How Celebrity Chefs Take Roasted Vegetables To The Next Level

A versatile side that can perfectly compliment a wide range of dishes, roasted vegetables are a fantastic way to add some color and nutrition to your plate. Whether it's a Mediterranean-inspired medley of bell peppers, zucchini, and tomatoes, or a hearty mixture of root veg like sweet potatoes, parsnips, and onions, cooking vegetables in the oven is a guaranteed way to bring out their rich, caramelized flavor. But, to take things one step further and create a truly epic roasted veg side dish, there are some specific tips you might want to follow.

From some well-known celebrity chefs, we've gathered some of the very best advice for making the ultimate roasted veggies. From irresistible seasonings to unique cooking methods, each chef has their own signature method that turns ordinary roasted vegetables into something utterly mouth-watering. Discover Gordon Ramsay's go-to crunchy topping for his veg, or follow David Chang's unique method to add extra flavor to the veg post-roasting. Each suggestion will give your side dish a slightly different twist, so read on to find one that takes your fancy, and master the art of roasting vegetables.

Ina Garten knows a thing or two about enhancing the flavors of simple ingredients, and her roasted vegetable dishes never disappoint. Two frequent features in her veggie roasting methods are fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese, which can both transform an everyday dish into something truly special.

For Garten's classic oven-roasted vegetables recipe, she roasts up a mixture of potatoes, string beans, asparagus, and fennel. She first tosses the veg in some olive oil, salt, and pepper before roasting, but it's the final step that's key to adding flavor here. Just before the veg has finished cooking, she sprinkles over a generous layer of Parmesan, and allows it to melt in a glorious cheesy layer on top of the vegetables.

Another dish by the beloved chef, roasted summer vegetables, features bell peppers, zucchinis, and red onion. When roasting these in the oven, Garten recommends adding a few sprigs of fresh thyme to infuse the veg with some extra herbaceous flavor. Herbs are also added to her Parmesan-roasted broccoli dish in the form of fresh chopped basil leaves. Here, the basil is combined with her classic choice of Parmesan cheese, as well as pine nuts and lemon. This fragrant mixture is then drizzled over the broccoli after roasting.

Sam Kass, former chef to President Obama, offers a unique cooking technique for adding extra char and depth of flavor to your vegetables. Rather than simply roasting them in the oven, Kass recommends using the broiler.

Cooking your vegetables under the intense heat of the broiler is a brilliant way to add some extra char, to amp up that caramelized flavor whilst ensuring the vegetables come out lovely and tender. And Kass isn't picky when it comes to selecting which veggies to roast, either, stating that this method is suited to pretty much anything you have on hand. 

In an interview with Well+Good, Sam explained how to follow this simple method. After tossing your vegetables of choice in some olive oil and any seasonings, he suggests the following. "Turn the oven on, get it really hot, and then turn the broiler on and throw them in." It's really as easy as that! So whether it's sweet and hearty butternut squash, earthy Portobello mushrooms, or vibrant bell peppers, give a broiler a try next time you're craving some perfectly cooked veggies.

We've seen how Parmesan can add extra richness and tangy flavor to your vegetables, but have you ever considered adding halloumi cheese to your veggie sheet pan? Well, British television chef Nigella Lawson loves to do exactly that.

Lawson is renowned for her indulgent and flavor-packed cooking, and her double potato and halloumi bake recipe certainly exudes these characteristics. First, she dices up potatoes, sweet potatoes, red onion, and peppers. These get tossed with some olive oil and whole garlic cloves, before spreading them out on baking sheets. After an initial 45 minute bake, the star ingredient comes into play. Halloumi cheese is a semi-hard, unripened cheese with a firm texture that can withstand high heat without melting, making it the perfect companion for your roasted vegetables. Nigella slices up the cheese and places it on top of the roasted vegetables, before broiling everything for another 15 minutes, until the cheese is wonderfully golden.

If you can't get your hands on halloumi cheese, there are plenty of other options that are sure to enhance your veggies. Try crumbling over some creamy feta cheese, nestling in some melty mozzarella, or scattering over some grated cheddar towards the end of cooking, before giving everything a quick blast under the broiler.

The top tip from British celebrity chef and restaurateur Jamie Oliver is one that's incredibly straightforward, yet often neglected. His tried-and-true method to ensure veggies cook perfectly every time is spreading them out sufficiently, over two sheet pans if needed.

In Oliver's roasted vegetable recipe, he combines a colorful medley of red onion, butternut squash, leeks, zucchinis, eggplants, and tomatoes. And his advice for roasting is as follows: "If the vegetables seem crowded in a single roasting pan, divide them between two. Overcrowding the pan will stop enough heat getting to the vegetables and they will steam rather than roast." So, while roasting an extra large batch of veg is a great way to meal prep for the week, make sure you're not cramming everything onto one pan. It may mean a little extra washing up, but that'll all be worth it when you tuck into those perfectly tender, caramelized veggies.

Jamie also suggests turning the vegetables during roasting, which will help to promote even cooking. You can swap the position of the two sheet pans in your oven, too, so you don't end up with one batch more charred than the other.

We're passing the baton back to Ina Garten, who, amongst her tips for perfect roasted veggies, shares a crucial suggestion to ensure that they come out just right every time. Something Ina frequently emphasizes is the importance of keeping your vegetables chunky when prepping them roasting. Since the veg has a tendency to shrink down as it cooks in the oven, chopping it into larger chunks initially will ensure that you aren't left with tiny, shrivelled pieces at the end. Chunkier veg is also less likely to become overcooked and mushy. Just ensure that the chunky pieces are all fairly similar in size, so they cook evenly.

One of Garten's go-to vegetable combinations for roasting is a mixture of sweet potato, carrot, butternut squash, and parsnip. She then keeps it simple by coating the veg in olive oil, salt, and black pepper before roasting. Another key aspect of her roasting technique is the oven temperature, which Ina recommends keeping relatively high at around 425 F, for the ultimate caramelization.

You'd expect nothing short of perfection from Gordon Ramsay's roasted vegetable offerings, and of course this meticulous chef has a brilliant technique for getting veg extra tender in the middle, whilst deliciously crisp on the outside.

In his vegetarian roast recipe, Ramsay serves up a selection of roasted vegetables along with crispy potato rostis and rich, savory gravy. His trick for maximising the flavor and texture of the vegetables is parboiling them before roasting. This technique is particularly useful for tougher root vegetables that have a longer cooking time, and will ensure that the veg pieces cook fully and evenly. And of course, the roasting step that follows is essential too, for that wonderful golden brown crust.

Ramsay starts by boiling carrots and butternut squash for eight minutes, before adding parsnips and swede to the pot and cooking for a further five minutes. Then, he adds the drained vegetables to a roasting tray, with the classic oil-salt-pepper combo, and roasts the veg in the oven for about 25 minutes.

This next tip comes from chef and television personality Bobby Flay, who likes to treat vegetables with the same care meat gets before roasting. Flay's technique of choice is to coat vegetables with a flavorful spice rub before roasting. That's right — the kind that you might typically rub onto a chicken, beef or lamb roast. According to Flay, his spice-rubbed roast vegetables are the best way to take a picky eater from veggie-phobe to fanatic.

Enhancing dishes with generous amounts of herbs and spices is a non-negotiable for Flay who, in an interview with Bon Appetit, stated that he "seasons 60% more than the home cook." Flay's favorite spice-rub, for meats and veggies alike, is a combination of paprika, coriander, cumin, dry mustard, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and brown sugar. This subtly spicy, sweet, and aromatic mixture is perfectly balanced, working to enhance the veg without overpowering it's delicious natural flavors. It's easy to mix up a big batch of the spice rub in advance too, making your vegetable prep super quick and easy.

David Chang, chef and founder of popular noodle bar Momofuku, has a great method for adding heaps of delicious flavor to your roasted vegetables. Rather than adding seasoning prior to roasting, he likes to dress the vegetables in a zesty vinaigrette after they've come out of the oven.

This method is one we see specifically in Chang's roasted Brussels sprouts recipe. First, he sautés the halved sprouts in an ovenproof skillet with some olive oil. Then, once they're just starting to brown on the edges, the skillet goes into the oven, so the sprouts can roast for about 15 minutes. Whilst the veg is roasting, it's time to prepare the vibrant dressing. This consists of an aromatic mixture of fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, vinegar, chilis, and garlic. Chang adds the vinaigrette to the sprouts when they're fresh out of the oven, tossing everything well to give them an incredible, umami-rich coating.

You could absolutely use this technique with other types of vegetables too. Try tossing roasted carrots with a sweet and sticky maple-mustard glaze, or roasted cherry tomatoes with a garlicky balsamic-honey dressing.

If you're a fan of a crunchy garnish, Gordon Ramsay's next roasted veggie suggestion is a must-try. Ramsay likes to use an unexpected ingredient as an optional (but highly recommended) final addition in his roasted root vegetables recipe — pepitas.

Pepitas, a hull-less variety of pumpkin seeds, have a crunchy texture and subtle nutty flavor, and they're the perfect pairing for your roasted veggies. Gordon first prepares his colorful veggies — a mixture of rainbow carrots, red onion, and baby turnips — by sautéing them in a buttery, ginger-infused chicken stock before oven-baking. Once roasted to perfection, he scatters on some fresh rosemary and thyme, before adding a crushed pepita garnish.

To make Ramsay's crushed pepitas, you'll first need to toast the seeds in the oven. You can also do this in a frying pan over a high heat, with no oil required. Shake the pan to cook the pepitas evenly, for about four to five minutes, until they're golden brown. Next, add your toasted pepitas to a mortar and pestle and crush them well. Ramsay also suggests adding some salt and chili flakes to the crushed pepitas for an extra flavor boost. Now, all that's left is to scatter the crunchy mixture over your freshly roasted vegetables.

When it comes to choosing which vegetables to roast, you're likely picking from your go-to selection of produce each time. Whilst bell peppers, potatoes, carrots, and squash are all common choices, Julia Child has concocted a unique recipe that features a rather unlikely vegetable — cucumbers.

Now, if the idea of roasting cucumbers conjures up images of a mushy, watery mess, have no fear. Child utilizes an important technique in her Concombres Au Beurre recipe to ensure the cucumbers develop a wonderful, crisp texture. First, you'll need to peel the cucumbers, cut them in half lengthways, and remove the seeds. Then, the cucumber can be cut into strips. Now comes the vital part. Soak the cucumbers in a mixture of vinegar, salt, and sugar for at least 30 minutes. This helps to draw moisture out of the vegetable, as well as any lingering bitterness, all whilst enhancing its flavor with a subtle sweetness and acidity.

Once the cucumbers have soaked, pat them dry and place them into a baking dish with some melted butter, herbs, green onions, and black pepper and give everything a good toss. Julia recommends baking the cucumbers for about one hour, tossing a couple of times during cooking, until perfectly tender-crisp.

A common theme amongst our celebrity chefs' roasted vegetable recipes is the use of olive oil. This type of oil is excellent for roasting, imparting a rich yet subtle flavor into vegetables. There are also plenty of health benefits associated with consuming olive oil, such as its ability to reduce inflammation in the body.

Chef Anthony Bourdain is certainly not afraid to add a good glug of olive oil to his recipes. In fact, for his cauliflower with sesame seeds recipe, he uses a generous quarter cupful of olive oil, which he tosses with the cauliflower florets, coriander, oregano, salt, and pepper before roasting everything in the oven. The addition of oil is key, since it will stop the veg from sticking to the pan. Not only this, but it adds plenty of flavor, whilst helping the vegetables to develop that lovely crisp outer layer.

And olive oil isn't the only type of fat that Bourdain utilizes in his veg prep. When making his famous carrot vichy, he adds a hefty two pounds of butter to the carrots, along with one and a half cups of sugar, claiming that the combination of these two ingredients is the secret to why restaurant vegetables taste so good.

We've learned how broiling and boiling can enhance the texture of roasted vegetables, but what about pan-searing? This is a technique that Thomas Keller, chef and recipient of an impressive three Michelin star ratings, uses in his popular roasted zucchini recipe.

Keller's method for cooking zucchini has become a staple for many after it went viral on social media, praised for the incredibly tender texture it gives this humble vegetable. The first step in achieving roasted zucchini perfection is halving the zucchinis by making a cut lengthways down the middle of each one. Next, take a sharp knife and score the zucchinis in a criss-cross pattern, and rub the scored sides of the vegetables with salt. This will help to draw out excess moisture, so don't skip this step unless you want mushy zucchini!

Once you've left the salt to do its thing for 15 minutes, pat the zucchinis dry. Now, it's time to do the all-important pre-roast searing. Heat some oil in an ovenproof skillet and add the zucchinis in, with the scored sides facing down. Let them cook until nicely browned, which should take about five minutes. After this, you can transfer them to the oven for about 20 minutes. The result should be wonderfully tender, melt-in-your-mouth zucchinis, with the perfect amount of browning on the outside. Keller also likes to brush a miso-maple glaze over the zucchinis after roasting, for an extra burst of umami-flavor and sweetness.