Roasted Parsnips with Romesco Sauce, a simple vegan side dish or plant-based main dish that is perfect for easy weeknight dinners, upscale gatherings or the holiday table!
I love how earthy and sweet parsnips become, when roasted in the oven. These tender Roasted Parsnips with flavorful Romesco Sauce are so delicious, a marriage made in heaven.
This was our dinner the other night, paired with a Kale Salad – and surprisingly, it was more than enough… so satisfying! I call this a “side dish” in the description, but, somehow it just feels like so much more. Yes, of course you can always serve this with roasted fish or chicken or baked tofu for a heartier dinner if you prefer ( and this would plate up beautifully for guests) but I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how filling this is, just on its own.
Affordable, simple, yet full of flavor. Here where I live, there is not too much that in season this time of year. But I still yearn for fresh produce. Root vegetables fill this gap, and their inherent sweetness and heartiness is just what the doctor ordered, during the cold months. And you already know how much I love roasting things when it’s chilly out. Warms the house and soul.
What I love about this recipe, is that you can roast the Romesco Sauce ingredients at the same time as the parsnips, letting the oven do double duty. You don’t need to peel the parsnips, just give a good wash, and pat them dry.
Simply brush the parsnips, onion and bell pepper with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 30 minutes in a 425F oven.
Blend the flavorful romesco sauce ingredients together in a food processor. This version has hazelnuts, but you can swap them out for almonds if you like.
You’ll find so many used for romesco sauce, I’m excited for you to make this simplified version. Think cauliflower steaks, eggplant steaks or roasted fish or chicken – or even pasta! It adds hearty robust flavor – perfect for the cooler months.
Arrange the roasted parsnip platter, romesco sauce on the bottom.
Sprinkle the roasted parsnips with a little Italian parsley and toasted hazelnuts to finish.
I hope you love these Roasted Parsnips with Romesco Sauce as much as we have – a super simple vegan side dish ( or plant-based main dish, paired with a kale salad!). Let me know what you think below in the comments.
Hope you are having a glorious week.
xoxo
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Roasted Parsnips with Romesco Sauce
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: vegan side, side dish
- Method: roasted
- Cuisine: pacific northwest
Description
Tender Roasted Parsnips with Romesco Sauce, a simple vegan side dish that is perfect for weeknight dinners or the holiday table! Sweet and earthy parsnips pair deliciously with robust and smoky Romesco Sauce! Serve with fish, chicken or tofu!
Ingredients
- 3 extra large parsnips – cut in half lengthwise, unpeeled
- 1 red bell pepper, cut in half
- 1/2 an onion, cut into 3/4 inch thick wedges
- olive oil for brushing
- salt and pepper
Remaining Romesco Sauce ingredients:
- 2 garlic cloves ( or sub 1 teaspoon roasted garlic powder )
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts or almonds ( more for garnish)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1/2–3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sherry wine vinegar ( or red wine vinegar)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley ( more for garnish)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425F
Cut parsnips and bell pepper ( remove seeds) in half ( see photos) and place on a parchment lined sheet pan. Add onion wedges. Drizzle lightly or brush with olive oil, getting the undersides of the parsnips as well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast until fork tender, 30-35 minutes. Check at 20 minutes, rotate pan, continue cooking until very tender and deeply golden. No pale parsnips please!
Place bell pepper and onion in a food processor. Add remaining romesco ingredients and pulse until combined into a paste.
To serve on a platter, spoon the romesco sauce onto a platter, and using the back of the spoon to smear it as creatively as you like. Arrange the parsnips overtop. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and crushed hazelnuts. Serve immediately.
Notes
The romesco sauce can be made ahead using jarred roasted peppers. Bring it to room temp before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ½ parsnip
- Calories: 222
- Sugar: 8.4 g
- Sodium: 210 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 28.4 g
- Fiber: 8 g
- Protein: 3.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Another winner from this site! To make it a meal I roasted some gnocchi with garlic and tossed that in the sauce, served with the parsnips on the side. We have lots of sauce left over so we’ll probably make a simple pasta for a quick dinner later in the week!
Thanks Hannah!
This was delicious. I made the recipe as written, only subbing chili powder for chili flakes. The presentation is so nice with the white parsnips on the red sauce garnished with parsley.
Thanks Bev!
Oh my this was Amazing! That Romesco sauce is wonderful! What a perfect compliment to parsnips! My girls just pulled some lovely parsnips out of our winter garden and this sauce honors all their hard work. You are such a treasure! They also pulled beets of garden too so we served your lovely beet and orange salad as well. Wow! Thank you so much for these incredible recipes!
Sounds delicious Heidi! Glad you enjoyed!
I just love romesco sauce. It’s so easy make and yields hearty and flavorful results. I prefer to serve a hefty portion, like it is a side dish on its own! I added a japaleno to our roasting pan for a little extra spice, and served this with salmon.
Glad you enjoyed this Amanda!
My daughter grew parsnips from seed this summer and this recipe was the perfect compliment to all her hard work. The Romesco sauce was lovely.
Thanks so much Heidi- glad you liked this
This was good and much easier than my other romesco recipe. I pulsed my nuts in my vitamix then added everything else but did not need any water. I also roasted 4 garlic cloves in their paper along with the other veggies for 20 min and they came out perfect. Thank you Sylvia for this recipe and your beautiful pictures.
I made this last night for our New Year’s dinner and it was great. I wanted to serve as an hors d’oeuvre so roasted the parsnips in sticks. They were delish but a bit floppy for dipping into romanesco. Flavour so good I can just east them plain. As for the sauce, wow! This is going on repeat. My only change would be to hold off on adding the water to see if you need it to blend. I zapped mine in Vitamix and it would have been no problem without the water giving even more intense flavour.
Thanks Sylvia for all your delicious recipes, photography and inspiration. This site has become my main source for new recipes and I appreciate all the work you do to make them successful for your readers.
I loved this, Sylvia!! The sauce was amazing! Thank you so much for sharing these recipes!! My cooking has improved so much thanks to you!
Wow that sauce is incredible!
Thanks Michael!
Made this tonight, and it was ah-mazing! Even my {omnivore} parsnip-averse hubby took a bite… raised an eyebrow… paused… and proclaimed, “Wow!” This was the first time I’ve made romesco sauce, but it won’t be my last, and this will be the only recipe I’ll ever use. I used (leftover, lol) roasted red onion, pre-roasted/frozen red bell pepper, roasted garlic puree, garlic-roasted almonds, dried tomato powder, and red wine vinegar. I loved the pesto-y texture and complex depth of flavor! It was perfection. And sooo easy! Heck, all I need for dinner is this dish and a nice glass of WA red. Thank you, Sylvia, for making delicious, gourmet-level plant-based dishes easy and approachable for the rest of us. 🙂
I’m so glad you both enjoyed it Andrea! Thanks for being here, I’m glad you are liking the blog. 🙂
It was the best parsnip dish I have ever had! thank you
Yay!!!!Glad you enjoyed it Debrah!
Hi Silvia, I can not compliment you enough: this recipe was again so finger-licking good! I’ve made romesco sauce in the past from another recipe and I didn’t like it a lot. So I was hesitating to try it this time. But boy am I glad I did. I made it with roasted almonds and appelcider vinegar (cause I was out of sherry vinegar) and it turned out so delicious! Thank you again from Holland!!.
Aww thanks Lisette! So glad you enjoyed this!
This is SO GOOD! Something new and interesting to do with parsnips…so simple yet elegant. A new favorite!
Glad you gave it a whirl!
Just tried the parsnips with Romesco sauce last night. Frankly, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I think it might be the best sauce I’ve ever made or tasted!! Thank you.
Susan
Haha I love this comment! Thanks for posting! Glad you enjoyed. xoxo
This was absolutely delicious! It will definitely become a regular in our recipe rotation!