Batch Cooking Roasted Vegetables

Choosing to eat healthy, real food definitely has it’s benefits but can take more time to get on the table. For this reason, I’m always looking for ways to distribute the work to times when my schedule is easier. Batch cooking is a strategy that helps, and batch cooking roasted vegetables gives me access to a variety of ready-to-go ingredients to create a variety of weeknight meals with whatever flavor direction I want to go.

Week nights are usually when our schedule is limited the most, so I try to distribute some of the meal prep work to times that are not so crowded, like Saturday and Sunday afternoons for example. By that time, I’ve already visited my local farmers, farmers’ market, and market and have a pretty good idea of what I want to serve over the next several days.

Getting Ready – Tools

You can use casserole dishes, but I prefer to use the following:

• cookie sheets (at least one with edges since mushrooms, etc. will release juice)
• silicon baking sheets (makes prep and clean up easier since I don’t have to use oil)
• good knife, peeler
• large cutting board (preferably bamboo)

Our Commonly Roasted Vegetables

We do have a usual selection of vegetables to roast for our routine “go to” meals, as well as any new additions based on what I’ve picked up at the farmers’ market and grocery store. Our usual selection includes:

• onions (sliced or chopped)
• garlic (whole, skinned cloves)
• cabbage (sliced or wedges)
• carrots (usually sliced rounds)
• broccoli florets
• red/green/yellow slices
• cauliflower
• potatoes (diced, sliced, or wedges)
• mushrooms
• Brussel sprouts
• green onions
• zucchini and squash (sliced, diced, or wedged)

You get the picture.

You can leave them alone or season them with maybe a little salt and pepper, a little garlic powder, or maybe some chopped herbs like oregano or rosemary. I usually keep the seasoning as simple as possible, so I am free to use them across multiple meals with different flavor goals.

Meal and Snack Possibilities

While some of these, like the diced sweet potatoes, might get nibbled on as a snack, most of these will end up incorporated into quinoa or rice, added as a ready to go side, or as a topping or base for other ingredients. A few examples include:

• nachos using thin sliced roasted potatoes (instead of chips) topped with slow cooked beans, chopped avocado, cilantro, and homemade salsa or pico
• grilled chicken topped with roasted broccoli, mushrooms, onions, and a homemade non-dairy cashew “cheese” sauce
• roasted sweet potatoes topped with slow cooker/Instant Pot black beans, fresh spring mix, homemade salsa or pico, and then that homemade non-dairy “cheese” sauce
• quinoa or brown rice with any variety of roasted vegetables, dry sautéed seasoned cashews, and some homemade nut sauce or honey mustard sauce
• mixed greens with quinoa, any combination of roasted vegetables, nuts and seed and topped with some homemade cashew dill sauce

The roasted garlic will usually get thrown into many of our sauces and salsas including our homemade honey mustard sauce, nut sauce, cashew dill sauce, and homemade salsa or pico.

A Little Bit More on Batch Cooking Roasted Vegetables

Our household usually goes through the roasted vegetables fast, so I’ll roast whole bags or multiple containers of sweet potatoes and mushrooms and whole heads of cabbage and cauliflower or roast batches twice a week.

Redirecting some of my meal prep work really helps take some of the pressure off on nights when there’s a lot going on.

Hopefully you will find it helpful too.