Roasting vegetables is a staple of my weeknight cooking routine. Doused in olive oil, seasoned simply with salt and pepper, and blasted at high heat (400°F to 425°F), almost any vegetable can become the best version of itself. And there’s one simple trick that will take your roasted vegetables to the next level: set the sheet pan directly on the bottom of the oven.
If you’re thinking, the bottom of the oven? Why in the world would I use it as a cooking surface?, allow me to explain. With this method, the bottom of the oven functions much like a baking stone, naturally heating up while the oven preheats. Sliding a sheet pan directly onto that hot surface expedites the transfer of heat and helps the vegetables get burnished and crispy. Nobody likes mushy broccoli, after all.
Why does this trick work? Most standard home ovens are built with a heating element at the top and bottom of the oven; the slatted oven racks are designed to facilitate even heat circulation around whatever you’re cooking. This is important when you’re baking a cake, when you want even browning on all sides. But in plenty of cases, facilitating an uneven distribution of heat can play to your advantage.
When baking a pie, for example, the bottom crust often takes longer to cook than the filling, which can result in a dreaded soggy bottom. Setting the pie on a preheated sheet pan in the oven gives the bottom crust a jump-start towards crispiness and ultimately allows the pie to cook evenly.
The same tactic can be applied to roasted veggies. Placing the sheet pan directly on the bottom of the oven exposes the vegetables to more intense direct heat, helping them achieve lovely browning on the bottom.
This technique works with just about any type of vegetables—broccoli, green beans, squash, beets, you name it. Another bonus is that it’s completely hands-off, so you can focus your attention on the rest of your dinner prep.
I recommend using a sturdy aluminum sheet pan for this method, as it’s less likely to warp when exposed to high heat. Note that you don’t want to place food directly on the bottom of the oven, which will be much harder to clean than a sheet pan.
Simply Recipes / Adobe Stock
How To Try This Trick at Home
Preheat the oven to 400°F to 425°F. In a large bowl, toss your vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread the vegetables out on an aluminum sheet pan (don’t crowd the pan, which can impede browning) and slide the pan onto the bottom of the oven.
Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, flipping halfway through if desired, until the vegetables are crisp and nicely browned on the bottom. Watch the veggies closely while cooking—you want them burnished, not burnt.
If you’re nervous about placing your sheet pan directly on the bottom of the oven, try positioning a rack to the lowest setting. The closer the food to the heat element at the bottom of the oven, the crispier it’ll get.
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