Roast Vegetables On A Rack For Maximum Crispiness

Water is the enemy of crisp, perfectly golden brown roasted vegetables—which sucks, because vegetables contain a lot of it. If you’re all about those crispy edges, try reaching for a cooling rack. More air circulation means all that water will actually evaporate, so your vegetables turn out crispy every single time.

It’s basically that simple, but there are a few tricks to make the most of this technique. First, don’t be afraid to really whack up that oven temperature: 220ºC-235ºC is the sweet spot. As for prep, thin slices of veg work better than big chunks. The delicata squash in the photos was tender and delicious, but it would have actually gotten crispy if I’d made 0.5 centimetre slices instead of 1 centimetre.

Also, be sure to toss your veg with plenty of oil—even a little more than you’d usually use. Without a hot pan to encourage browning, each piece of veg needs a generous coating of fat so they crisp up instead of dehydrating and turning into vegetable leather.

You can toss just about any vegetable on a rack, but I’ve found that the, uh, wetter the vegetable, the better it takes to this preparation. (If you’ve ever opened the oven to check on roasted veg and gotten a lungful of steam, you know what I mean.)

Crucifers like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage have been the most successful—I mean, just look at those florets!—but sweet potatoes and carrots work great, too. Add a bit of cornstarch or baking powder and you’re well on your way to crispy roasted veggie heaven.

This article has been updated since its original publication.

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