Herb Roasted Turnips and Carrots
Herb Roasted Carrots and Turnips, a super easy sheet pan roasted vegetable recipe with only 5 ingredients and ready in 30 minutes. Your new favorite easy side dish or salad topper!
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get new plant-based recipes in your inbox!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Fork in the Road.
Love roasted turnips? Love roasted carrots? So do we! Though each is great one its own, carrots and turnips are even better when they’re roasted together.
👉 Here are three reasons why you should be baking carrots and turnips together:
- It’s simple. With only five core ingredients and requiring only 30 minutes, this roasted vegetable recipe is as easy as it gets.
- It’s tasty. Turnips and carrots take on new flavors when roasted, and the herbs make this dish burst with taste and aroma.
- It’s flexible. Serve this roasted veggie recipe as a side dish, on top of salads, or on top of grain bowls. The possibilities are endless.
Ready to learn our favorite way to bake carrots and turnips? Let’s do it!
👩🍳 How to make (step-by-step photos)
1️⃣ Step One: Preheat oven and cut vegetables
First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 C).
While the oven is heating, wash the vegetables to remove dirt:
- To cut turnips: cut off stems, then cut in half or in quarters. We like to cut large turnips into quarters because the smaller pieces will become softer when baked.
- To cut carrots: You can cut carrots however you’d like, but when roasting with different sized vegetables like turnips we like to cut them into bite-size pieces so the vegetables are all similar sizes and are easier to eat.
❓ Do you need to peel carrots and turnips? You do not need to peel turnips or carrots before baking. The outer peel is edible and will provide a rougher texture and deeper flavor. However, if you don’t like the outer peels then feel free to peel both with a vegetable peeler.
2️⃣ Step Two: Add vegetables to the roasting pan
Next, add the cut carrots and turnips to a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and, using your hands or a spatula, toss until they’re completely coated with oil.
Sprinkle the vegetables with sliced fresh garlic (optional), fresh herbs (or dried, if you don’t have fresh), salt, and pepper.
3️⃣ Step Three: Roast vegetables until they soften and begin to brown
Finally, roast the vegetables in the oven until they begin to soften and become brown around the edges. This takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes, depending on your oven.
About halfway through cooking, toss the vegetables so they brown on all sides, we did this when the turnips and carrots had been roasting for about 15 minutes.
Remove the roasted vegetables from the oven and serve immediately as a side dish, or you can let the vegetables cool and use them to top salads and bowls.
❓ Recipe questions + quick tips
As long as you wash carrots well, you do not need to peel them before roasting. In fact, unpeeled carrots are delicious because the outer layer browns when baked and provides deeper flavor through a process called the maillard reaction when the natural sugar in carrots is heated.
As long as you wash turnips well, you do not need to peel them before roasting. In fact, unpeeled turnips are delicious because the outer layer browns when baked and provides deeper flavor. However, if you’d like to peel them then use a vegetable peeler.
Carrots can be roasted whole, cut longways (or lengthwise) into halves or quarters, or cut along the length of a carrot into rounds or thicker 2-3 inch (5-7 cm) long pieces. Ultimately you can cut carrots however you’d like, but because we’re roasting carrots with turnips, we wanted to cut smaller pieces to match the size of the cut turnips.
Turnips can be roasted whole, cut into halves or quarters, or cut into small cubes. The smaller the pieces of turnip, the faster they will soften when baked. Ultimately you can cut turnips however you’d like, but because we’re roasting turnips with carrots, we wanted to cut smaller pieces so that cooking time is similar and eating them together is easier (no one wants to try to spear two different sized vegetables on a fork!).
Like many vegetables, turnips’ flavor transforms when roasted. Turnips lose their tangy flavor when roasted, and instead have a deep, rich, and slightly sweet flavor.
🌿 Herb + spice flavor ideas
This recipe is simply prepared with just olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper and your fresh herbs of choice. However, the herb and spice flavor possibilities are endless!
Here are a few herb and spice combinations to try out in your roasted vegetable recipe:
- Rosemary, shallots, and garlic: roast turnips and carrots with sliced shallot and garlic, then sprinkle with fresh rosemary when finished
- Garlic, red onion, and fresh herbs: roasted carrots and turnips with garlic and sliced red onion, then top with fresh herbs like oregano or thyme
- Turmeric, paprika, and cayenne pepper: make it spicy by roasting carrots and turnips with a sprinkle of turmeric powder, paprika, and a dash of cayenne
- Make it crunchy with nuts or seeds: add a bit of crunch by topping roasted turnips and carrots with sliced almonds, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, or sesame seeds
♻️ Sustainable kitchen + cooking tips
We’re all about sustainability here at Fork in the Road, so here are some tips and tricks for getting the most out of your ingredients.
Take advantage of carrot and turnip season! Turnips are in season in the winter months, typically October through March in the northern hemisphere. Carrots are typically available year round here, so we usually enjoy this dish in the fall and winter.
Use your veggie scraps to reduce food waste! Don’t toss those peels and stems, put them into a soup pot and cover with water to make a food waste soup stock.
Don’t throw away carrot greens! Did you buy carrots with their leaves? Great! Reuse carrot tops in smoothies, carrot greens sauces, and even carrot leaves soup.
🥕 More simple roasted vegetable recipes
Check out our other easy baked turnips and roasted carrot recipes:
- Oven-Baked Green Beans and Carrots
- Roasted Butternut Squash and Turnips
- Baked Brussels Sprouts and Carrots
- Oven-Baked Cauliflower and Carrots
- Roasted Parsnips and Carrots
- Baked Turnip Top Chips
Herb Roasted Turnips and Carrots Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound carrots washed and trimmed
- 1 pound turnips washed and trimmed
- 2 whole garlic cloves sliced thin
- 2 tablespoons fresh herbs thyme, oregano, etc.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Preheat oven to 400 degrees (200 C).
- Prep vegetables: Wash turnips and carrots and peel, if desired. Cut stems from turnips and cut into halves or quarters. Cut stems from carrots and slice diagonally into 1-2 inch (3-5 cm) pieces.
- Roast vegetables: Arrange the carrots and turnips on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, tossing the vegetables to completely cover with oil and sprinkle with sliced garlic, chopped fresh (or dried) herbs, salt, and pepper. Place sheet pan in the oven and roast for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through to roast on all sides.
- Serve vegetables: Remove pan from oven, arrange vegetables on a plate and serve as a side dish or as a salad topping.
Notes
- Tools Needed: sheet pan, knife set, cutting board, vegetable peeler
- Prep Ahead: Wash and cut vegetables ahead of time to reduce prep time before cooking. If serving cold on salads or bowls, you can make this recipe up to three days ahead of time.
- Leftovers and Storage: Vegetables should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. For best taste and texture, do not freeze and reheat.
- Nutrition notes: Nutrition information is estimated for only ingredients in the recipe, not the additional spice options given. This simple roasted vegetable recipe is a good source of fiber, vitamin A, and vitamin C.