My new favorite way to eat okra is so simple and easy that it almost can’t be called a recipe. All you have to do is wash the okra, put it in an oiled baking dish, sprinkle it with seasonings, and bake it. The beauty of this is that no cutting is involved, so you never come in contact with the dreaded slime!
The okra come out slightly crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and they’re perfect finger food (like green French fries, but don’t use ketchup). Even my husband, who says that okra is not his favorite vegetable, loved these. For me they’re the perfect side dish or light lunch–super-easy, fat-free, and delicious.
Roasted Okra
about 1/2 pound of small, whole okra per person
salt to taste
pepper to taste
olive oil spray
First, start with the smallest okra you can find. Larger okra tends to be woody, which wouldn’t work in this recipe.
Preheat the oven to 450 F. Spray a shallow baking dish with olive oil, add okra, and season to taste. Give the okra one quick (1/2 second) spray with olive oil, and put them into the oven. Bake, stirring every 5 minutes, until okra is browned on all sides, about 15 minutes. Serve hot out of the oven.
You can also jazz these up with spice blends such as garam masala, curry powder, chili powder, Creole seasonings, or jerk seasonings–whatever your taste demands. But simple salt and pepper is amazingly good and allows the fresh flavor of the okra to shine through.
Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free Eat to Live
Share This Recipe:
I'm SusanV, and I love good food. Join me as I create delicious dishes made with whole foods and without a lot of processed fat and sugar. 
Sea-sational Chickpea Salad
Curried Eggplant, Lentil, and Quinoa Burgers with Onion-Pepper Relish
Basic Low-Fat Coleslaw
Cucumber Hummus
Fresh Chile Sauce
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
sounds good to me! I am growing okra in my garden this year, so I am excited to give it a try.
I love the "green french fries" idea. wonder if my kids will agree?!
I'm trying new foods and bought some okra at the farmers' market. Found this recipe and tried it.
Awesome! Totally dee-licious!
No slime, sweet and tasty.
Okra gets added to the regular rotation.
Thanks for a great recipe!
I am a native Texan, but I must be a terrible Southerner, because when I got a bag of these curious-looking little veggies in my CSA box this week, I had no idea what they were! I hadn't a clue how to find out either- how do you google search "What the heck is this veggie??" I enlisted the help of my neighbor, and finally solved the mystery… So now that I know what it is, I also know how to cook it!
My kids love this! Okra is also nutrient rich, so having another way of serving it is just great! We eat them like french fries!
We roast okra on the grill every summer as soon as we can pick it from the garden. Olive oil, some herbs, salt, whatever. It's always great.
Can we use whole frozen okra?
I haven’t tried it, but one of the old comments said that it did work with frozen okra:
All of the comments before August 2009 were lost during the site transfer. Here are those comments:
Alanna said…
OH so simple! Bookmark! Hmm. Skip the bookmark. Head for farmers market, need tomatoes anyway.
9:10 AM, August 24, 2006
———
FunLauren said…
I’ve been craving okra lately, so this looks REALLY good.
10:00 AM, August 24, 2006
———
tamara said…
i’ve never gotten around to trying okra, but it’s one of my mother’s favorite vegetables. i think it’s time to try it.
i do this exact thing but with asparagus, and that comes out really delicious.
11:23 AM, August 24, 2006
——–
Brooke said…
I don’t think I have ever had okra that wasn’t breaded and fried. I will have to try it this way, it looks pretty darn good!
11:33 AM, August 24, 2006
———-
zenpawn said…
Do you trim the ends before eating?
1:25 PM, August 24, 2006
———-
Just call me Orangie said…
Wow that sounds (and looks) really good. I’ve never tried okra before, because everytime I’ve seen it cooked it’s really slimy and smells awful, so I swore to never try it, but maybe I’ll take it back and try them. Do you think frozen, thawed okra would work for this?
2:18 PM, August 24, 2006
——
SusanV said…
zenpawn, I used them untrimmed, but if there had been any excess stem on them, I would have trimmed it off.
Orangie, I have a feeling that frozen okra wouldn’t work for this, but I haven’t tried it. It just seems that when it thaws, it gets very soft–not the firm texture of the fresh okra. If you try it, please post a comment telling how it came out.
Thanks for your comments, everyone!
3:26 PM, August 24, 2006
———
maybepigscanfly said…
I had okra for the first time last year at a few restaurants and fell in love. So then I tried it at home but didn’t know what I was doing– (verdict- it wasn’t a good experiment). Now with your cooking expertise I can’t wait to give okra another at home try. Thanks!
-Teresa
7:50 PM, August 24, 2006
———–
Ana said…
I always had okra in stew type dishes, or stewed by its own (ie, only cooked okras, with onions, garlic, spices).
This method sounds great, thanks for the idea, I am sure going to try, I like okra a lot! Yum!
I even have a little bag full in my fridge right now!
Ana
9:46 PM, August 24, 2006
————
Blogger funwithyourfood said…
I really like roasted foods. just adds so much flavor
teddy
10:13 PM, August 24, 2006
——-
Blogger laura jesser said…
Sounds great! I’ve been looking for a way to enjoy okra (other than fried…), so I’ll probably make this immediately!
12:04 AM, August 25, 2006
———-
Blogger inspireyrslf said…
This sounds absolutely delicious! I love fried okra and this sounds like the perfect alternative. I never thought to bake them. Thank you!
3:28 PM, August 25, 2006
———–
Anonymous pennymca said…
This was absolutely delicious! You’re right..I felt like I was eating green french fries!
4:19 PM, August 26, 2006
———
Blogger inspireyrslf said…
I tried this and it’s WONDERFUL and so easy. Thank you!
8:33 PM, August 27, 2006
——
Anonymous Kake said…
I discovered roasted okra just a few months ago. It’s really simple and really tasty!
10:31 PM, August 27, 2006
——
Anonymous Mark said…
Great idea Susan! I’ve a great overabundance of Okra in my garden, although I’ve cooked it Indian style (stuffed with coconut/almonds,spices), Southern (either cornmeal-coated slices fried) or a creole/cajun gumbo, I never thought to roast it.
I love roasting fresh veggies from the garden, and I added okra “chunks” to eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and potatoes… just marvelous. I did add a little oil, little tamari, little balsamic vinegar, dusting of pepper.
Thanks much for the idea… Best, Mark
9:04 AM, August 28, 2006
——-
Blogger zenpawn said…
Thank you for introducing me to okra. I made these for lunch today. A new addition to my roasted veggies addiction.
3:15 PM, September 01, 2006
———-
Anonymous Anonymous said…
This is so tasty and simple. Thanks for the “recipe.” It will certainly become a part of my rotation!
8:26 PM, January 07, 2007
——-
Anonymous Kim said…
I have now made the roasted okra twice. It is really delicious! Thanks, Susan!
9:49 AM, January 10, 2007
——–
Anonymous Snowpea said…
When I saw some okra at the produce store last week, I decided to try your “unrecipe”. The hubby and I both enjoyed it so much I bought more today and I’m really looking forward to it.
With bindhi bahji, this is now a favourite orka dish at la Casa de Snowpea.
1:58 PM, March 24, 2007
——–
Blogger Maya Papaya said…
I’ve made this about five times already. I think it works best with salt and pepper too.
It’s totally yummy. I’ll be sorry when I can’t find any more okra this summer!
12:32 PM, August 09, 2007
——–
Anonymous claudia said…
perfect. where have you been all my life. i’ve been looking – no searching – for a recipe like this. hey, i love your blog. it’s great. but don’t read my last post, ok? it’s so not what you want to see. but tomorrow you’ll approve of my dinner that i’m making tonight. does this make ANY sense?
6:09 PM, August 11, 2007
——-
Anonymous Bitterman said…
Tried them……LOVED THEM!!!
4:30 PM, August 20, 2007
———
Anonymous Anonymous said…
who knew okra could be so easy? i added a teaspoon of cumin seeds along with the salt and pepper. the roasted cumin seeds added a nice little flavor kick!
-alex
6:50 AM, February 24, 2008
——
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I never tried okra until I moved to north carolina last year and I went to a local farmers market. The vendor told me to try it raw – it was so yummy!
They don’t start to get that natural goo until they are cut so as long as you keep them whole they will have a different flavor.
I cant wait to try this recipe tonight!
9:48 AM, June 27, 2008
———
Blogger Caleb said…
my grandma taught me that you can sprinkle fresh Lemon juice on Okra when cooking with it, and it cuts down on the “slime”. i don’t know how it works, but it does. i suppose you could use vinegar too. i guess thats why pickled Okra doesn’t seem to be so slimy…
9:53 AM, September 09, 2008
———
Blogger Meghan said…
I used frozen whole okra and it still worked great.
9:44 PM, December 03, 2008
———
Blogger Jenn said…
I loved this! I like okra anyway (the slime doesn’t bother me) but this was an awesome quick and easy recipe and one that would make okra naysayers give it a try!
11:10 AM, January 11, 2009
Thanks for your post! I knew I liked battered and fried okra, so I decided to try growing it in my garden this summer. I’m in the desert in AZ and okra seems to love the heat. I picked some pods yesterday, and had to figure out how to cook it. I ran across your post and tried the recipe. I cut them in slices instead of leaving them whole. They came out like little crispy tasty chips. Yum!
OMG. Awesome. I made them in my toaster oven and wow. 10 minutes wow. Thanks
I adore okra and have made it in curries and stews and soups, but never just plain ole roasted! I have got to give this a try, asap.
I’m trying this now only carrying it a step further and preparing some to store in the freezer. I’m leaving off the last 5 mins. of baking time and writing that on my freezer bag to finish preparing it when the time comes.
I used Cajun spices on mine and it is yummy. Thanks for this great new way to prepare okra!
I was a bit skeptical at first…I mean, I love okra, but roasted?? Then my sister came to my house with a small pail of okra from her garden and I decided to give it a try.
AMAZING!
These will be such a wonderful replacement for french fries and also a fantastic side dish to bring to potluck. Love it!
Thanks for the great idea!
{ 1 trackback }