Baked Mussels with Root Vegetables recipe is an easy seafood sheet pan dinner that knocks it out of the park in flavor!
Tender Mussels baked in the oven, then topped with homemade Mediterranean Chimichurri sauce that’s made with cilantro, parsley, garlic, red onion, lemon, and limes.
It’s such a cozy meal that I absolutely loved doubling and sharing with friends. And it’s ready in just 40 minutes. Make this one of your go-to mussel recipes.
Baking Mussels is the most hands-off way of cooking this shellfish. After a light cleaning, which I go into more detail below, the next step is to place them on a sheet pan and bake until they pop open!
Ok friends, there is a bit of room for creativity here, if you’d like it. Otherwise, go with what I suggest. So let’s dive in on the juicy details. For the root vegetables, feel free to choose your favorites but do know the baking times may vary.
When I made this dish I used mainly carrots and red potatoes as the staples, and either parsnips or radishes as a fun add-on. And, radishes were shockingly good roasted. They were sweet and not as spicy as usual. I would absolutely recommend adding them to this root vegetables recipe.
Root veggies being more of a starchy, work great with mussels.
What do Mussels taste like?
Mussels have a light, but deeper seafood profile to them than other mollusks. Comparing them to other clams especially. They’re very tender, juicy, and go great with light and dark sauces and dishes. I love pairing them with deeper flavors, since seafood is traditional served with lighter flavors, mussels leave me more wiggle room for creativity. Hence this Mussels and Root Vegetable recipe, as well as my Stout Steamed Mussels, and Roasted Red Pepper Mussel Soup recipe!
So, to make this dish, you will need – 2 sheet pans; one for roasting veggies, and the other for cooking mussels. I like to have 2 separate trays because, once the mussels are cooked they produce a liquid that would get onto the veggies which I wanted to avoid. No one wants wet roasted veggies.
I used Chimichurri as the sauce for mussels and root vegetables, and oh boy is that sauce great on this dish. So, once the mussels are cooked, you’ll remove them from the oven and drizzle the sauce on them. Then coat the veggies in chimichurri as well.
And, as far as what meal to serve this for, Roasted mussels and roasted veggies with chimichurri makes a great side or main dish. And no one will complain either way, or know how easy this baked mussels recipe was!
When I thought of this recipe, I was inspired by trying new veggies roasted, like parsnips and radishes. Something about leading up to fall and making a one-dish wonder piqued my interest.
For this dish, I was after a cozy, yet healthy, and slightly sophisticated at the same time. So, out came the idea of cooking mussels in the oven, and I was definitely for it in this dish. Not too many mussel dishes call for oven roasted mussels, so I went in blind, but thankfully baking mussels is a straightforward process.
HOW TO BAKE MUSSLES
This recipe is as simple as cleaning the mussels and placing them on a sheet pan in the oven, then… wait until they *pop* open, and that’s when you know they’re done! Remove them right away and the result is beautifully tender mussels!
Then, pack in chimichurri in every nook and cranny you can to give them the best flavor.
INGREDIENTS
- Fresh Mussels. Clean and debeard mussels using the instructions above. Thank you to our friends at Taylor Shellfish for sharing these beauties with us! Everything showed up at my door ice cold and so incredibly fresh. Order directly from their site and receive your order at your door shortly after!
- Root Vegetables of your choosing. I used carrots, red potatoes, radishes, and parsnips. Cut them to be about the same size to cook evenly. This Mussel and Root Vegetables recipe is so easy and goes so well together.
- Shallots or Red onion. I’ve used both in this recipe and love each way. Shallots end up being larger pieces which are nice to keep large.
- Chimichurri sauce. This is key to creating this meal. Chimichurri is a garlic-rich, spicy sauce with parsley and cilantro. Make it up to a day or two in advance to cut down recipe prep time.
FAQ
First, you’ll need to clean them. To do so, start by removing the beards (aka the byssus thread) by pulling them off hard, scrubbing the shells if needed. Place them in a dry bowl and keep refrigerated. Once the beards are removed, you must use cook them immediately so they don’t die in the process.
Mussels and bread pair beautifully together. Another one that always reminds me of when my husband and I would vacation on Whidbey Island is a side of fluffy rice. Eating mussels and rice together brings back all the great memories of fresh mussels on Washington’s beautiful islands.
There are various ways to cook mussels, such as on the grill, in the oven, steaming, and boiling in soup. In this recipe, I use the oven method to get a quick healthy dinner on the table in no time.
Baked mussels oven temperature should be 425 to cook the mussels perfectly.
You will start to hear them pop open. Check on them, once all the shells are opened, which takes about 4-6 minutes, remove from heat to serve.
Cooked mussels can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. It’s best to eat them the day of, and the day after.
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OTHER MUSSELS & SEAFOOD RECIPES TO TRY
- Stout Steamed Mussels with Mushrooms
- Roasted Red Pepper Mussel Soup
- Rosemary Parmesan Crusted Fish
- Seafood Boil
- Crab Rangoon
- Razor Clam Jalapeno Poppers
HOW TO KNOW IF MUSSELS ARE GOOD | SHELLFISH SAFETY
-Purchase Mussels that have closed shells, and smell fresh. If they have a very strong smell, they could be bad.
-Do not place mussels in standing water prior to cooking. They will suffocate.
-If the mussels are slightly opened prior to cooking, tap them a few times and they should close within 30 seconds or so. If they don’t close, try rinsing them under cold water for a couple seconds. If they don’t close within 30 seconds, then discard them. Oftentimes mussels go bad if they’ve been left in water from ice melting, or the shells are cracked, or it’s past their expiration. Either way, it’s always best to discard them.
WHAT TO PAIR WITH: Baked Mussels with Root Vegetables
This is one of the easiest Mussel Recipes out there. It requires 2 sheet pans, one for the mussels and one for root vegetables. This dish makes a great main dish or side dish. So, pairings would need to be light and less dramatic flavors. You don’t want to overpower the mussels and the chimichurri.
- Appetizer: Hummus and pita. Linked is my silky hummus recipe.
- Salad: Tabouli Salad. It’s a fresh Mediterranean salad made with parsley, tomatoes and bulgur.
- To drink: Pinot Gris and Chardonnay would compliment mussel recipes well.
Baked Mussels with Root Vegetables
Equipment
- 2 sheet pans
Ingredients
- 2 lbs mussels cleaned, debearded
- 3 lbs root vegetables carrots, red potatoes, radishes
- ½ lb shallots
- salt and pepper
Chimichurri (make your favorite or use my Chimichurri recipe)
Instructions
- Set an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425F.
- Slice the vegetables and place on a baking sheet with olive oil. Spirnkle with salt and pepper and place in oven for 25-30 minutes, until they look cooked through.
- In the meantime, pull the beards off the mussels, and rinse them well then place on a sheet pan.
- Put the mussels in the oven as soon as the root vegetables are looking cooked and turning golden on the bottom. Bake mussels for 4-6 minutes, as soon as they open up, they're done.
- Remove and place them in a bowl then drizzle chimichurri into them. Then add the vegetables and coat in chimichurri.
Notes
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