Sheet Pan Honey-Roasted Vegetables Recipe

A sheet pan combination of acorn squash, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and Brussel sprouts drizzled with honey sprinkled with soft goat cheese and garlic salt topped with crunchy pecans. A warm Fall seasonal side salad perfect for your family dinners. I add basil to this dish to help blossom the earthy flavors of the root vegetables, I would say you can skip this step but why? The basil ties all the sweet honey flavor with savory goat cheese flavor together. Not to mention the nutty undertones of the raw pecans. A good, hearty Fall side dish has density, chew, texture, and flavors. This honey roasted vegetable sheet pan dinner has it all!

Can I use other vegetables?

You can use any vegetables you love. Carrots, a sugar pumpkin, russet white potatoes, any vegetable can be used in this side dish. I am not recreating the wheel, roasting vegetables is not rocket science and not a new baking technique in this era. I find simple dishes are the best with your favorite twist on flavors. The winter squash I chose on purpose because these are seasonal foods. They can be challenging to cut to ensure you have a sharp knife on you. I usually keep the skins on the vegetables rather than cutting them off because there is a lot of nutritional value in the skins. However, some people are picky so I choose to take the extra step and cut them off. They soften as you roast them and blend in with the rest of the vegetable texture.

What can I use in place of honey?

For my vegan crowd, substitute honey with maple syrup. I made the mistake of using pancake syrup once, it wasn’t terrible but I don’t recommend it! If you have maple syrup it is a great way to enjoy the Fall flavor of maple on your vegetables. I tend to interchange my ingredients and create a maple roasted vegetable salad with feta cheese or goat cheese. For vegan, a vegan ricotta cheese is a great option to sprinkle on top followed by a dash of basil. For Thanksgiving, drizzle maple syrup instead of honey to pair perfectly with your Fall themed Thanksgiving dinner table.

Can I add seasonings?

Yes! You can add whatever seasonings you love. I enjoy maple roasted vegetables with rosemary and thyme year around to be completely transparent. You will notice I do not add anything to these except garlic salt, and I add it at the end. Salt in general will tend to extract juices. If you add salt to the vegetable before you roast them you might be left with a soupy mess, however, I’ll still eat every bite! If you add the salt after you remove the pan from the oven it adds to the vegetables rather than soaking into the vegetables. Does this make sense? Plus you are able to taste the salt without over salting your vegetables.

How to cut vegetables for roasting.

This is a one sheet side dish so when you are cubing the vegetables, you want them all relatively the same size. Some brussels sprouts are so huge you will have to quarter them but if they are a smaller sprout you can get away with just halving them. I roasted my vegetables a little longer than I typically would, I can be impatient and the thicker you cube the vegetable the longer it takes. I tend to cube smaller, however with acorn squash and butternut squash the skins need to cook down so I cube both vegetables about 1” thick so the meat of the vegetable and skins roast evenly. If you take the skins off, you can get away with dicing the vegetables into small cubes, ensure you quarter your Brussel sprouts as well.

Drizzle honey over your vegetables like this. You will notice not all the vegetables have a great amount of honey on them.

Do I toss my vegetables in a bowl first?

You can, but you don’t have to. I keep it simple and use the least amount of dishes as I can. For this particular recipe, I drizzle the honey over the vegetables without smothering or tossing them in honey. This will give your taste buds a nice contrast between the taste of the vegetable and the vegetables that were drizzled with the honey. A mouthful of sugar is great, but a sweet and savory dish requires a little skill to give your plate an Earthy taste plus a sweet taste of honey without having each vegetable cube drenched in honey or maple syrup. Plus, you don’t want to ruin your dessert time!

What is the best cheese to use for vegetables?

I am a huge fan of all cheeses. Recently I found myself eating more cheese in 9 months than I have in 10 years combined! Would you agree that I have been depriving myself? I really love goat cheese for this dish. Goat cheese is creamy, soft in texture, and adds a mild taste to your dish without over powering it like a sharp parmesan or dry feta taste. I love those cheeses, don’t get me wrong, but I favor goat cheese for this warm dish.

My biggest tip.

For a mess free sheet pan side dish like this one, use parchment paper and add your veggies as you see here. Then, drizzle on your extra virgin olive oil and lather lightly the vegetables with your hands. Secondly, drizzle on your honey or maple syrup as you see in the photo above. Roast for 35 minutes. Lastly, take out the vegetables and immediately add your garlic salt.

Happy feasting!