The Best Way To Cook Parsnips, According To Reddit

Somewhere along the line, carrots got the better marketing, leaving their cousin vegetable, parsnips, out in the cold (though that is literally not a bad thing since frosty weather makes them taste sweeter). Overall, though, parsnips are sweeter than carrots anyway, and they have a pleasant nuttiness to them, which makes them a delightful, if much-overlooked, root veg to add to your dinner rotation. However, if you suddenly find yourself with a bunch of parsnips to cook, and you're wondering what method will really make them shine, Reddit has the answer (as Reddit usually does): Roast them.

On a thread within the ever-popular Cooking subreddit, the original poster wrote that they had come into some parsnips and had no idea what to do with them. The response with the most upvotes suggested "[roasting them] to caramelization," and many other comments on the thread echoed that sentiment (per Reddit). We suggest roasting parsnips with hazelnuts and feta. A very helpful commenter even had a suggestion for how hot and how long to roast them in the oven: 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes, and they advised simply dressing them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and "a touch of honey" (via Reddit).

Naturally, a food this delicious comes with a few caveats, which Redditors on that Cooking subreddit thread were quick to point out. " The peel can be a bit more bitter, so I would peel them the first time," one commenter wrote. Just like with carrots, some dirt and debris can linger on the peel, and it can chew a little bit tough, too, so if you want the best parsnip experience, bust out your peeler.

Another thing these helpful Redditors cautioned the OP about was the core in thicker parsnips. One commenter described it as "tough and almost woody tasting" (via Reddit). It's a good idea to cut around that and leave it out when chopping up your veg for the oven. Similarly, several respondents also emphasized the need to cut them into uniformly sized pieces before roasting them. Because the top can be a lot larger and thicker than the bottom end, this step is essential if you want them to cook at the same rate. If you don't, you might end up with burned small pieces and undercooked big ones. If you like the crunch and extra caramelization, however, you can simply roast them whole, as another commenter wrote is popular in the United Kingdom.

While roasting parsnips might be the best way to cook the root vegetables, according to Reddit, there are other methods that can yield perfectly good parsnips as well. One person recommended actually taking another step after roasting them: tossing them in a blender to puree them, turning them into a soup. Add in any aromatics and spices you might want, as well as a dash of cream, for a dreamy, thick bowl of pure comfort.

They're also very delicious mashed, like potatoes (or even added to them) — though they have a sweetness that the pommes de terre cannot match, especially when coupled with salty butter. And a few people recommended adding them to stews. "The flavor they add is divine," one Redditor gushed.

Finally, as unique as it sounds, you can use parsnips as an ingredient in a cake. Parsnip cake might sound pretty wild, but if you like carrot cake, it's an easy translation to make. You even grate the parsnips the same way you do carrots to get moist cake. It's especially delicious considering the nutty flavor element that these root vegetables have, which enhances the warm spices, like cinnamon and ginger, that often get mixed in.