Are you working to improve your knife skills? Potatoes, carrots, and onions are commonly used ingredients in many cuisines, so learning how to dice them properly can give you much needed kitchen confidence! Once all your veggies are diced, simply toss them with some oil, herbs, and spices for a delicious and satisfying roasted potatoes, carrots, and onion side dish!
Three Must-Know Skills
For recipe success, learn how to:
Culinary Tips for the Best Oven Roasted Potatoes and Carrots
We use weight instead of volume for the potato because sizes can be highly variable. Weigh at the store or use a simple kitchen scale.
For best results when roasting, use our memorable acronym: ROAST WELL.
Right Temp
Set your oven to a high cooking temperature to achieve optimal caramelization. In general, anywhere between 400ºF and 500ºF is considered a roasting temperature.
Oil Generously
Don’t be scared of oil! Healthy oils add nutrition, satiety, and flavor to roasted vegetables. Make sure every piece is thoroughly coated with oil; it’s better to use a little too much than not enough. Use oils with high smoke points, such as canola or avocado oil.
Alike Items
If you want to roast an assortment of vegetables at the same time, select ones that are similar and will cook in the same amount of time. Potatoes and carrots are both root vegetables that roast in about the same amount of time.
Skip Pan Liners
For best caramelization and browning, place the oil-coated vegetables directly onto the pan. Although parchment paper and foil make clean-up easier (we get it!), your vegetables won’t be quite as delicious.
Traditional Sheet Pan
When roasting, be sure to use a traditional sheet pan, with no more than a 1-inch rim along the sides. Deeper dishes cause vegetables to steam rather than roast – not optimal when trying to make crispy veggies! A metal pan also ensures browning.
Wash and Dry
You should always wash fresh produce before eating or cooking, but another important step when roasting is to make sure your vegetables are dry. Water generates steam, and again, we want to avoid steam to ensure the vegetables turn brown and crispy.
Even Cuts
It is important to make your pieces approximately the same size to ensure even cooking. Small pieces cook faster than large pieces.
Leave Space
Spread the vegetables out on a sheet pan and leave plenty of space around each piece. If you overcrowd the pan, the vegetables will steam. Are you noticing a trend here? Steam is the enemy when trying to create crisp, roasted veggies!
When in doubt, use two pans. Yes, that might mean more dishes to clean, but we promise that it will be worth it!
Let them Cook!
Cooking requires patience. While it can be tempting to pull the vegetables from the oven once they are soft, make sure that they get that nice, brown exterior. For longer cooking vegetables, such as potatoes, you can stir them halfway through the cook time to brown on all sides, but it’s not totally necessary.
To learn more about how to roast vegetables, check out this article!
Ingredient Substitutions
- Potato: use russet, Yukon gold, red, purple, or baby potatoes. Just be sure to dice into similarly-sized pieces.
- Carrot: use any color.
- Onion: use red, white, or yellow.
- Canola or Avocado Oil: substitute a lower-quality extra virgin olive oil.
- Dried Thyme: substitute 1 teaspoon fresh thyme.
- Fresh Italian Parsley: substitute fresh basil. We don’t recommend substituting dried parsley, as the flavor just isn’t the same! If you don’t have parsley, simply leave it off at the end.
Recipe Variations
You can vary this recipe by changing up the herbs and spices. Roasted potatoes and carrots with rosemary is a delicious and classic combination; both fresh or dried work.
Spice mixtures such as curry powder, garam masala, taco seasoning, or Italian seasoning create fun flavor variations. As always, use our recipe as a guide, then adjust to YOUR taste!
We love buying our spices from The Spice House. Click on the picture below to view & try out hundreds of flavorful spices and herbs!
Equipment Recommendations
For guaranteed recipe success, use the following pieces of equipment:
- Kitchen Scale
- Cutting Board
- Chef’s Knife
- Bench Scraper
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Measuring Spoons
- Whisk
- Baking Sheet
Health Benefits of Roasted Carrots, Potatoes, and Onions
Most Americans don’t get the recommended servings of vegetables per day. (1) This simple side dish can help you easily incorporate a few more servings of deliciously nutritious veggies into your weekly meals! The featured ingredients in this recipe are potatoes, carrots, and onions.
Potatoes
Many people think that potatoes are unhealthy, and while we wouldn’t recommend eating only potatoes, they can certainly be a part of a healthy, balanced diet. The potatoes we want to eat less of are those that are highly processed, such as tater tots, french fries, chips, and modified potato starches (found in many packaged foods). When paired with roasted carrots and onions, potatoes can provide a great source of important nutrients, such as potassium, Vitamin C, and fiber!
Onions
Onions contain fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that may promote satiety, healthy gut bacteria, and cancer prevention.
Carrots
You’ve probably heard that carrots are good for vision, and while they won’t keep you from needing glasses, they may help prevent night blindness. Carrots contain fiber, vitamins, and phytochemicals that have beneficial effects on immune function, healthy skin, vascular function, cancer prevention, and more. Choose different colors of carrots – orange, purple, and yellow – for an even broader range of benefits. For best nutrition, consume carrots with a fat source (such as a heart-healthy oil) to improve bioavailability of some phytochemicals. (2)
How to Serve Roasted Carrots with Potatoes
Make a balanced plate by serving roasted potatoes, carrots, and onion with a green salad with a homemade vinaigrette and a healthy protein, such as roasted fish or simple turkey meatballs.
Storage Tips
Allow roasted veggies to cool, then store in an airtight container.
Leftovers will last for up to 1 week in the refrigerator, but they will definitely lose some crispness as they sit! Reheat in the oven for best texture.
Want more plant-forward side dish recipes?
Try out these flavorful favorites!
Shredded Brussels Sprouts Salad
Roasted Potatoes, Carrots, and Onion
Ingredients
- 1 medium potato (~10-12 ounces)
- 1 large carrot, diced ½" (~⅔ cup diced)
- ½ small onion, diced ½" (~½ cup diced)
- 1 ½ Tablespoon avocado or canola oil
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- Chopped fresh Italian parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF.
- Clean and scrub potato and carrot well. Do not peel. Dice into ½” cubes.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together oil, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add diced potato, carrots, and onion to bowl, and using a spatula, toss to evenly coat.
- Spread vegetable mixture on a baking sheet in a single layer. Do not overcrowd the pan. Roast ~20-25 minutes or until potatoes are brown and crisp and easily pierced with a fork. Onions will caramelize.
- Remove vegetable mixture from oven, transfer to a serving bowl or platter, and garnish with fresh chopped parsley to taste. Enjoy!
