Garlic Butter Roasted Parsnips Recipe - Easy Thanksgiving Side Dish! (2024)

FAQs

What pairs well with parsnips? ›

The flavor of parsnips pairs well with other root vegetables, like beets, sweet potatoes, and carrots. They're also delicious with cauliflower, potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. Don't be afraid to roast these parsnips with other veggies of choice for a fiber-rich, delicious side dish.

How to prepare parsnips. Young, small parsnips don't really need peeling – just scrub clean and serve whole. Older parsnips should be peeled very thinly with a peeler or sharp knife, then chopped into evenly sized chunks. If the central core is very fibrous, this should be cut away.

You can serve these as you would any roasted vegetable – with chicken, beef, pork or other veggies. They're great in a roasted veggie hash topped with eggs. You can even turn roasted parsnips into a roasted parsnip soup, although I'd add steamed or boiled potato or cauliflower to cut the richness and sweetness.

Low in calories yet rich in fiber, parsnips make an excellent addition to a healthy weight loss diet. Fiber passes slowly through your digestive tract, helping to keep you feeling fuller for longer which may reduce your appetite and food intake ( 11 ).

Parsnips often contain a group of natural toxins called furocoumarins. These are probably produced to protect the plant when it has been stressed. The toxin is mostly found in the peel and the surface layer of the plant, as well as around any damaged areas. One of the toxins can cause stomach ache.

How much veg is too much? Whether it's parsnips, sprouts, braised cabbage or carrots, 80g of each per person will do the trick.

If a raw parsnip becomes soft and squishy, this is a sign of rot and it should no longer be eaten.

What sets parsnips apart is their low-calorie content and high fiber, making them an excellent alternative to starchy vegetables like potatoes. In fact, for two centuries, parsnips were the primary source of dietary starch in the US before potatoes took over.

One serving of parsnips provides about 20 percent of the DRI for women and about 13 percent for men. Fiber also helps to slow down sugar absorption to avoid spikes in your blood sugar. Although parsnips have a higher glycemic index of 52, they have so much fiber that the sugars don't absorb all at once.

Thick parsnips tend to have bitter, woody cores. Cut them in half length-wise and cut out the core if this is the case. Parsnips taste best during the winter months. They're sweeter when exposed to cold, so keep them in a bag in the fridge.

Should you eat the core of a parsnip? ›

If you plan to serve parsnips whole and don't want to cut them on the bias, they're much more pleasant to eat if you remove the tough, chewy cores before cooking. HARD CORE: Tough parsnip cores should be removed before roasting but aren't noticeable in pureed applications.

Cooking instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan, then add the carrots and parsnips and toss to coat in the oil. Add the thyme, cinnamon, star anise and some seasoning. Cook over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes, turning the vegetables frequently, until golden brown and almost cooked through.

In some cases, people consuming parsnip for the first time may also experience allergic conditions like dermatitis, bloating, gas, stomach cramps, and food allergy symptoms like burning, itching, and swelling of lips and tongue, redness in the eyes, and breathing difficulty.

One-Pot Beef Stew with Parsnips is the ultimate slow-cooked comfort food where the beef is fork tender. The gravy has a wonderful rich flavor with undertones of Guinness that pairs perfectly with mashed potatoes and freshly baked bread slathered in Kerrygold Butter!

Like most root vegetables, parsnips are filled with a rich history rooted in peasant food. They are more expensive to grow, harvest (the tops are cut by hand) and pack, which is why the parsnip is a bit more expensive than its orange twin, the carrot.

In case you are reading my former, deluded, beliefs, here is the correction: On parsnips, the facts are that parsnips can cross with wild parsnip, but not with carrots or Queen Anne's Lace, as I wrongly claimed. On fennel, the facts are that fennel does not cross with anything except other fennel.

In poor soil use a fertiliser low in nitrogen and high in phosphorus, such as blood and bone, applied at the recommended rate.