Potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, peppers and all kinds of root vegetables - with five simple tips you can have all of your vegetables crispy in the oven in a flash.
Colorful oven-baked vegetables are probably one of the culinary basics for many people. No wonder, because it can be enjoyed as a nutritious side dish with a piece of meat or fish, as well as with a little feta in the form of a vegetarian main meal in low-carb cuisine. The only work involved is cleaning and cutting the vegetables, because marinated with a little oil, herbs and spices, they are baked crispy in the oven in a flash. Easy smashed potatoes with sour cream dip are particularly crispy.
Important basics: Set the oven correctly
Anyone who generally likes to set the oven to top and bottom heat is not doing themselves any favors when it comes to oven-baked vegetables. Although the vegetables are cooked gently and gently, the flabby, soft zucchini and carrot sticks no longer have anything to do with crispy oven vegetables.
Instead, it is recommended to use the oven setting for all kinds of oven vegetables. Not only is it faster, the vegetables also become significantly crispier during the baking process. Hot air is blown directly against the steam escaping from the vegetables. This means the vegetables brown more evenly and achieve the most desired, crispy consistency.
For crispy oven vegetables: the right base
The right base also plays a crucial role in achieving a crispy end result. When preparing oven-baked vegetables, quite a few people probably go straight to a baking dish with high sides or a deep baking tray. However, the high edge of the baking dish or tray catches the escaping water vapor from the vegetables, so that they are gently steamed and not baked until crispy. It is therefore better to use a flat baking tray without a rim.
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Your oven vegetables need so little oil
Many people also make a common mistake when marinating - they literally drown the vegetables in oil before baking. More fat probably results in a crispier crust. However, the vegetables should only be coated all over with a little vegetable oil. As a rule of thumb, use about two tablespoons of oven-baked vegetables per baking tray.
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using rapeseed oil as it has a significantly higher smoke point than conventional olive oil. Alternatively, refined olive oil can also be used.
Pay attention to cooking times and ventilation
Especially if you are baking several different types of vegetables together in the oven, you should pay attention to the different cooking times. Depending on the type of vegetable itself, but also on the size of the pieces, the vegetables need different amounts of time in the oven. To avoid your vegetables being half raw and half charred when you take them out of the oven, you should bake the vegetables one at a time.
You don't have to bake the individual types separately, but you can simply add the vegetables to the tray one by one with a shorter cooking time. However, you should be careful not to cover the half-finished vegetables with the new ones. Give your vegetables enough space so that they can get nice and crispy. Alternatively, the vegetables with a longer cooking time can simply be cut into smaller pieces or vegetables with a shorter cooking time can be cut into coarser pieces.
For extraordinarily crispy oven vegetables, the oven door can be opened every now and then while baking to allow the liquid that comes out of the vegetables to escape.
For the perfect finish: herbs, spices, cheese and dips
If the vegetables are coated with a little vegetable oil, they can be wonderfully refined with salt and pepper as well as numerous spices such as paprika, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and curry. The vegetables can also be wonderfully flavored with a few cloves of garlic and fresh herbs.
About ten minutes before you take the vegetables out of the oven, you can also add some cheese - such as feta, parmesan or mozzarella - to the tray. This is demonstrated not least by grandma's tried-and-tested recipe for crispy cauliflower with cheese gratin. A large mixed salad and a variety of fresh dips can then be served with the crispy oven vegetables.