Vegetable Cooking Cheat Sheet

Here’s a great way to keep your family happily eating vegetables and healthy recipes by making sure you’re cooking them properly so they taste yummy! To help you out, here is my Vegetable Cooking Cheat Sheet Printable!

Vegetable Cooking Cheat Sheet Printable

I’m always surprised when I meet an adult who says they hate vegetables, because I love veggies! Not just because they’re good for me, but because of the tastes and textures! There’s nothing better than biting into a crunchy, sweet carrot, or juicy, crisp corn on the cob! But I think that part of what makes people dislike vegetables is having them under/over-cooked. I’ve had many bad vegetable dishes in restaurants that gave me an idea of where veggie haters are coming from.

There’s more than one way to cook veggies! That’s why my vegetable cooking cheat sheet includes the cooking times for boiling, steaming, roasting, and microwaving different vegetables. I generally prefer roasting (mainly because you can add seasonings that get time to really settle in), but some veggies I prefer boiled or steamed. And there’s nothing wrong with microwaving if you need some veggies fast!

If you wanted to find out the healthiest way to prepare your veggies, that’s a whole other subject, and actually depends on the vegetable you’re preparing. But there’s not really a wrong way to cook vegetables. No one method will suck all the nutrients out of your veggies, just like no one method will preserve all the nutrients. And sometimes it doesn’t hurt to risk losing some inherent vegetable nutrients if you can get something else in return. That’s the case with roasting, where you can cook in healthy fats and thus aid your absorption of the fat soluble nutrients in your vegetables.

So regardless of which cooking method column you choose to consult in my vegetable cooking cheat sheet, you’re sure to get a healthy vegetable dish! For added health, here are a few tips: When roasting, make sure your oil is safe at the temperature you’re cooking at. While olive oil is very popular, its smoke point actually doesn’t make it suitable for high heat roasting. You may want to try avocado oil instead.

Don’t roast with a pan lined with aluminum foil. The aluminum may leach into your food.

Don’t roast with a pan lined with aluminum foil. The aluminum may leach into your food. Parchment paper is a safer choice. And if you’re using anything plastic to steam/microwave in, make sure it’s BPA free. And lastly, try to microwave only when you really need to. It’s possible that the gamma rays from microwave ovens could be harmful in the long run.

Remember to use your basic cooking skills when using this cheat sheet. Every oven is different and may not be 100% accurately calibrated, so my 400°F may actually be your 385°F. On top of that, everyone’s tastes are different. Some people like their broccoli very soft, and others like it very crisp. So use these veggie cooking times as a guide, but make sure to check your veggies during their cook time, and be ready to increase the temperature/extended the cook time if needed to fit your tastes.

How to Cook All the Vegetables

Vegetable	Boil	Steam	Roast	Microwave
Artichoke	30-40 min	25-30 min	425°F 1 hr + 20 min	6-7 min
Asparagus	8-10 min	4-5 min	400°F 8-10 min	5 min
Beetroot	60- 90 min	40-60 min	400°F 40-45 min	9-12 min
Brussels sprouts	5-7 min (simmer)	8-10 min	400°F 30-35 min	4-6 min
Broccoli	10-12 min	5-6 min	425°F 15-20 min	5 min
Cabbage	5-10 min	5-10 min	400°F 30 min (wedges)	5-6 min
Carrots	10-15 min	5-6 min	400°F 20-30 min (slices)	4-5 min
Cauliflower	10-15 min	5-6 min	400°F 25-30 min	5 min
Corn on the cob	10-15 min	8-10 min	350°F 30 min (husks on)	7 min
Green beans	10-12 min	5-10 min	425°F 12-15 min	5 min
Onions	20-30 min	20-25 min	425°F 25-30 min (cut in half)	6-10 min
Parsnips (cut)	7-15 min	20-25 min	425°F 20-30 min	4-6 min
Peas	7-10 min	3-5 min	Not recommended	6-8 min
Peppers	Not recommended	2-4 min	450°F 25 min	2-3 min
Potatoes (cut)	15-20 min	10-12 min	450°F 20-30 min (quartered)	8-10 min
Spinach	4-5 min	2-5 min	450°F 3-6 min	1-2 min
Sweet potatoes (cubed)	15-25 min	7 min	450°F 35-45 min	8-10 min
Turnips (cut)	20-35 min	20 min	450°F 30-40 min	6-10 min
Zucchini	5-10 min	5-10 min	400°F 15-20 min (slices)	2-3 min

It’ll be easier to reference my vegetable cooking cheat sheet when you’re in the kitchen if you have the printable!

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Click here to download the FREE printable!

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I would suggest tacking your vegetable cooking times printable up on your fridge or putting it in your recipe/kitchen binder, so you’ll be able to find it easily when you need it.

What’s your favorite vegetable, and what’s your favorite way to cook it?