Welcome to the simplest and easiest side dish: roasted green beans and carrots. The no-fuss recipe pairs well with many different meals, from roasted chicken to Instant Pot Chicken and Rice to skillet lasagna and easy stuffed peppers to holiday meals. This healthy side dish recipe is cheap, super easy to make, flavorful, and nutrient-dense.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I’ll send it straight to your inbox. And you’ll get new recipes & tips each week.
The Easiest Side Dish
Roasted vegetables are my go-to side dish for quick and easy meals. They require very little hands-on cooking time and everyone in the family loves the flavor. There’s nothing like a roasted vegetable; nothing!
Two of my favorite vegetables to roast are carrots and green beans, either together or separate. And these veggies are always stocked in our fridge.
Carrots can be stored for weeks without rotting or going limp and are perfect for salads, soups, and snacking (one of 31 favorite snacks).
Green beans are a family favorite that are perfect for minestrone soup, roasting, sautéing, stir-fry, or steaming.
On a busy weeknight, toss the vegetables on a sheet pan with garlic cloves, olive oil, and salt. Then roast until crisp and soft. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
The roasted veggies have the best flavor and the perfect texture.
This is not only one of my favorite side dishes for a quick dinner, but also a great way to make a veggie side for holiday dinners (with gluten-free sweet potato casserole and healthy green bean casserole).
Ingredients Needed
I love that you don’t need a lot of ingredients to make this easy recipe. The vegetables are flavorful on their own after roasting, as the roasting brings out their natural sugar content. Here’s what you need:
- 12 ounces fresh green beans (trimmed, stems cut off)
- 1 lb carrots, about 5 medium carrots, cut into sticks (buy pre-cut carrot sticks, cut baby carrots in half, or cut large carrots into sticks)
- 4-5 fresh garlic cloves, cut in half
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- 1/2-1 teaspoon salt (this will depend on taste, I prefer 1 teaspoon)
- black pepper, to taste
Just a few simple ingredients! And there are many variations, like adding fresh herbs or slivered almonds, which we’ll talk about later in this article.
How to Cut the Vegetables
- To trim green beans, snap the bulky stem off the green beans. If snapping the ends off is time-consuming, here’s an easy way to trim green beans using a knife. Another option is to buy pre-trimmed green beans (usually found in a bag in the produce department).
- To cut the carrots into sticks, cut large carrots in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 3 long sticks. No need to peel the carrots, unless you want to. If using baby carrots, cut the carrots in half lengthwise.
How to Make
First, preheat oven to 425F.
Next, grab a large sheet pan and parchment paper (if you want to line the sheet pan for easy clean up). If you don’t have a large sheet pan, use two medium sheet pans and divide the veggies between the two pans.
Step 1: Spread the veggies on the sheet pan.
Place the trimmed green beans, carrot sticks, and halved garlic cloves on a large sheet pan.
Step 2: Drizzle with olive oil and salt.
Drizzle the veggies with olive oil, then give everything a good toss to evenly coat the veggies in the oil. Then sprinkle the veggies, evenly, with salt.
Step 3: Roast for 25 minutes.
Roast the veggies in the preheated oven for 25-28 minutes, until soft with brown spots on the veggies (charred spots are my favorite on roasted veggies and add to the flavor).
Convection Oven Tip: If you have a convection oven, use the convection setting. The convection setting circulates air around the food as it cooks (this is exactly what an air fryer does). The result is perfectly soft and crisp roasted vegetables-so good! You’ll need to reduce the cooking time by about 5 to 8 minutes, depending on your oven. Just keep an eye on the veggies around the 20 minute mark.
Pro Tips
Single Layer: This is the most important part when making roasted vegetables, whether you’re roasting frozen vegetables or fresh vegetables. Do NOT overcrowd the sheet pan as this will cause the veggies to steam; not roast. Instead, spread the carrots and green beans in a single even layer, with “breathing room” between the vegetables. The best way to achieve this is to use a large baking sheet or two medium sheet pans.
Pre-Slice the Carrots to Save Time: To save time, buy whole carrots and cut into carrot sticks. Store the carrots in a mason jar with water. The carrot sticks will stay fresh for weeks. Here’s how to store cut carrots for weeks. Use the carrot slices to quickly make roasted carrots, cut smaller for salads, add to the lunchbox, and enjoy for a snack with hummus or homemade ranch dip.
Flavor Variations
There are many ways to change up this favorite side dish. Here are a few of my favorite flavor variations…
- Add Fresh Herbs: Before roasting the veggies, sprinkle the vegetables with a couple tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary or fresh thyme leaves (or use 1 teaspoon of dried herbs). Or, sprinkle the veggies with fresh parsley after removing from the oven.
- Add Red Onions or Shallot: Slice a small red onion or a shallot and roast the onion with the carrots and green beans.
- Add Simple Seasonings: Toss the vegetables with a couple pinches of red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning or oregano, or dried rosemary and thyme before roasting. Instead of fresh garlic, use 1/4-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. Use this as a base recipe and add your own flavors!
- Top with Freshly Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese: Have you tried grating fresh parmesan cheese over roasted veggies? AMAZING!! Give it a try after pulling the green beans and carrots from the oven. I also love to do this roasted broccoli and roasted potatoes.
- Top with Toasted Slivered Almonds: While the green beans and carrots cook, add 1/4 cup of almond slivers to a skillet. Toast the almond slivers over medium heat, for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Stir the almonds frequently to avoid burning. Top the roasted carrots and green beans with toasted almonds before servings.
- Use Broccoli Instead of Green Beans: Just sub out the green beans for broccoli florets.
How to Store
I love to prep roasted veggies on the weekend and reheat the veggies throughout the week for a quick lunch alongside a protein (like shredded roasted chicken).
To store meal-prep roasted veggies, or leftovers from the dinner table, place the cooled vegetables in an airtight container in the fridge for up 1 week.
How to Reheat
Serve leftover veggies warmed up or at room temperature.
To warm, reheat refrigerated veggies in the microwave for a few seconds (40-60 seconds) or reheat in a skillet, until warm. When warming in a skillet, spray the skillet with avocado oil spray so the veggies don’t stick to the skillet, and stir frequently to avoid burning the veggies.
3 Delicious Ways to Serve Roasted Green Beans and Carrots
- Power Bowl: Add a protein like shredded chicken or grilled chicken thighs to a bowl, along with rice or quinoa (the fastest and best way to cook rice is in the Instant Pot), then roasted veggies on the side. Top with pesto, ranch dressing, or a vinaigrette dressing.
- In a Salad: Have you added roasted veggies to a leafy green salad? So good! Add room temperature roasted veggies to a bed of lettuce or spicy arugula, add crumbled feta or shaved parmesan cheese, your favorite dressing (like this homemade vinaigrette), and homemade croutons.
- Easy Side Dish: Serve as a side dish to a roasted whole chicken, crispy chicken thighs, grilled steak, shrimp, salmon, or your favorite protein or dinner main dish.
Must-Make Vegetable Sheet Pan Meals
Roasting veggies on a sheet pan is one of the easiest ways to make a nutrient-dense meal. And the best part is you can cook a protein alongside the veggies for a complete meal. Here are a few recipes I recommend making next if you love this recipe.
More Roasted Veggies: If you don’t have fresh vegetables in the fridge, make roasted frozen vegetables. And if you love roasted vegetables, you must make my famous roasted sweet potatoes–the best and quickest recipe ever!
Simple Roasted Green Beans and Carrots
Equipment
- 1 large sheet pan or 2 medium sheet pans
- parchment paper optional
Ingredients
- 12 ounces fresh green beans (trimmed, bulky stems cut off)
- 1 lb carrots about 5 medium carrots, cut into sticks (buy pre-cut carrot sticks, cut baby carrots in half, or cut large carrots into smaller sticks)
- 4-5 garlic cloves cut in half
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- 1/2-1 teaspoon salt depending on taste
- black pepper to taste, a couple turns of a fresh pepper grinder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. If you'd like easier clean up, line the large sheet pan with a sheet of parchment paper.
- Place the trimmed green beans, carrot sticks, and halved garlic cloves on a large sheet pan. For tips on cutting the veggies, see notes below.
- Drizzle the veggies with olive oil, then give everything a good toss to evenly coat the veggies in the oil. Sprinkle the veggies, evenly, with the salt.
- Roast the veggies in the oven for 25-28 minutes, or until soft with brown "charred" spots on the veggies. (Charred bits are my favorite, as that's where the natural sugars in the veggies caramelize just like with my famous roasted sweet potatoes. Amazing flavor!)
- Top the roasted green beans and carrots with freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds, or chopped fresh parsley, or without any extra toppings. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
Take the Guess Work OUt of meal planning
Free 64 Rotational Meals Ideas Cheat Sheet
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack recipes to rotate week after week. Put healthy meals on auto-pilot.
Wonderful! I served it with a Crabcake.
Yum, Sharon! So glad you enjoyed the veggies. Great side dish choice.
Let me know how you serve this simple side dish! I love to serve the veggies with roasted chicken. So simple and perfect for busy weeknights.