This basic Roasted Turnips recipe is a great way to really let the flavor of this delicious root vegetable shine. It’s a tasty side dish to serve with most any fish or meat and can be made in just around 30 minutes.
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If you are new to turnips, roasting them is a great way to really get a taste for this vegetable.
Smaller, younger turnips have a sweeter taste, often described as being similar to that of carrots.
Medium aged turnips, as used in this Roasted Turnips recipe, taste more like potatoes.
This recipe actually tastes very similar to Roasted Rutabaga (which is called a turnip is some countries).
Why This Recipe Works
Roasted Turnips is an easy side dish that you can make to pair with just about any meat or seafood.
Turnips are a low calorie vegetable that’s also much lower in carbohydrates than other root vegetables. One medium turnip has around 8 total carbohydrates.
This makes turnips a great choice to swap in for carrots or potatoes especially for those watching their carbohydrate intake.
How to Make Roasted Turnips
Prep!
Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Cut both of the ends off of your turnips and peel the outer skin off with a vegetable peeler.
Tip: you don’t have to peel the skin, but it may be more bitter if your turnips are larger or older.
Cut the turnips into 1/2-inch thick slices, then into 1/2-inch cubes.
Place the cubed turnips in a medium bowl with the olive oil.
Toss to coat, then spread them out onto a baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.
Roast, turning halfway, for about 25-30 minutes or until light brown and fork-tender.
Present!
Serve as is or topped with fresh herbs.
Tips and Techniques for the Best Roasted Turnips
Choose smaller, younger turnips if you prefer a sweeter flavor and medium aged turnips if you prefer a taste more similar to potatoes.
Store raw turnips tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Store leftover cooked turnips in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Use within 3-5 days.
FAQ’s
What do turnips taste like? Younger, smaller turnips have a sweeter taste to them. As they age, then start to taste more like a potato. If your turnips are older or even sprouting, they will be bitter and should probably be thrown out.
Do you need to peel turnips? No, you don’t need to peel turnips unless you prefer to. Older turnips skin may have a more butter taste to it.
More Low Carb Side Dish Recipes to Try
If you enjoy this recipe, then you will most likely enjoy Roasted Rutabaga. They have a very similar flavor.
Some other low carb side dish recipes that you might like include this Cauliflower Au Gratin recipe as well as this recipe for Fried Cabbage and Bacon.
This basic Roasted Turnips recipe is a great way to really let the flavor of this delicious root vegetable shine. It makes a great side dish to most any fish or meat dish.
Wash greens and roots well. Some suggest soaking the greens in a little salty water. One turnip website from the United Kingdom notes that if you boil them, add a little sugar to tame the scent and add baking soda to reduce bitterness. Look for fresh turnips.
A variety of herbs and spices can be added to the mashed turnips. Try a tablespoon of finely chopped sage or rosemary, a clove or two of roasted or sautéed garlic, or a pinch of paprika or ground ginger. If your turnips came with the greens, don't throw them away.
If you want to try a different cooking method, I tend to like turnip boiled and mashed. If the turnip is old (and likely bitter) you can add an apple. I've also read that you can stir in baking soda after the turnips have boiled to remove the bitterness. You would then need to rinse thoroughly.
It's not essential to peel turnips before cooking. If this skin appears to be thin enough you can leave it on and cook as is. However if the skin feels thick and leathery, you can peel it off with a sharp knife or vegetable peeler. Both the roots and leaves, also known as turnip greens, are safe to eat.
Turns out cooking food with baking soda (a.k.a. sodium bicarbonate) can indeed damage a number of nutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin D, riboflavin, thiamin, and one essential amino acid.
This is a bad practice, however, and you should avoid adding baking soda when boiling any type of vegetable. It has various unwelcome effects, such as softening the vegetable, altering the vegetable's flavor, destroying thiamine content, and hastening the loss of vitamin C.
Roasting brings out their natural sweetness. Another secret is how you peel them. Bitter notes lie just under the surface of the skin, but you can eliminate this if you go a little deeper when peeling them. I use a paring knife instead of vegetable peeler to remove the thick outer later.
If you are suffering from thyroid disorders, it is best to avoid eating turnips as this vegetable contains certain compounds that may affect the thyroid gland and interfere in the functioning of the hormone.
Turnips can sometimes taste bitter due to the presence of certain compounds, such as glucosinolates and phenolic compounds. These compounds are natural defense mechanisms that some plants use to deter animals from eating them, as they can be toxic or unpalatable.
In the hands of an able cook, a well-cooked turnip tastes heavenly. When roasted, the natural sugars are allowed to caramelize, resulting in a crispy-tender side dish that tastes like a cross between a potato and a carrot.
Any root crop (potatoes, carrots, radishes, parsnips, turnips) needs a fine- textured, well-drained soil to grow properly. If the soil is too heavy, the crop will rot. If the soil is too lumpy or rocky, the roots will be tough, fibrous and misshapen.
Roasting mellows the flavor of turnips and concentrates their texture into a tender, melting vegetable. Serve these easy roasted turnips with other roasted vegetables (the sweetness of carrots is a good complement) alongside roasted meats or with a simple roasted chicken.
Turnips have an excellent nutritional profile. Like other cruciferous vegetables, they're low in calories but pack plenty of vitamins and minerals. A 1-cup (130-gram) serving of cubed raw turnips contains ( 3 ): Calories: 36.
Rutabagas are also generally much larger than turnips. So for a quick rule of thumb, the brownish-yellowish ones are rutabagas, and the smaller white and purple ones are turnips. In terms of their flavor, rutabagas are slightly sweeter-tasting than turnips whereas turnips have a slightly more radishy flavor.
Salt is one of my favorite ways to cut the bitterness in turnip greens. I then add about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the broth and simmer for the last 20 minutes. Works like a charm!
The US Food and Drug Administration, the US Department of Agriculture and other scientists agree: use a cold water soak with baking soda to effectively help remove dirt, chemical residue, and other unwanted materials from your fresh vegetables and fruits.
We got some surprising results. Baking soda does help green vegetables retain color, but it causes undesirable color changes in red cabbage—it turned blue. The science can be distilled to this: Adding baking soda to cooking water makes it slightly alkaline, which stabilizes the green color of chlorophyll.
When applied to plant leaves and stems, baking soda does slow or stop the growth of fungi. However, the benefits are fleeting at best. Studies have shown that while baking soda impacts the growth of fungal spores, the spores and actively growing fungi are not killed.
Introduction: My name is Dan Stracke, I am a homely, gleaming, glamorous, inquisitive, homely, gorgeous, light person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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