Vegetable bake

Feb 21, 2026 | 0 comments

What do I need to make vegetable bake?

The base in this dish is from the vegetable crumble, elsewhere on Thrifty Lesley, with added protein to replace the protein lost in the different topping

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for 4-6 portions

675g of mixed root vegetables – choose any combination of potatoes, carrots, swede, parsnip, mushrooms etc
an onion
a tin of tomatoes or passata
a tin of beans or chickpeas, whichever type you would like to use

How do I make this vegetable bake?

Prepare the vegetables and saute in a little oil / butter / fat from the joint until soft.
Please don’t miss out this step, once you add the tomatoes, the potato and carrot only soften very slowly because of the acid in the tomatoes, and we really don’t want the flavour of boiled onion in this.
While the vegetables are softening, slice about a kilo of potatoes into coins. You can either peel them or not.
Tip into a microwavable dish, cover them with a lid or plate and microwave until soft. It takes 10 minutes in my microwave. Set aside.
Once the veg are cooked through, add a tin of tomatoes. A couple of bay leaves and some chopped parsley would be good if you have them.
Tip in a tin of beans or chickpeas, juice and all
Season with salt and pepper, I used a teaspoon of each and a sprinkle of chilli flakes, not many
You might need to bubble the mix to reduce the liquid down a bit
Tip the vegetable mix into the baking dish you will be using.
Layer the cooked potato slices over the top
Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper – I like to use Aleppo pepper which looks pretty, or you could use cayenne or paprika.
Now blast in a hot oven until the topping is crispy, and the base is hot, serve immediately

What is a savoury vegetable bake like?

I have made lots of different types of vegetable bakes. You can use up all sorts of bits of pieces from the fridge if you want to. They fill you up and are nourishing without spending much.

I’ve been wanting to make this particular version for a while now. My granddaughter has come to live with us and one of the things she really likes is potatoes. She doesn’t like oats, so doesn’t like my lovely vegetable crumble which is a bit of a blow, so I thought a sliced potato top on the same base would work – and it did!

Variations for savoury vegetable bakes

Any root vegetable or combination of them will work beautifully
The base can be any vegetables that you think will work, I’ve tried loads of different combinations and like all of them so far.
- try parsnip and chestnut
- use different kinds of beans, or spicy mixed beans
- swap the beans for big green or brown lentils
- use mushroom ragout as the base
- or you could use one vegetable in the tomato base eg parsnip roundels
- The vegetable bake is vegan as it is, or you can add all kinds of meaty things
  - add cooked bits of bacon, pepperoni etc
  - or chopped chicken
  - or maybe prawns