The 4 Best Ways to Cook Parsnips
Parsnips have an earthy sweetness that works in a lot of different dishes and cuisines. Try them roasted, riced, mashed or noodle-d for fun ways to add more veggies to your diet.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
Roasted Parsnips
- 1 pound parsnips
- 2 tablespoons cooking fat of your choice, such as avocado or olive oil, ghee or bacon fat
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Parsnip Rice
- 1 pound parsnips
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper (optional)
Mashed Parsnips
- 1 pound parsnips
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1-2 tablespoons ghee or grass-fed butter (or similar cooking fat of your choice), plus more for the top
- water, broth or milk of your choice (optional, see instructions below)
Parsnip Noodles
- 1 pound parsnips
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons cooking fat of your choice (optional, see instructions below)
Instructions
Roasted Parsnips
- Heat the oven to 425°.
- Peel the parsnips and trim off both ends. Cut the thinner part into roughly 1-2" chunks. Cut the thicker parts into ½" slices, and then halve or quarter those slices if the parsnip is very thick.
- Toss the parsnips on a large baking sheet with the cooking fat and salt. Spread out into one layer, making sure there's room between each piece so roast, not steam.
- Roast for 35-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of your slices, tossing halfway through. Sprinkle on the black pepper, toss and pour into a serving bowl. Serve warm.
Parsnip Rice
- Peel the parsnips and trim off both ends.
- To rice them, you have two options. You can chop them and pulse them in a food processor until they're the size of rice. Or you can leave them whole (peeled and trimmed) and grated using the large holes of box grater. I tend to hold the thinner end and start grating the thicker end first. The grater will make it look more like shredded parsnip than rice, but it still works well.
- Add the riced parsnip to a large, microwave-safe bowl. Seal with plastic wrap, leaving a small hole somewhere around the rim of the bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes, toss the rice with a fork and taste. It should be soft but still with a bit of bite. If they're not, cover again and nuke in 1 minute increments until they're the consistency you like.
- Using a fork (a spoon could mash them up), toss with the salt and, if using, the black pepper.
Mashed Parsnips
- Peel the parsnips and trim off both ends.
- Slice the parsnips into thin, ¼"-⅛" coins. Add them to a microwave-safe bowl and pour in about ¼ cup water. Seal the bowl with plastic wrap, allowing for a small vent somewhere around the rim.
- Microwave the parsnips for 10 minutes. Carefully remove and peel off the plastic wrap (it will be hot!). Drain the parsnips and add them back to the bowl.
- Mash with a potato masher. Add the salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon ghee or butter and keep mashing until it's the consistency you like. If it's too thick, stir in a little water, broth or milk a tablespoon at a time until you like it. Serve warm with more ghee or butter on top.
Parsnip Noodles
- Peel the parsnips and trim off the smaller end. Discard the peels.
- Holding the parsnips by the larger end, continue peeling, rotating the parsnip after every peel. Keep peeling and rotating until you're almost down to the core. At some point the thinner end of the parsnip will probably become too thin to peel anymore. That's okay! Just keep peeling the thicker end until you naturally can't anymore.
- Add the noodles to a microwave-safe bowl, pour in about ¼ cup water and cover with plastic wrap, allowing for a small vent somewhere around the rim. Microwave in 2 minute increments until they're soft enough for your liking. Toss with the salt and pepper and serve.
- Alternatively, you could eat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the noodles, salt and pepper and toss until coated in the oil. Cook, tossing occasionally, until the noodles have softened and begun to shrink. Some will brown and caramelize, which is good. Remove from the pan when it's the consistency you like.