Easy and Delicious Oven Roasted Okra

This delicious oven-roasted okra is bursting with garden flavor. It’s not your typical southern take where we chop it into bits and fry the life out of it, and I have to say I much prefer this flavorful version. 

This Roasted Okra recipe is our new favorite way to eat up our bountiful okra harvest! It is made with, simple ingredients a little seasoning, and is an easy side dish that pairs well with a variety of dishes! If you are a fan of okra, this is a must-try dish. 

What is okra?

Okra is very common in southern cooking and is high in nutrients such as vitamin C and vitamin K, and also has some protein in it too! Okra can have a slimy texture, which can be used to thicken dishes such as gumbo. However. when roasted, you won’t have slimy okra! Instead, you will get a lot of flavor and the perfect texture that is golden brown and crispy. You’re going to love this easy recipe that makes the perfect side dish!

Okra Is a Staple In Our Summer Garden

I’m a long-time okra lover because it’s easy to grow and keeps producing later into the season. It also grows insanely fast. It’s one of those things, like cucumbers, that you have to really stay on top of picking though. You might go out in the morning and have a tiny little bud showing and by dinner time it’s big enough to use as a baseball bat.

Here’s some okra we are leaving to grow & dry so that we can harvest the seeds to plant next year.
(AKA- I didn’t pick twice that day and they went from perfect and tender to
gnawing-on-cardboard in a matter of hours.)

It’s not my favorite thing to pick- think fiberglass shards in your fingers- but it’s super versatile. You can add it to soups, pickle it, fry it, and of course, roast it up, baby. We have okra coming out of our ears right now, so we’ve tried a little bit of everything. Roasting has become a favorite and it is such an easy okra dish for a weeknight meal. 

Delicious, quick, easy…Mama approved! All you need is some okra, seasoning, and a rimmed baking sheet to make my new go-to okra recipe!

Roasted Okra

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh okra- washed & sliced lengthwise.  For this batch, I left the ends on the okra pod and just ate around them, but you can cut them off.
• Extra Virgin olive oil – you can also sub for your favorite cooking oil such as avocado oil. 
• salt 
• black pepper
• garlic powder
• cayenne pepper – this is optional but makes a great addition to spice things up a bit!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Coat okra in olive oil
3. Spread on a baking sheet in a single layer- I like to line my sheet pan with aluminum foil to minimize the mess.  I saw this genius trick on The Pioneer Woman & it was like the clouds parted and I was cooking for the very first time.  Why had I not thought of this before?!

4.  Season okra with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (cayenne if you want a little kick)

5.  Add to the preheated oven and roast for about 20 minutes- the okra should be crispy, but tender.

I know it’s not Grandma’s fried okra, but roasting really brings out the flavors. Plus, you still get the crunch but it’s healthier for you! I was popping these babies like potato chips. In fact, I told Creek they were okra fries…suddenly they were edible.  Go figure.

How to store roasted okra

If you have any leftovers, let the okra cool and then add them to an airtight container and store them in the fridge for 2-3 days. The best way to reheat is to pop them back in the oven for a few minutes so you do not lose the crispy edges!