Growing up I wasn’t the biggest fan of vegetables. There were a few select veggies I enjoyed (green beans and carrots), but I didn’t like to venture outside of my comfort zone. Once I graduated from college and began regularly preparing my own meals, I started to shift my focus and prioritize my health. With that shift, I began incorporating a lot more vegetables into my diet.
At first I stuck to salads, but there are only so many salads you can stomach before the desire to eat vegetables in a new way surfaces. Throughout the past few years, I have done a lot of experimenting in the kitchen and now have a handful of go-to methods I regularly use when it comes to preparing and enjoying vegetables. Here are a few of my favorite ways to enhance the flavor of vegetables and make them taste a little better!
How To Make Vegetables Taste Delicious
- Roast Them
I know it may sound crazy to some, but I never roasted vegetables until I was in my mid-20s! I clearly never knew what I was missing because now roasting veggies is my go-to method for bringing out their flavor and taking them to another level. I toss them in olive oil and my favorite spices and roast most veggies at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes (flipping halfway through). So good!
A favorite recipe:
Ginger Curry Roasted Cauliflower
- Add Nuts
By adding nuts to a vegetable dish, you add texture, flavor and healthy fats! I love sprinkling Blue Diamond Lightly Salted Almonds on top of green beans or roasted broccoli and Blue Diamond Honey Roasted Almonds are fantastic on top of a sweet potato with a sprinkle of cinnamon!
Some favorite recipes:
Cinnamon Glazed Carrots with Blue Diamond Butter Toffee Almonds
- Experiment with Different Seasonings
At first, whenever I would roast vegetables, I would stick to salt and pepper but once I started experimenting with different spices and seasonings, I realized just now much better vegetables could taste with a little kick of flavor. Some of my favorites include curry, ginger, rosemary, seasoned salt and garlic salt.
- Throw Them Into a Smoothie
Throwing fresh or frozen spinach into a smoothie is a great way to sneak in some greens without the taste of spinach overpowering an otherwise sweet treat!
Some favorite recipes:
- Turn Them Into Healthy Fries
Oh veggie fries, how I love you!! There are a handful of vegetables out there that make great healthy fries and taste fantastic dipped in ketchup!
Some favorite recipes:
- Make Them Part of a Bigger Dish
Adding vegetables to a bigger dish is one of the easiest ways to incorporate them into a meal. Toss extra veggies in a casserole, quiche, crock pot dinner or lasagna and enjoy!
Some favorite recipes:
Butternut Squash and Wheat Berry Mock Risotto
Artichoke and Broccoli Quiche with a Barley Crust
- Throw Them Into Soup or Chili
With colder temperatures on the horizon, homemade soup and hearty chili will surely become dinnertime staples in our house very soon. I like to add tons of vegetables to soups and chili. They add flavor and color and obviously pack a nutritional punch!
Some favorite recipes:
Extra Chunky Homemade Chicken Soup
- Toss Them Into Your Favorite Pasta Dish
Chopped broccoli or cauliflower tastes fantastic in pasta staples like spaghetti and macaroni and cheese! Experiment with different sauces and veggies to find flavors you enjoy together.
Some recipe favorites:
- Dip Them In Something
Choose a healthy dip like hummus or guacamole and dip away! This makes a great snack option for those trying to incorporate vegetables into their diet throughout the day outside of the usual breakfast, lunch and dinnertime meals.
A favorite recipe:
Healthy Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip
Question of the Afternoon
- What are some of your favorite ways to make vegetables taste great?
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I LOVE your Asian Crunch Salad recipe! One of my favorites. I want to give the Ginger curry cauliflower a try next!
I always seem to forget about adding nuts into smoothies, but it’s a great way to add texture and some healthy fats to keep you full!
So happy to hear this!!! 🙂
I’m convinced throwing olive oil, salt, pepper, and cayenne (gotta have that spicy kick!) on veggies and throwing them in an oven makes them all taste delicious 🙂
Roasting veggies is one of the greatest tricks to make them taste good (in a healthy way!), as is grilling. The flavors mellow, deepen and can change about anyone into liking one veggie or another. My best trick is to saute mushrooms with any ground beef or turkey. It doubles the amount and no one even notices.
I am MUCH too lazy to roast them and adding juts isn’t an option for me, but I do like all the other suggestions. I’m about to throw some dill on my salad and try to sneak attack it on myself! 🙂
I love making homemade egg rolls.
I know the frying part isn’t healthy, but letting them drain on paper towels gets a lot of the grease off and then all that is left is yummy veggies!
I also love making my own hummus
1 can drained garbanzo beans
1 clove garlic
0.5 lime juiced
2T veggie oil
a dash of cumin
as much or little cilantro as you like
I use my food processor and it is sooo yummy! Crackers or veggies. (:
Sounds delicious!
When I first met my husband he ate almost no veggies (like a typical bachelor), since then I have taken to adding as many veggies as I can in to meals that you wont notice they are there (chili, soup, lasanga, ect.). After 5 years I have slowly transitioned him into a vegetable lover
I love all of these, roasting is my fav! Another fun, delicious way is to grill veggies.
Roasting in the oven with coconut oil, salt and pepper is my go-to method for cooking! Nuts, spice and sliced avocado are great additions for taste and texture too.
Team Roasted Veggies all the way! 🙂
great tips!
Now I want to go buy a million pounds of vegetables. And make lots of veggie fries 🙂
I love all these tips! Nuts mixed with veggies tastes so good!
I love the green mocha monster smoothie!! We roast a lot of veggies & make Greek yogurt dips too.
Roasting or grilling! Eggplant, for instance, tastes so good tossed in olive oil, seasoned with S&P and then grilled on the BBQ.
roasting & putting in pasta sauce are two of my favorite ways to eat veggies! oh and covering them with cheese is always a good option. ha!
I’ve actually never thought of adding nuts to veggies… That’s a good idea! I really need this article as I have the hardest time fitting veggies into my diet these days. I could eat fruit all day long, but I tend to buy veggies and let them go bad because I avoid them for too long! Not good.
We eat cauliflower mashed potatoes at least once a week.
I still have to make those!!
Gina @ the Fitnessista had a recipe recently-ish about creamy, mashed cauliflower. I can attest that it’s DELICIOUS as is, or drizzled on other “gravy” friendly veggies 😀
Also, her roasted eggplant bites are amazing!
It’s crazy how the simplest things make vegetables so much more attractive! Great list 🙂
For me, I find using proper salt and pepper grinders livens up steamed vegetables no end!
Great tips! I do a lot of these things. One of my favorite ways to incorporate more veggies into my diet is to sneak them into rice. I cook bell pepper and zucchini right in the pot with brown rice sometimes!
I love drizzling a little lemon juice over veggies – I find it really brings out their freshness.
Mostly I use the tricks that you already mentioned. I make a great veggi lasagne with not mixing everything together but have a different vegetable – ofter also rosted – in every layer. I cook my own tomatoe soup to cover it and in order to get the pasta soft. If I have a good day I cover it with blue cheese. 🙂
Also I roast nearly all of my veggies. What is also nice is filling them also with different veggies or rice/ quinoa.
I love tossing just about any vegetable with balsamic vinegar. I typically roast them for 20 minutes or so and then add the vinegar just before serving!
What a great roundup of ideas! I used to not love vegetables, but now I love finding sneaky ways to get them in my meals. Stashing them in my morning eggs is always a fav!
Can’t beat grilled summer vegetables either! It adds so much flavor! I’m also a big fan of your roasted ginger curry cauliflower. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
i love dipping veggies in hummus! and turnip fries…don’t even let me get started on how much i love those!
I also just recently began roasting vegetables. My parents always steamed them and ate them plain. They’re fine that way, but I won’t eat A LOT of veggies unless there’s an extra flavor. Rosemary, garlic, and olive oil combine to make my favorite mixture. I love rosemary. I probably triple the amount called for in any recipe 🙂
Great ideas!! About 3 days I ago I actually googled “interesting ways to cook vegetables”, in search of new ‘techniques’ and so I’m so glad you posted this!
I recently went through a phase where I would throw marinara sauce on veggies, but now I’ve moved on to sautéing them with eggs. Stir fried veggies either with scrambled eggs, or with a dippy egg on top has become an easy go-to dinner for me lately.
Thanks for the tip on putting nuts in a smoothie, I usually put most fruits & vegetables so I will try adding nuts and see what it takes like.