery and parsnip make a good soup, with some paprika at the end for color (meaning you don’t need canned broth), but don’t add potatoes, they change the nature of the soup. Thanks again. Ann Marie
These two veggies can also make the basis for a delicious soup. The soup has a rich, slightly sweet taste. I enjoy adding pepper to it for alittle extra kick. Like with many root vegetable soups, I’d recommend puree’ing it for the presentation.
Btw, I’m glad to see the December updates come rolling in! Keep them coming!