Roasted Celery Root and Carrots (An Easy & Elegant Side!)

Are you searching for the ultimate, unique, and elegant side dish to grace your holiday table? A dish so surprisingly delicious, so packed with a deep, earthy-sweet flavor, and so stunningly beautiful, it will have all your guests asking for the recipe? This incredible, from-scratch Roasted Celery Root and Carrots is that perfect dish. We’re talking tender, nutty celery root and sweet, caramelized carrots, all roasted to perfection with fresh thyme and a hint of smoky paprika.

This isn’t just another roasted vegetable recipe; it’s your definitive guide to transforming a humble, underrated root vegetable into a true gourmet masterpiece. We’ll show you the simple but crucial professional secrets to a perfectly tender, non-stringy celery root and beautifully caramelized carrots every single time. This is a satisfying, soulful, and deeply impressive side dish that is perfect for your Thanksgiving or Christmas feast.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Recipe Overview: The Ultimate Easy & Elegant Fall Side Dish

What makes this Roasted Celery Root and Carrots so spectacularly delicious is its incredible depth of flavor and its wonderful combination of textures. This recipe is a masterpiece of simple, rustic elegance. The star of the show is the often-overlooked celery root, which sheds its mild raw flavor and transforms in the oven into something wonderfully nutty, earthy, and slightly sweet. This is perfectly complemented by the classic, caramelized sweetness of roasted carrots. The vegetables are tossed in a simple but powerful combination of fragrant fresh thyme and smoky hot paprika.¹ The secret to the perfect texture is a brilliant, two-stage roasting method: the dense celery root starts its journey in a foil packet to steam-roast until tender, while the carrots are roasted on a preheated pan for maximum caramelization.

Metric	Time / Level
Total Time	1 hour
Active Prep Time	15 minutes
Difficulty Level	Easy
Servings	6-8

The Flavors of the Harvest: The Essential Ingredients

This iconic dish uses a handful of high-quality, simple ingredients to create its signature rich and savory-sweet flavor.

• The Celery Root (The Underrated Star!):
  • Flavor Transformation: Don’t be intimidated by this knobby, alien-looking root! While raw celery root has a crisp texture and a mild flavor reminiscent of celery and parsley, the magic of this dish is how roasting completely transforms it. It becomes incredibly tender, nutty, earthy, and slightly sweet, with a texture similar to a roasted potato.
  • How to Choose & Peel: Look for a small to medium-sized celery root that feels heavy for its size. The easiest way to peel it is to first use a large, sharp chef’s knife to trim off the top and the bottom so you have two flat, stable surfaces. Then, stand it up on your cutting board and use your knife to carefully cut away the thick, rough skin, following the curve of the root from top to bottom.
• The Carrots: A classic choice for roasting! Their natural sugars caramelize beautifully in the hot oven, providing the perfect, sweet counterpoint to the earthy celery root.
• The Aromatics: A simple but powerful combination. The earthy, piney notes of fresh thyme and the smoky, gentle heat of hot paprika are the perfect complements to the sweet, roasted root vegetables.

The Roasting Masterclass: The Secret to Perfect, Non-Mushy Root Vegetables

This recipe uses two simple but brilliant professional techniques that guarantee a flawless, impressive result.

1. The Foil Packet “Steam-Roast”: The number one secret to perfectly tender, not tough or stringy, celery root is to start it in a foil packet. Celery root is a very dense vegetable. By sealing it in a foil packet, you are trapping its own moisture and creating a steamy environment. This allows the celery root to steam-roast from the inside out, making it incredibly tender. It is then opened for the final roast to get beautifully caramelized.
2. The Preheated Pan: The secret to vegetables that are beautifully browned and caramelized (and not just steamed and soggy) is to roast them on a preheated baking sheet. By placing your empty pan in the oven while it preheats, you are essentially turning it into a giant, flat griddle. When your seasoned carrots hit the screaming-hot surface, they will immediately begin to sizzle and sear, which is the key to developing that deep, delicious, caramelized crust.

Step-by-Step to the Best Roasted Celery Root and Carrots

This elegant, festive side dish is a joy to prepare.

Part 1: The Simple Prep

Step 1: First, place one rimmed baking sheet on the bottom oven rack and preheat your oven to 425°F (218°C).

Step 2: In a large bowl, toss your 3 pounds of peeled and cubed celery root with 4 tablespoons of the olive oil, 1 tablespoon of the fresh thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of the hot paprika, and a generous pinch of salt.

Step 3: Pile the seasoned celery root onto a double layer of heavy-duty foil. Bring the ends of the foil together and crimp them closed to create a sealed packet. Place this packet on a second baking sheet.

Step 4: In the same (now empty) large bowl, toss your 3 pounds of peeled and cubed carrots with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of thyme, and 1/2 teaspoon of paprika. Season with salt.

Part 2: The Staged Roast

Step 1: Place your baking sheet with the celery root packet in the middle of the preheated oven.

Step 2: At the same time, carefully remove the preheated baking sheet from the bottom rack. Spread your seasoned carrots onto the hot pan in a single layer and return it to the oven.

Step 3: Let the carrots roast for about 35 minutes, and let the celery root roast in its packet for about 25 minutes.

Step 4: After the celery root has roasted for 25 minutes, carefully open the foil packet and spread the celery root out on the baking sheet. Return it to the oven to roast for 15 more minutes.

Part 3: The Final Toss and Serve

Your carrots and celery root should both be perfectly tender and beautifully caramelized at the same time.

Toss the roasted carrots and the celery root together in a large serving bowl with your 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley. Serve hot.

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What to Serve With Your Roasted Root Vegetables

This beautiful and savory-sweet dish is a fantastic and incredibly versatile side dish. It is the perfect accompaniment to almost any fall or holiday main course.

• Holiday Roasts: It is an absolute must-have alongside a classic Roasted Turkey, a Glazed Ham, or a beautiful Prime Rib.
• Weeknight Dinners: It is also the perfect, elegant side for a simple roasted chicken or some pan-seared pork chops.

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Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

• Make-Ahead: This is the perfect make-ahead holiday side dish! You can peel and chop all your vegetables up to 2 days in advance. Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
• Storage: Store any leftover roasted vegetables, well-covered, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
• Reheating: The best way to reheat this dish and bring back some of its original texture is on a baking sheet in a hot 400°F (200°C) oven for about 10-15 minutes.

Frequently Asked questions (FAQs)