You can never have enough all-purpose side dish recipes, like Balsamic Roasted Vegetables. These sweet and savory caramelized vegetables are versatile (use any vegetables), they hold up well to reheating (perfect for meal prep), and their flavor matches with a wide variety of main dishes. They even make a simple yet stunning Thanksgiving side dish!
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What Vegetables Can I Use?
You can roast just about any vegetable in this sweet, savory, and tangy balsamic marinade. The key is to match your vegetables to the season. Summer vegetables tend to be softer, so they’ll take less time to roast. Fall and winter vegetables are harder and will take more time to roast. Choose vegetables of a similar type so they cook at a similar rate. Here are some vegetable options:
Soft Spring and Summer Vegetables: Asparagus, grape tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, onions.
Hard Fall and Winter Vegetables: Carrots, parsnips, radishes, turnips, Brussels sprouts, onion, turnips, butternut squash, sweet potatoes.
What Should I Serve with Balsamic Roasted Vegetables?
My favorite pairing for balsamic roasted vegetables is any type of roasted meat (roast chicken, beef, or pork), but they also go beautifully with the smoky flavor of grilled meats. The savory-sweet flavor of the balsamic marinade also pairs quite well with BBQ sauce, so any type of BBQ meat would be a great match. I’ve also paired balsamic roasted vegetables with seasoned rice in the past for a simple vegetarian dish. Lastly, when using fall and winter vegetables, as I have today, this dish makes a simple and beautiful side for your Thanksgiving dinner.
Tips for Roasting Vegetables
Here are a few tips for getting great results when roasting any type of vegetable:
- Chop harder vegetables into smaller pieces and softer vegetables into larger pieces to help them roast at a more similar rate.
- Use plenty of oil. Without enough oil the vegetables will shrivel and dry instead of caramelize.
- Don’t overcrowd the baking sheet. If the vegetables are too crowded, steam will become trapped and the vegetables will stew in their own juices instead of caramelize.
- Don’t forget to stir! Stirring the vegetables at least once, half-way through the roasting time will ensure even cooking.
Balsamic Roasted Vegetables
Servings 4Ingredients
Balsamic Marinade
- 3 Tbsp olive oil ($0.48)
- 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar ($0.41)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.08)
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.24)
- 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard ($0.09)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- freshly cracked black pepper ($0.03)
Vegetables
- 8 oz. mushrooms (baby bellas or button mushrooms) ($1.69)
- 1 red onion ($0.44)
- 1/2 lb. carrots ($0.45)
- 1/2 lb. parsnips ($1.06)
- 1 bunch radishes ($0.99)
- 1/4 bunch parsley (for garnish) ($0.20)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, dried basil, and pepper. Set the marinade aside.
- Scrub or peel the carrots and parsnips, then slice them into 1-inch pieces. Wash the mushrooms and cut them in half. Peel the onion and slice it into 1-inch wide wedges. Wash the radishes, cut off their stems and roots, then slice each one in half.
- Spread the prepared vegetables out over a large baking sheet, making sure they're in a single layer and no piled on top one another. Pour the balsamic marinade over top, then toss the vegetables until they're all well coated.
- Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven, give the vegetables a good stir, then return them to the oven and roast for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and have browned on the edges. Don't be alarmed if the marinade blackens on the baking sheet, that part will not be scooped up with the vegetables.
- While the vegetables are roasting, finely chop a handful of fresh parsley. Transfer the roasted vegetables to a bowl or serving platter and sprinkle the chopped parsley over top just before serving.
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Equipment
- Chef’s Knife
- White Cutting Boards
- Enamelware Sheet Pan
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Balsamic Roasted Vegetables – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a small bowl, combine 3 Tbsp olive oil, 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp dried basil, and some freshly cracked pepper (maybe 10 cranks of a pepper mill). Set the marinade aside.
As mentioned above, you can use just about any vegetable for this recipe, but it’s best to match your vegetables to the season (see section above recipe for alternative vegetable ideas). Today I am using one red onion, 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, 2 parsnips (1/2 lb.), 1/2 lb. carrots, and one bunch of radishes.
Clean and chop the vegetables so they are roughly similar sizes, making the harder vegetables slightly smaller and softer vegetables slightly bigger. Place the chopped vegetables on a large baking sheet, so they’re spread out in a single layer. Pour the balsamic marinade over top, then toss until the vegetables are all well coated.
Transfer the vegetables to the preheated 400ºF oven and roast for 20 minutes. After 2o minutes, remove the baking sheet and ive the vegetables a good stir (pictured above).
Return the vegetables to the oven and roast for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and browned on the outside. Don’t be alarmed if some of the marinade burns on the baking sheet. The vegetables themselves are not burned and the part stuck to the baking sheet will be left behind (a quick soak and it will all dissolve off, too).
After roasting, transfer the balsamic roasted vegetables to a bowl or serving platter and top with chopped parsley.
Serve with Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin.
I made these for thanksgiving last year and my family now requests them at every get together. Making them again for my mom’s birthday this weekend! I add a little fresh garlic to mine. So yummy!!
I’ll try this. The Vegetables look delicious, yum.
Very tasty!!! Will make again
This ended up making a lot of marinade, more than I needed even with a full pan of veg. Very tasty results, and a very nice change from my usual (oil, salt, pepper).
I followed the recipe to a T and it was tasteless.
I roast vegetables often and ensure there is enough space to avoid steaming.
These were not crispy and the flavour was not good.
I’ve been making your recipes for a while, but this one inspired me to comment. Just made this tonight and I honestly think these are THE best roasted veggies I’ve ever made! I used small yellow potatoes instead of the parsnips and mushrooms, just because that was what I had on hand, and the whole thing turned out beautifully.
So delicious! Thank you for sharing all your wonderful recipes!
This was delicious. I am making for a Thanksgiving side!
Just lovely!!!
I did reduce the sugar and only used 1 Tbsp. because the notion of sweet vegetables last night didn’t appeal to me. Added more oil, too, just to make sure we had enough.
Also, I struggled with the veggies simmering in their own juices – I moved the eggplant to it’s own place away from everything else to avoid this and avoid soggy eggplant (eew). IDK what I’m doing wrong that this is happening (happened when I roasted tomatoes the other day – ended up with hot stewed tomatoes instead of lovely roasted tomatoes. Ugh.).
Anyway, made this a main course for us (had a LOT of veggies) and my husband said it was “restaurant quality” so took that as a compliment. Great, healthy meal for us on our weight loss journey.
Veggies we used: onion, carrot, eggplant, mushrooms, red pepper, bell pepper, asparagus
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! The issue with soupy vegetables when roasting is usually due to the vegetables being too crowded on your sheet pan. When they’re very close together the steam released from the vegetables gets trapped and everything gets soupy. If they have plenty of space the moisture just evaporates away and you get nice caramelization. That being said, super watery vegetables, like tomatoes, are difficult to roast without some soupiness happening because it just can’t evaporate faster than it’s being released. I hope that helps!
Hi Beth!
Awesome recipe! My family has a lot of food allergies so I skipped the radishes, parsnips, and red onion (I was out of onions). I followed your Balsamic Marinade to the “T” and cooked carrots & sweet potatoes at 400 degrees for 15 minutes and then added zucchini and mushrooms for the rest of the cooking time. This was absolutely delicious. I like that this could be very versatile depending on what you already have in the refrigerator to make an amazing side dish or even a main course for a meatless meal.
Great recipe with most any vegetable. I added smoked paprika, garlic powder and used maple syrup instead of briwn sugar. Turns out delicious every time😋
YUM! I doubled the marinade and tossed the roasted veg (zucchini, bell pepper, and onion) with some farro, the remaining marinade, and topped it with some feta. SOOOO GOOD!
We made this today for Thanksgiving and everyone LOVED it! We used squash, zuchinni, leeks, turnip, onion and carrots and it was devoured! Definitely our new favorite recipe!
No salt?
The soy sauce provides quite a bit of salt, so no extra salt is needed. :)
Used a baking sheet with tin foil and reduced the marinade to 2T each of oil and vinegar, but it was a mess to clean up (15 minutes of scrubbing) as the marinade spilled over the tin foil. The taste is not worth the effort, it is very sweet. I recommend using a baking dish as Beth shows, or just skipping the recipe.
I love this marinade for roasted veggies! I’ve made it a couple of times now with a medley including potato, carrots, mushrooms, turnips, red onion, and radishes. I came across some radishes at the farmer’s market this week and had to make this again. Cooked radishes are one of my absolute favorites! (I don’t like them raw, but the peppery flavor turning to a sweetness when cooked is so delicious!) I did think it turned out a bit too sweet the first time I made this recipe, so I lowered the brown sugar to 1.5 Tsp, and it’s perfect for me. Thanks for the recipe!