15 Root Vegetable Recipes that are Perfect for Winter!

Root vegetable recipes are great for winter time––they’re cozy, healthy, and pretty simple to make. Plus, there are so many to choose from! Yams, carrots, potatoes, turnips, beets––the list goes on! If you’re unsure how to cook these amazing ingredients, check out these root vegetable recipes! There’s something for all experience levels. Try some out. You may find your new favorite recipe or vegetable!

We also highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App  — with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest meatless, vegan, plant-based and allergy-friendly recipe resource to help you get healthy! 

Get ready for winter with these 15 root vegetable recipes! They’ll help you stay grounded all season long!

1. Turnip Beet Mash

Source: Turnip Beet Mash

Bursting with purple hues, this creamy Turnip Beet Mash by The Living Kitchen, Tamara Green and Sarah Grossman may just invigorate you from the color alone. Beets sometimes get a bad rap for being too ‘earthy,’ but when they are steamed with other root veggies, like turnips and parsnips, the earthy tones miraculously turn sweet. This mash is simple to prepare and just what you need to eat if you’re experiencing the most common treatment side effects like nausea, low appetite, or an upset stomach. Plus, it’s robustly flavorful, thanks to the roasted garlic.

2. Fermented Beet Quinoa Bowl

Source: Fermented Beet Quinoa Bowl

If you are looking for a good post-workout meal with the right combination of macro-and micronutrients, then this Fermented Beet Quinoa Bowl by Nikki and Zuzana is what you need! It is rich in amino acids (protein) to help repair and build muscle, healthy carbs to replenish glycogen used during the exercise and just the right amount of good fats to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. You will want to ferment the beets for 24 hours prior to assembling the bowl. However, if you are short on time or haven’t accounted for this step you can omit the fermentation and prepare the dish with freshly grated beets instead. You can prepare this bowl in advance and use it as an easy pack-to-go lunch.

3. Coconut Roasted Butternut Fennel Bisque

Source: Coconut Roasted Butternut Fennel Bisque

This is a heartwarming healthy Coconut Roasted Butternut Fennel Bisque by Stephanie McKinnie to start off the new year right!  The roasted veggies provide a rich quality with a nice buttery flavor and a wonderfully creamy texture without the use of butter.  Adding the tiniest amount of curry powder, however, it really doesn’t taste like curry but it adds a great depth of flavor!  The lemongrass brings a brightness to the overall flavor!  You can add a little crunch with the addition of pepitas.

4. Chickpea Turnip Meatballs

Source: Chickpea Turnip Meatballs

These gluten-free Chickpea Turnip Meatballs by Ashley Madden put the boring ol’ turnip to good use! They are high in fiber, low in calories, and a good source of protein. Not to mention, they are loaded with flavor! Not only are they packed with garlic, cumin, and coriander, they’re served in a delicious herbed tomato sauce. Yum!

5. Smoky Pinto Bean-Beet Burgers

Source: Smoky Pinto Bean-Beet Burgers

A homemade veggie burger is a welcome alternative to beef—at least in theory. But too many are either mushy or dry and lack flavor. For a modern burger with superior composition, we stepped beyond run-of-the-mill bean patties and combined pinto beans with sweet, earthy beets, rich walnuts, and chewy bulgur. This not only delivered fantastic texture and flavor, but amassed an enviable nutritional profile for a burger: protein and fiber from beans, minerals and vitamins from the bulgur and beets, and omega-3 fatty acids from the walnuts. Carrot baby food (conveniently pureed) provided an unconventional but effective binder that lent the patties a subtle sweetness. Any brand of plain carrot baby food will work here. Use a coarse grater or the shredding disk of a food processor to shred the beet. When shopping, don’t confuse bulgur with cracked wheat, which has a much longer cooking time. You are going to love these Smoky Pinto Bean-Beet Burgers by Nutritious Delicious: Turbocharge Your Favorite Recipes With 50 Everyday Superfoods!

6. Apple, Parsnip, and Fennel Soup With Crispy Sage Brussels Sprouts

Source: Apple, Parsnip, and Fennel Soup With Crispy Sage Brussels Sprouts

This Apple, Parsnip, and Fennel Soup With Crispy Sage Brussels Sprouts by Claire Ragozzino is the perfect comforting meal that celebrates the fall harvest. The apple provides sweet notes that counter the starchy, zesty parsnip. For added texture and veggies, make crispy sage Brussels sprouts to sprinkle on top. This soup is so creamy, your dinner guests will not believe that it is dairy-free!

7. Sage Purple Potato Cakes With Saffron Sauce and Turnip Greens

Source: Sage Purple Potato Cakes With Saffron Sauce and Turnip Greens

These Sage Purple Potato Cakes With Saffron Sauce and Turnip Greens by Valentina Chiappa are an easy, elegant, and healthy recipe! Drizzle over saffron sauce and top with turnips for a delicious simple dinner.

8. Golden Beet Salad

Source: Golden Beet Salad

Beets come in a wide range of colors and each of these types of beets have a unique taste and sweetness to them. Golden beets are slightly sweeter and a little less “earthy” than traditional red beets. They are also slightly softer and won’t stain your whole kitchen. Although beets are high in sugar, they are packed with vitamins, minerals, and powerful antioxidants. All beets are great sources of fiber, potassium, iron, and folic acid. Since Golden beets are orange-yellowish in color, their health benefits are slightly different from red beets. Orange and yellow vegetables contain high levels of vitamin C, vitamin A, beta-carotene, lycopene, flavonoids, and zeaxanthin. They are also packed with antioxidants, so eat up your bright orange and yellow fruits and vegetables! Beets are very healthy, naturally sweet, and a colorful addition to any table. Enjoy them in this easy and fresh golden beet salad with white balsamic vinaigrette. This Golden Beet Salad by Angelina Papanikolaou is so simple to make. It can be served warm or cold. If you prefer a cold salad, it can be prepared a day in advance.

9. Simple Turnip Salad

Source: Simple Turnip Salad

Sometimes the simplest things are the most successful. This is the kind of thing you can make whenever you’re in a hurry. It takes about 5 minutes to make this dish. If you want to make it a bit more filling you can just add some quinoa! This Simple Turnip Salad by Natalie Yonan is so good!

10. Fennel and Brown Rice Salad

Source: Fennel and Brown Rice Salad

This Fennel and Brown Rice Salad by Taryn Fitz-Gerald is so easy to throw together and would be a great idea to use up brown rice from whatever you cooked the night before. The fennel really gives a great, strong flavor to the dish, and compliments the surrounding flavors. With so many nutritional benefits, this is a pretty complete dish, and one that’ll tick all the boxes. Nutrition – Check! Flavor – Check! Quick & Easy – Check! If you’re a lover of fennel and all things licorice, you’ll love this interesting salad. For those who don’t know, fennel is a crunchy and slightly sweet vegetable that is quite popular in Mediterranean and Italian cooking. It’s made up of a big pale green/white bulb and long stalks (similar to celery) with tiny feathery thin leaves which flower and produce fennel seeds. It’s most popularly known for it’s distinct licorice flavor. Fennel is so versatile, from roasting it, to throwing it into soups, it really can work in so many ways. This fennel salad is a crunchy salad that is bursting with nutrition and a whole lot of flavor. Quick and easy to make and a great option for left over rice.

11. Beet Hummus On Sourdough Avocado Toast

Source: Beet Hummus On Sourdough Avocado Toast

If you’re looking for ways how to freshen up your hummus game or want to surprise your guests, this beet hummus is just for you. It’s creamy, garlicky and crazy bright pink. This Beet Hummus On Sourdough Avocado Toast by Laine Rudolfa is fantastic!

12. Creamy Saffron and Fennel Tea Latte

Source: Creamy Saffron and Fennel Tea Latte

This Creamy Saffron and Fennel Tea Latte by Claire Ragozzino is a great coffee alternative recipe warms your soul and makes your morning rituals a little sweeter.

13. Good Morning Beet Juice

Source: Good Morning Beet Juice

This apple beet juice may be the brightest juice ever made … Not only does the hot pink really get your moving in the morning but all the great vitamins and minerals from the beets, apples, carrots and strawberries really put a skip in your step!! Regardless of your love of beets, give this Good Morning Beet Juice by Ashley Smyczek a try … you may surprise yourself! This apple beet juice is equal parts fruit and veggies so it isn’t overly sweet, but the apples pair so well with the flavor of the earthy beet that even kids will love it!

14. Nori Seaweed Rolls With Vegetables and Sprouts

Source: Nori Seaweed Rolls With Vegetables and Sprouts

Easy to assemble and quite healthy Nori Seaweed Rolls With Vegetables and Sprouts by Simona Malerba!

15. Beet ‘n’ Berry Overnight Cauliflower Oats

Source: Beet ‘n’ Berry Overnight Cauliflower Oats

These Beet ‘n’ Berry Overnight Cauliflower Oats by Tara Sunshine are the perfect breakfast for busy mornings. They’re super healthy and delicious and the color is absolutely beautiful!  Make them the night before and then you can just grab them and go in the morning! Or scoop them into a bowl and enjoy a nice breakfast without having to worry about making it.

If you loved these root vegetable recipes, make sure to check out Anything and Everything You Can (and Should) Do With Root Vegetables, Parsnips: A Root Vegetable for More Than Just Roasting!, Spotlight on Sunchokes, The Diabetic-Friendly Root Vegetable, and 10 Rocking Fall Recipes with Root Vegetables!

Learn How to Cook Plant-Based Meals at Home!

Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental wellbeing, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health and more! Dairy consumption also has been linked many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, prostate cancer and has many side effects.

For those of you interested in eating more plant-based, we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App — with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest plant-based recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Here are some great resources to get you started:

• Weekly Vegan Meal Plans
• Plant-Based Health Resources
• Plant-Based Food & Recipes
• Plant-Based Nutrition Resources
• The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition
• Budget-Friendly Plant-Based Recipes
• High Protein Plant-Based Recipes
• Plant-Based Meal Prep

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