Just over a year ago, I shared a post about all the veggies we love to roast (and how easy it can be to roast large quantities of roasted veggies at one time).
Since then, I have gotten a massive number of emails and comments asking more and more and MORE questions about roasted vegetables! It’s so interesting to me how “popular” this method of cooking veggies has become — although I’m really not surprised because (in my opinion) roasted vegetables are the tastiest way to eat almost any vegetable!
In my original post (and in subsequent posts throughout the past year) I’ve regularly mentioned how I save lots of time and energy by roasting several large sheet pans of veggies 2 to 3 times per week, and then simply reheat them right before we’re ready to eat a meal.
NOTE: The USA Pan XL Sheet Pans are my favorite for roasting lots of veggies!
The concept of roasting in bulk and reheating veggies brought so many more questions regarding how exactly how I store our roasted veggies and how I “reheat” them so they actually taste good.
And yes, reheated roasted vegetables really DO taste amazingly delicious!
If you love the idea of serving roasted vegetables with your meals throughout the week but don’t have the time to roast them every weeknight, I would highly suggest roasting large quantities at a time (over the weekend) and reheating them throughout the week.
This system has worked well for our family over the past 2 years… I have a feeling it will work well for many of you too!
In my opinion, this isn’t really a step-by-step process. However, as I thought about what exactly I do to successfully serve reheated veggies that actually taste good, there were 3 main thoughts that came to mind…
1. I UNDER-season and UNDER-cook the veggies the first time around.
When I roast my vegetables, I do so with a small amount of olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt, and a little bit of seasonings. I usually put some sort of Italian seasoning blend on carrots, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage; paprika on sweet potatoes, and just a little garlic salt on the beets.
I also roast the veggies until they are ALMOST fully cooked — still just a bit firmer than I’d prefer.
This way, they finish cooking when I reheat them later, and I can add extra seasonings at that time as well (without ending up with overly seasoned veggies).
This seems to helps the reheated veggies taste like they just came straight out of the oven.
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2. I store all veggies in one large container.
I use 2 identical 9″ x 13″ food storage containers for our veggies — one for raw, one for roasted.
These containers are light-weight and stack nicely in our fridge.
It certainly isn’t necessary to store your veggies the exact same way I do, but I wanted to highlight our method as it helps to cut back on the number of containers in the fridge as well as the amount of time it takes for each family member to pick and choose what veggies they want for each meal.
Keeping the veggies all in one container makes serving them even more convenient (if you’re drawn to convenience, it might be worth trying this storage method!)
We usually have roasted veggies for breakfast and dinner, with raw veggies and salads served at lunch time or for snacks — which means I can simply pull out ONE container at each meal and plate up the food.
NOTE: I’ve never had roasted veggies go bad in the 3-4 days we store them in the fridge. If you are storing them for more than a week, you might run into problems.
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3. I reheat the veggies in my cast iron skillet.
Over the years, I have reheated roasted veggies in the microwave, in the oven, in non-stick frying pans, on my griddle, and in my cast iron pans — my preferred method is definitely the cast iron pans!
That said, do NOT go out and buy a cast iron pan JUST so you can reheat veggies! Try a few different methods first (a regular frying pan would probably work well).
I heat olive oil or butter to the pan first, then I usually add a bit more salt and maybe a little extra seasonings while the veggies are sautéing in the pan (I just go by taste).
After 3-5 minutes, they are perfectly cooked and seasoned to my taste, and ready to serve as a side dish (instead of over an hour if I had to peel, chop, and roast them for each meal.)
NOTE: Over the past several months, I’ve actually started reheating ALL our veggies this way — grilled veggies, steamed veggies, roasted veggies, etc. etc. They all taste super fresh when reheated in my cast iron pan with a little butter or oil!
Every family member can choose their favorite veggies, or whatever veggies sound best to them for that meal, and I simply reheat them in my cast iron skillets right before the rest of the meal is finished.
It’s not an exact science, and there’s no right or wrong way to do this.
Give it a try with whatever veggies you have in the house and see if you like it.
I’m certain that “foodies” or high-brow culinary masters would roll their eyes at my reheating method… but this technique allows me to get a variety of veggies on my children’s plates at EVERY SINGLE meal (veggies they will actually eat because they taste GOOD) with minimal extra time in the kitchen.
I consider that a definite WIN-WIN in my book!
Do you have any other tips for reheating vegetables?
Dolores Wielgus says
Excellent help. Thank you!
Dayna Hamm says
Is there a way to print the instructions with out all of the pictures?
Andrea says
Hi Dayna! My recipe posts all have a printable recipe card — but this isn’t really a recipe, so I guess there might not be a super easy to way to print (other than copying and pasting into a Google Doc or something like that).
Basically, if you just roast your veggies however you like them, and reheat them in a frying pan on the stove, you’ve got it covered 🙂 So maybe it’s so easy you don’t even need to print it!
Kim says
You amaze me with all the help you give me! After reading this, I found blah tasting microwaved cauliflower in the fridge. By simply following your heat-up suggestion, my enthusiasm for gobbling that down went up ten fold. YUM!
Andrea says
oh yay!!! Glad to help!
and yes, reheating veggies in a cast iron pan will definitely surpass the taste of the microwave!!
Lora says
I’ve recently switched from roasting our veggies in the oven to using an air fryer! (I use a tiny bit of avocado oil spray, and it takes less than 20 minutes for the initial cook). I also use the air fryer to reheat them (it takes 5 minutes max). All veggies turn out amazing–I’ll never go back to roasting in the oven again!!
We do have an extra large air fryer for our family but it’s worth not having to turn on the oven, especially during our hot summer months here in AZ.
Andrea says
you are the 3rd person to mention the air fryer! I might have to look into this more 🙂
Jennifer says
I think your method is right on! Cast iron skillets are great for reheating instead of microwaves. Leaving the veggies slightly undercooked for reheating, or adding to other meals getting cooked is perfect.
Margaret says
What temp do you roast at? I followed the link to the pans, and quite a few reviews complained of the pan warping over 400F. I normally roast veggies at 450F.
Andrea says
I usually roast mine at 400 or 425 and I’ve never had an issue. I’d be shocked if the pans warped!
Laurie says
I roast vegetables for the week all the time and love having them in the fridge for meals. I never thought of storing all the roasted vegetables together. I love that idea. Do you have a link to your 9×13 containers?
Andrea says
yes, it makes it really easy to serve when they are stored together.
Unfortunately, I can not find these containers ANYWHERE online 🙁 They are Rubbermaid “Take-Alongs” and I’ve had them for years and years. They are much “deeper” than a traditional Tupperwear brand container, which is the main reason I like them so much!
Kim Noorbergen says
I’m not sure if they are the same but I get Takealongs at the Dollar Tree and Wal Mart. They work for me
Kim
Andrea says
good to know! Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to look for them the next time I’m there!
JJ says
Ah! I was going to ask in a post and never got around to. That is genius! My brother reheats pizza on the stovetop in a frying pan with hot sauce, haha. If you have one that goes in the oven, too, you can put it under broil for a minute or so if you like it crispy.
Andrea says
yes, we’ve often reheated pizza in our cast iron pan and/or the toaster oven! SOOOOO tasty!
Gaynor Williams says
Hi Andrea, could they be frozen after the first roast if you don’t want to eat them within 3-4 days? Many thanks.
Rachel says
I freeze my roasted veggies all the time in small containers to take in my lunch! They are delicious and reheat well in the microwave (the only option I have at work, though cast iron sounds wonderful).
Andrea says
Thanks for sharing!
Gaynor Williams says
Thanks Rachel!
Andrea says
yes, I’m certain you could freeze them!
Gaynor Williams says
Thanks Andrea!
Martha says
This is what I do with my veggies too and want to start including a larger variety. I love beets and am just wondering if they seep into the other veggies while storing. It seems that beets just tend to do that and then everything is a lovely purple. Love your blog and pass it along to others frequently.
Andrea says
the beets WILL leave some color on other veggies — but not really the taste (at least not in my opinion)
Melissa says
Hi Andrea,
Thank you for this post and the great ideas. I do have one question, are the USA pans so exceptional that none of your veggies get stuck to it while roasting? When you mentioned less oil during the roasting process I was curious how easily they lift off the pan. Also, do you toss your veggies halfway through the roasting process?
Thanks!
Andrea says
Hi Melissa,
I can truthfully tell you that NONE of my veggies ever stick to the USA pans, and I don’t put any extra oil or spray on the pans themselves (in fact, you aren’t suppose to put cooking spray on these pans). Also, I do NOT toss the veggies halfway through (with the exception of potato wedges because I like to get both sides crispy). I don’t think it would hurt anything to stir/toss the veggies, I just don’t!
I have honestly never used pans as non-stick as these — and I’ve been using them several times a week for almost 6 months now! They are amazing!
Margaret says
Melissa,
Since I don’t have the same kind of sheet pans as Andrea I line mine with parchment paper. It also keeps the pan much cleaner, and is a good work-around until you can upgrade.
I’ve always reheated in the microwave, but I’m going to try my cast-iron pan for supper tonight.
I love roasted veg in the winter, but in the summer, when I would prefer not to turn on the oven in my no-AC house, I stir-fry them with sesame seeds. No sauces, just the veggies. It’s not quite as well-suited to mass production, but I will do a couple of days’ worth.
Melissa says
Thanks Margaret for the ideas and tips. We have AC, but our summers are hot, and we try not to overwork our system.
And I know what I will be putting on my wish list, USA pans. 🙂
Andrea says
yes, thanks for sharing this tip! I previous lined my sheet pans with aluminum foil or parchment paper — the clean up was a breeze!
Becky says
I’ve had my USA pans for a few years and they really do lift off easily everytime. Saucy stuff sticks but that’s it.
Courtney Garland says
We love roasted veggies but man they are time consuming during the week. I will definitely be cooking a larger quantity ahead of time and reheating them. (Then I wonder why I’ve never done this before when I typically have quinoa, rice and hard-boiled eggs in the fridge ready to go).
Also…I need those pans!!! The look huge and I feed an army every day so this would be perfect! Plus I adore my USA bread pan so of course I must add to my collection.
Andrea says
yup, they take some time!
I usually roast 2-3 huge pans on Saturday and then a smaller batch at some point during the week (usually Tuesday or Wednesday). The rest of the week is just reheating them — which takes less than 10 minutes!
And yes, I “love my USA sheet pans, bread pans, etc. I’m slowly transitioning into using only glass or USA pans for baking and glass or cast iron for cooking. Every time I get a gift card, coupon, or find a great deal, I buy one or two more pieces!
Deb says
Do you ever cook them on the grill? We have a basket and we will do zucchini, bell peppers, onions and mushrooms mixed a little Balsamic Vinaigrette on the grill. Same idea, just outside! 😉 But I live in FL, not Michigan! haha
Still love your blog and the 6 am posting time! I like the time but I also love the fact that you are consistent, so many bloggers are not consistent in the time or even days they post. Thank you for blogging every day!
Andrea says
thanks so much Deb! I thrive on consistency 🙂
As for grilled veggies — yes, we do them ALL the time in the summer. Here’s the post I wrote about them.
However, I can roast significantly more veggie at one time than I can grill — which is why I opt for roasting more often!