Although roasting is one of the most hands-off techniques, learning a few tricks can help you achieve that perfectly cooked and crispy texture we all love. With roasting, most of the work happens before the actual cooking but having the right tools makes this process a lot easier. Roasting is a slow-cooking process, using indirect, diffused heat to cook its ingredients, and it is great for preparing chicken, pork, some cuts of beef, as well as fish and vegetables.
Le Creuset offers a number of roasting essentials, ranging from our Rectangular Roaster and Covered Casseroles, simplifying this age-old cooking technique. Crafted with premium materials, our roaster exposes ingredients to a consistent heat source, cooking food evenly and efficiently.
You know you want to get roasting, but do not know where to start? Here is a guide on roasting, including a complete breakdown of the method, some of our favourite recipes, and of course, a number of roasting essentials from Le Creuset to help you get started.
What is Roasting?
Roasting uses dry heat to slow-cook ingredients where hot air surrounds the food and cooks it evenly on all sides. Typically, a temperature of at least 300°F (or 150°C) is required for roasting. This classic cooking technique is compatible with all heat sources, including an open flame or an oven.
Roasting is designed to enhance flavour in a dish through caramelization and browning on the surface of food (think crispy potatoes), and is perfect for poultry, pork, vegetable and fish recipes. Let’s now take a look at the six steps to roasting.
The 6 Steps to Roasting
The following steps break down roasting from start to finish with six simple steps, helping you prepare new recipes for the whole family with ease.
Roasting Essentials
Now that you know how to get roasting, here are six roasting essentials you need in your kitchen. From our Rectangular Dish, to our Heritage Casseroles, we have you covered.
Rectangular Roaster
The Rectangular Roaster is the ultimate kitchen essential if you are looking to get roasting, preparing meals for the whole family with ease. This piece of cookware ensures even heat distribution, exposing ingredients to a consistent heat source.
Featuring a low-profile design optimized for oven-roasting, our enamelled cast iron roaster is extremely durable, cooking food evenly for years to come. Its wide helper handles offer home cooks and professional chefs alike a comfortable, yet secure grip, helping you transfer this versatile piece of cookware from the oven to the table safely.
Whether you are roasting poultry dishes or preparing weekend comfort meals, the Rectangular Roaster accommodates with ease.
Rectangular Dish
Our Heritage Rectangular Dish is yet another roasting essential, serving a variety of crucial purposes around the kitchen. From roasting ingredients to marinating meat or preparing layered dishes, this piece of cookware has you covered.
Our Heritage Rectangular Dish is crafted with durable stoneware, providing superior heat retention as ingredients roast to perfection. Its deep side walls create the ideal environment for casserole dishes and are especially convenient when breading or marinating ingredients.
Available in four different sizes (1.1 L, 2.3 L, 3.8 L, and 4.7 L), our Heritage Rectangular Dish is designed to tackle all your favourite roasting and bakeware recipes. Equipped with an enamel finish, this versatile dish can be used at room temperature or even in the fridge or freezer when storing leftovers.
Oval Casserole
Our Oval Casserole makes for a great addition to your Le Creuset collection, and is perfectly suited for a multitude of tasks around the kitchen. Its elongated shape ensures it is the perfect piece of cookware for longer cuts of meat, poultry, and fish.
Crafted with durable stoneware, our Oval Casserole is built to last a lifetime of roasting, offering superior performance in the oven or at the table. This versatile casserole also comes with a tight-fitting lid, locking in heat and moisture and helping flavours rise to the forefront of your dish.
When it is not being used to roast ingredients, our Oval Casserole is also perfectly suited for baking desserts, broiling fish, and even marinating ingredients.
Rectangular Casserole
Our Heritage Rectangular Casserole is an extremely versatile piece of cookware, helping you roast ingredients, prepare layered casseroles and bake delicious desserts with ease.
Our Heritage Rectangular Casserole has established itself as a staple across kitchens, helping home cooks experiment with a variety of new cooking techniques. Its stoneware construction not only guarantees its durability and performances for years to come, but also offers superior heat retention and even heat distribution.
This Rectangular Casserole is available in one size (3.8 L), accommodating recipes for the whole family. It can also be used to transport dishes to parties, potlucks, and picnics with its tight-fitting lid and grooved handles ensuring it can go from your oven to your destination with ease.
Square Dish
Our Heritage Square Dish is a great place to start your roasting collection, helping you prepare delicious dishes for two or side dishes. This versatile dish is also equally suited to cooking hearty side dishes, including roasted vegetables or smaller desserts.
Like every piece in our Heritage collection, our Square Dish is constructed with durable stoneware, providing superior heat retention. This dish can also be used as a bold serving dish as its stoneware construction is carefully designed to keep food warmer for longer at the dinner table.
Whether you are looking to roast a side of potatoes to complement your main course, or want to prepare your very own spanakopita for the first time, our Heritage Square Dish is the only piece of cookware you’ll need.
Oval Au Gratin Dish
Our Oval Au Gratin Dish is the ideal piece of cookware for preparing individual side dishes or entrées and is particularly suited to recipes that require a crispy topping. Featuring a wide, shallow baking area, this dish exposes ingredients directly to heat, making it yet another Le Creuset roasting essential.
While traditionally used to bake gratins, as its name would suggest, our Oval Au Gratin Dish is equally suited for roasting smaller side dishes. It can even be used as a bold serving dish and is available in a number of Le Creuset’s iconic colours.
This piece of cookware is as durable as it is versatile and is built with a dense stoneware construction. Our Oval Au Gratin Dish is currently available in four sizes (0.6 L, 1 L, 1.6 L, and 2.9 L), offering the perfect fit for all your roasting needs – no matter how big or small.
Roasting Recipes
Here are three fun recipes to experiment with and learn this age-old cooking technique, including delicious Honey Roasted Carrots and Garlic Butter Baked Salmon.
Yemeni Chicken
Roasting is particularly suited for cooking poultry recipes to perfection and our Yemeni Chicken dish is no exception. This dish combines a number of rich flavours, including coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric and cardamom to deliver a delicious meal for the whole family.
The Rectangular Roaster creates the perfect environment for the chicken thighs to roast to perfection, all-while absorbing all the flavours from the surrounding spices. Its tight-fitting lid locks in heat and moisture, ensuring the chicken gets cooked evenly.
This recipe takes just over two hours to prepare from start to finish and comfortably accommodates between four and six servings.
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Garlic Butter Baked Salmon
Our Garlic Butter Baked Salmon recipe is a great way to learn how to roast, offering a healthy yet delicious meal for the entire family. As is the case with any roasting recipe, begin by preheating your oven to 375°F.
Next, pour the oil into your roaster along with the garlic cloves and roast them until they are golden brown, or for approximately 30 minutes. Once that is complete, place your Oval Casserole on the stovetop and heat to medium-high.
When your casserole has reached the appropriate temperature, add the salmon into the garlic oil and cook until the skin is crisp. Finish by seasoning the salmon with salt, pepper, and a few slices of lemon before placing the salmon in the oven to finish cooking on low broil for about 8 minutes.
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Honey Roasted Carrots
This delicious recipe for Honey Roasted Carrots is the perfect side to any one of your next family meals. It combines baby carrots and golden beets with plenty of aromatics, including thyme, white wine, and of course honey.
All you need to prepare this recipe is a Rectangular Roaster or any baking dish with ample room for each ingredient to lay flat within the dish. It is important to avoid overcrowding your roaster in order to achieve a perfectly even roast on each carrot and beet.
These Honey Roasted Carrots, as the recipe name suggests, are roasted in a hot oven for approximately 20 minutes, before being stirred with the honey and white wine. Make sure each vegetable is evenly coated, then roast for another 20 minutes, or until the desired level of browning. This easy recipe involves little prep time and will surely be a hit for the whole family.
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