Roasted Parsnips with Chive Honey Gremolata

Earthy Parsnips roasted to golden brown perfection and then topped with a sweet, spicy, herby chive honey gremolata. This is a simple side dish with bold flavors and is quite certainly the best roasted parsnips recipe for your fall and winter table. 

For more roasted goodness check out my, Perfect Every Time Roasted Split Chicken Breast and my Simple Roasted Butternut Squash.

Parsnips! One of the great, albeit underappreciated, root vegetables. In the northeastern United States we hit parsnip season in late fall and ride that season all the way through spring. Parsnips are the one vegetable you are guaranteed to find in local markets, and yet, not a lot of folks know how to prepare them!

Let’s fix that!

In this recipe, parsnips are perfectly roasted to bring out their natural sweetness and earthy flavor.  This parsnip preparation is an easy side dish made with a few simple ingredients easily found at any grocery store. This is beginner-level difficulty with expert-level flavors.  

​Why You’ll Love this Recipe

• As easy as it gets – Roasting vegetables is a low-effort high-reward cooking activity. When parsnips are roasted their natural sugars carmelize for
• There is hardly a more versatile vegetable side dish than roasted vegetables.
• If you are new to the parsnip world, welcome, I am going to say this is my favorite way to prepare parsnips. Roasting at a high temperature in a hot oven until they are caramelized, sweet, golden brown, and crisp on the outside.
• The roasted parsnips in this recipe are finished with a bright and herby gremolata.

Let’s Get Cooking!

Ingredients and Substitutions

Detailed measurements and ingredients can be found within the recipe card at the end of this post.

• Parsnips -So what is a parsnip anyway? At first glance, they look like big white carrots.  Like carrots, parsnips are in the root vegetable family but have a deeper, more complex, and sometimes sweeter flavor than carrots with nutty and earthy undertones. This makes them more versatile and complex than carrots and better suited to a variety of pairings.
• Olive oil – my preferred fat for roasting veggies 

FOR THE GREMOLATA

• Fresh Herbs –  Fresh chives and parsley, dried herbs will not work here, but you can mix up the herbs based on availability. Using only chives or parsley, subbing in cilantro, or dill will also work.
• Finely Chopped Lemon Peel –  Be sure to chop the peel instead of zesting it.  You want it to have some presence in the dish. I use Meyer lemon because it is sweeter than a typical lemon and not as sour. The citrus adds a bright punchy acid that balances the earthiness of the parsnips 
• Fresh Garlic Clove
• Honey – A little hit of honey balances the flavors, and a hit of sweet is wonderful with parnsips
• Optional crushed red pepper – if you like a little heat

Step by Step Instructions

If this is your first time cooking parsnips fear not. This is a very easy recipe. 

1. Prepare the Parsnips

Begin by preparing the parsnips. Give them a good scrub, and peel them! I prefer to peel my parsnips (as you would a carrot) the outer edge can be quite tough and unpleasant. Then chop into batons.

To chop a parsnip into batons:

• Cut the parsnip in half lengthwise, creating two long halves.
• Place each half flat-side down on the cutting board to stabilize it.
• Slice each half lengthwise into long, thin strips, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
• Repeat the process until you’ve cut the entire parsnip into batons.
• The goal is to have mostly uniform size and shape for even cooking

2. Season parsnips with olive oil, sea salt and pepper. You can do this in a separate bowl but I prefer to do it directly on a sheet pan. Place into a preheated oven on a sheet pan. Roast in a 425 oven for 30 minutes. The high temperature of the hot oven creates a caramelization that teases the natural sugars to the forefront 

3. Prepare Gremolata

Finely chop the fresh herbs, add to a bowl. Using a vegetable peeler, peel thin strips of lemon peel and then using a sharp knife finely dice the lemon peel. You could also use zest, but I prefer the larger pieces of lemon peel in the gremolata.

Add honey, crushed red pepper, crushed garlic, salt, and lots of olive oil. Stir well and allow to sit for a few minutes.

4. PLATE

Remove parsnips from the oven, pile them high on a plate, and drizzle generously with the herb gremolata.

Tips for Best Results

• Cut parsnips in similar size pieces. This will help them roast evenly in the oven. Cut the larger parsnips in half lengthwise and then into batons.  Smaller parsnips may just be cut into sections of their fully rounded state. Ultimately you want to cut the pieces into similar masses so that they all cook at the same rate. 
• The best way to lay out your parsnips for the oven is in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, do not crowd the pan. You want the natural sugars in the parsnips to brown and caramelize. If they are stacked on top of one another or too crowded, they will steam and you will miss out on all that caramelized goodness. 

Storage, Reheating, and Freezing

• STORAGE – Leftover roast parsnips may be refrigerated in an airtight container for 5 days, I recommend storing the parsnips and the gremolata in separate containers.
• REHEATING – Reheat in oven or countertop oven for 15 minutes at 250°.  May also be microwaved. Take the gremolata out of the fridge and allow to come to room temperature, drizzle on the reheated parsnips.

Frequently Asked Questions

For similar tasty dishes, check out my Thanksgiving recipes, healthy Christmas recipes and fall recipes roundups!

I can’t wait for you to try this! When you make it, snap a photo and tag me on Instagram @abrapappa or use the hashtag #abraskitchen so I can feature your photo! 

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 If you’ve tried this recipe, I would love to hear from you! don’t forget to rate and leave a comment below.