Roasted Turnips Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Do you have to peel turnips before you roast them? ›

It's not essential to peel turnips before cooking. If this skin appears to be thin enough you can leave it on and cook as is. However if the skin feels thick and leathery, you can peel it off with a sharp knife or vegetable peeler. Both the roots and leaves, also known as turnip greens, are safe to eat.

Baked, Boiled or Steamed. Use turnips any way you would use a potato, and then some. Try them baked or boiled in stews, soups and stir-fries, or lightly steamed with some butter, salt or lemon juice for flavor. homemade coleslaw.

Wash greens and roots well. Some suggest soaking the greens in a little salty water. One turnip website from the United Kingdom notes that if you boil them, add a little sugar to tame the scent and add baking soda to reduce bitterness.

Turnips and other cruciferous vegetables that are high in fiber help make people feel fuller for longer, and they are low in calories. Eating high fiber meals also helps keep blood sugar levels stable. The fiber content in turnips may also prevent constipation and promote regularity for a healthy digestive tract.

Adding a little sugar to your turnips after cooking can also help to counteract any bitterness.

Boil or steam turnips and add them to mashed potatoes for extra vitamins and minerals. Grate them raw into salads or slaws. Roast them with other root vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes, and bring out their natural sweetness.

Turnips are a healthy alternative to potatoes; they're lower in calories and have fewer carbs. Smaller, sweeter turnips can be sliced into wedges and eaten raw like an apple.

How to cook Turnips. Small turnips are delicious raw – eat whole or slice thinly. Alternatively, you can steam, roast or braise the roots. Larger turnips are best peeled and steamed, boiled or mashed.

Rutabagas are also generally much larger than turnips. So for a quick rule of thumb, the brownish-yellowish ones are rutabagas, and the smaller white and purple ones are turnips. In terms of their flavor, rutabagas are slightly sweeter-tasting than turnips whereas turnips have a slightly more radishy flavor.

This is a bad practice, however, and you should avoid adding baking soda when boiling any type of vegetable. It has various unwelcome effects, such as softening the vegetable, altering the vegetable's flavor, destroying thiamine content, and hastening the loss of vitamin C.

Can you eat raw turnips? ›

Though they are most commonly cooked, turnips can be enjoyed raw as well. If you plan to eat them raw, simply peel and slice the turnip like an apple to eat with dips or add to the top of your salad. Be sure to slice off the root end and remove the greens – which can be saved for cooking as well.

Turnip good for heart health

Turnip contain potassium which is a vasodilator. Potassium acts to reduce strains on blood vessels and arteries by lowering blood pressure. This helps to prevent problems like atherosclerosis and also reduces the risks of heart attacks and strokes.

Half a cup of sliced and boiled parsnip has 55 calories, 13 grams of carbohydrates, three grams of fiber, one gram of protein, and no fat. A half cup of cubed turnip has 17 calories, four grams of carbs, 1.6 grams of fiber, 0.5 grams of protein, and no fat.

Yes, people living with diabetes can eat turnip as it is a low glycemic index vegetable that can help regulate blood sugar levels. However, it is important to monitor portion sizes and overall carbohydrate intake.

The next question is whether to peel turnips. As with carrots, this is largely a matter of preference — with a few caveats. One is that the attractive purplish blush of turnips resides solely in the skin, so you'll lose it if you peel them. Secondly, unless your turnips are farm-fresh, they may have tough skin.

To cut the turnip, first slice it into thick batons or sticks. Then slice the batons crossways to dice it.