Hearty, lightly sweet, maple roasted root vegetables are an easy, crowd-pleasing dish that comes together in a single pan. They're a perfect vegan, gluten-free Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish.
Table of Contents
This recipe is a more grownup version of my kid-friendly vegetable roast. It ups the variety while still keeping things deliciously simple.
If you love roasted vegetables, also check out my roasted cabbage with fennel seeds and sheet pan roasted cauliflower and sweet potatoes!
Recipe notes
I wanted this recipe to be easy to make in a single pan. There isn't even a mixing bowl required.
You prepare this dish in the same pan that you use to bake it, and using baby carrots means less peeling and chopping. If you don't want to buy baby carrots, feel free to dice whole carrots into one-inch pieces instead.
You can also peel the sweet potato, if you prefer. I like the extra texture you get from leaving the peel on!
To make these roasted root vegetables, dice the sweet potato, red potato, and turnips and peel the garlic.
Now, add all of the vegetables to a 9x12" pan with the whole baby carrots. Toss them with olive oil, maple syrup, rosemary, salt, and pepper, and bake, pulling the pan out to stir the veggies and check for doneness every 10-15 minutes.
Stirring the root vegetables every 15 minutes is crucial to a good result.
Not only does stirring help the veggies roast evenly, but when you stir, you get a chance to re-coat everything in any of the maple syrup that has slipped off during baking, so it will coat them in almost a glaze.
They're ready when they're all fork-tender and slightly browned.
Tips for perfect roasted root vegetables
What I love about roasted root vegetables is that it's such an easy dish to just absolutely nail. Follow these simple tips for success!
- Cut the veggies to a uniform size. As you can see, the baby carrots are longer, but they're all about the same width. That will ensure that everything cooks at around the same rate.
- Don't forget to stir. When you're piling veggies into a pan like this, the ones inside will cook more slowly than the ones outside. Stirring every 15 minutes, as directed in the recipe card, makes sure they all brown nicely.
- Moisture is key! This recipe uses plenty of liquid from both the olive oil and the maple syrup, so you shouldn't have to worry about this. But you don't want these veggies to dry out while cooking. If, when you stir, things are looking dry, add a splash of water or broth to the pan.
Variations
The joy of this recipe is that you can mix things up to use what you have and what's in season. Just aim for roughly eight cups of diced root vegetables.
Feel free to replace the veggies listed with other root veggies. Here are some to try:
- red or golden beets
- parsnips
- rutabaga
- radishes (They get surprisingly sweet when you roast them!)
- winter squash
All of these work well using the same method in the recipe below.
How to serve and store
Another thing that I love about these maple roasted root vegetables is that, since they're so hearty, they can do double duty on the plate. No need to make a grain to go with these, unless you really want to. Just add your favorite plant based protein as a side!
Here are some pairing ideas for you:
Basically any plant based protein make a great side for these roasted root veggies!
These also make great salad toppers. Bring some warmth and heartiness to a green or grain salad with a dollop of maple roasted root vegetables!
If you have leftovers, they will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for three to five days. You can eat the leftovers cold over a green or grain salad or warm them up for a minute or two in the microwave to use as a side dish.
📖 Recipe
Maple Roasted Root Vegetables Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups baby carrots
- 2 cups diced sweet potato 1" pieces, peeled or not
- 2 cups diced red potato 1" pieces
- 2 cups diced turnips 1" pieces
- 4-6 cloves of garlic peeled, whole
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425° F.
- Toss all of your ingredients together right in a 9x12" baking pan, making sure to coat the veggies well in the oil and maple syrup.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until the veggies are fork-tender and a little bit browned. How long they need to cook depends on how fat those baby carrots were and how browned you like your roasted veggies to be.
Video
📝 Notes
Nutrition
Frequently asked questions
Any root veggies you like will work in this recipe! If you want to swap out any of the ones listed, try substituting: red or golden beets, parsnips, rutabaga, radishes (They get surprisingly sweet when you roast them!), or winter squash.
Steaming before roasting is a great technique!
For these maple roasted root vegetables, the sauce in the pan actually steams the vegetables as they roast, so you don't have to take that extra step.
Olive oil is my oil of choice for roasting root vegetables. If you prefer, though, you can use any neutral-flavored oil. Avocado oil or sunflower seed oil are both great options.
Peter Levine
This sounds outstanding and I'm really looking forward to making this
dish and experimenting with lots of root veggies. This also sounds like a
great way to get kids to eat more healthy vegetable dishes.