Honey Roast Parsnips - Side Dish Recipe

Honey roast parsnips, a simple roast dinner side dish that anyone can make at home.

Roasted parsnips are easy to make and this recipe requires only 4 ingredients. 

Roasting parsnips with honey caramelizes the natural sugars, resulting in crispy parsnips with an extra depth of flavour from the garlic.

Not only an essential side for Christmas dinner but also a must-have addition to all Sunday Roast’s!

How to make honey roast parsnips?

One of my favourite ways to prepare parsnips is by glazing them with honey and olive oil. Before roasting them in the oven. 

See how easy it is to make these honey roasted parsnips at home, on our video above.

Click here for ingredients and recipe card or continue reading for all the tips.

What are parsnips?

Parsnips are a root vegetable that looks similar to a carrot, but with cream coloured skin and flesh and a tougher woody texture. 

Parsnips are an often forgotten vegetable in the kitchen. Not as popular as carrots, but they make for a great addition to any dish.

They are grown in Europe through autumn, winter and spring. At their sweetest at the beginning of spring, helped by the cold climate to develop a sweet flavour.

When buying parsnips, look for blemish-free, small or medium-sized firm parsnips for maximum sweetness! The larger ones become more woody and blander tasting

How to prepare parsnips for roasting?

Young, small or baby parsnips can be cooked without peeling, older larger parsnips with tougher skin should be peeled.

Cut the parsnips into even-sized batons so they all take the same amount of time to roast.

Do I need to parboil parsnips?

When using firm fresh parsnips there is no need to parboil them first.

Honey glaze

The honey glaze helps add extra sweetness and a sticky coating which during roasting creates delightful crispy parsnips. 

We use Rowse runny honey, the squeezy bottle helps makes it easy to use!

It’s so easy to mix up, just olive oil, honey, garlic and a bit of black pepper.

You can use maple syrup or agave syrup instead of honey for a similar sweet result.

Pour and coat all over the parsnips in a bowl. Before transferring to a baking tray.

How to roast parsnips?

I suggest cooking in an oven dedicated to only the parsnips, using a shallow roasting tin as the low sides allows the heat to spread evenly over the vegetables, leading to perfectly crispy roast parsnips.

Baking tray and parchment

It is best to use parchment paper on the baking tray to prevent the parsnips from sticking to the tin. It also saves on having to scrub the stuck-on bits of the roasting tray!

Cooking Time and Oven Temperature

Roast in the centre of a preheated oven at 200°C fan / 220°C / 425°F / Gas Mark 7 for about 25 minutes.

Turn the parsnips halfway through cooking time for even roasting.

If parsnips are chopped in larger chunks or being cooking with other trays in the oven, they may take up to 35 minutes.

If they are browning too quickly, but not quite cooked, you can add some foil over the top!

Serving suggestions

Before serving season with salt and pepper over the top, I also like to add some fresh thyme leaves.

Serve with your favourite roast dinner, beef, lamb, pork or turkey with all the trimmings, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings?

Prepare ahead

If you want to prepare this side dish ahead, peel and chop and keep in parsnips in salted water to prevent them from browning.

The honey glaze can be made ahead of time ready to pour on top of the drained parsnips.

Cook ahead

Alternatively, cook ahead of time. Remove from the oven before they are too browned. Allow to cool and keep covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. 

Then simply cook for 20 minutes at 200°C fan / 220°C / 425°F / Gas Mark 7 until golden brown and crispy. 

The perfect way to prepare parsnips for Christmas Dinner!

Freezing parsnips

Lastly, you can cook ahead, remove from the oven before too browned, allow to cool, transfer to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 months. 

Oven cook from frozen at 200°C fan / 220°C / 425°F / Gas Mark 7 for about 30 minutes.

This is the perfect way to have sweet parsnips for Sunday roast dinner, all year round!

There's nothing better than coming home after a long day and digging into some warm roasted parsnips! These veggies have such a sweet taste thanks to the honey marinade.

📖 Step by Step Recipe

More parsnip recipes

If you enjoyed this honey roast parsnips recipe you should check out our Parsnip and Sweet Potato Gratin.

We also created a similar vegetable sidedish where we roasted brussel sprouts carrots and parsnips together with maple syrup for the glaze. Perfect Christmas side dish.