This Middle Eastern Vegetable tray bake is a wholesome and hearty plant-based dinner that requires minimal clean up. Topped with a marinade of warming spices and served with a creamy tahini and white bean dip, it’s a delicious hands-off dinner.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Flavorful and Warming: Packed with spices like cumin, coriander, and smoked paprika for a deliciously aromatic dish.
- Healthy and Plant-Based: A nutritious meal featuring a variety of vegetables and a creamy, protein-rich white bean dip.
- Easy and Minimal Cleanup: A one-pan dish that’s simple to prepare and clean up after.
- Versatile and Satisfying: Perfect as a hearty dinner, and can easily be adapted with different vegetables or spices to suit your taste.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Now, this recipe does look like it has a pretty long ingredients list, but don’t let that put you off! Once you’ve prepped your veggies and measured out your spices, I promise you, it’s very straightforward. Here’s a shopping list of everything you’ll need:
- Cauliflower
- Butternut squash
- Garlic
- Red bell pepper (capsicum)
- Red onion
- Canned chickpeas
- Canned cannellini beans
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Tahini
- Lemons
- White miso paste
- Fresh parsley leaves
Spices
- Ground cumin
- Ground coriander
- Smoked paprika
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt
- Cayenne pepper (optional)
- Cracked pepper

See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for exact measurements and quantities.
Instructions
I asked my audience on Instagram and on email what kinds of recipes they needed the most, and the answer loud and clear was more one-pot and one-tray dinners. So, the inspiration behind this recipe was to make a nutritious plant-based dinner with just the one tray. Now, technically, this recipe does have the extra component of the white bean dip which involves a blender, but it’s very easy and totally delicious. Aside from that, I think this recipe meets the brief very well! You do a bit of chopping and prep upfront, then it’s mostly hands-off. Here’s how to make it:
Step One: Preheat the oven and roast cauliflower, butternut squash, and garlic cloves with olive oil and salt.

Step Two: Make the dressing by mixing olive oil with spices.
Step Three: Add red bell pepper, red onion, and chickpeas to the tray. Drizzle with dressing and continue roasting.

Step Four: Blend roasted garlic cloves with white beans, tahini, lemon juice, miso paste, and salt to make the dip.

Step Five: Serve the roasted vegetables over the white bean dip with fresh parsley leaves and lemon wedges.

Substitutions & Variations
This recipe is versatile and you can easily make some tweaks depending on what veggies you have in the fridge. Here are some swaps that would work well:
Vegetables: Swap butternut squash with sweet potatoes or carrots. Use broccoli or red cabbage instead of cauliflower. And yes, roasted cabbage is delicious! It caramelizes and becomes very tender. If you’re curious to try it on its own, check out my roast cabbage recipe here.
Beans: Replace canned white cannellini beans with butter beans for the dip. I like cannellini beans because they are so tender, but butter beans will also work well. Chickpeas could also be used instead and will make a tasty hummus-style dip.
Spices: You can tweak the spice mix to suit your taste. This recipe is only mildly spiced, so if you’d like it to have more heat, increase the cayenne pepper to 1/2 – 1 tsp. If you don’t have smoked paprika, use regular sweet paprika. It won’t have the same smoky flavor, but it will still add to the overall flavor.
Herbs: I’ve opted for parsley to garnish, but any soft leafy herb will work well. Coriander, mint or dill would all be delicious.
Lemon Juice: Can be swapped with lime juice.
Miso Paste: I highly recommend getting miso paste for this recipe as it adds so much savory, umami flavor to the white bean dip. If you really can’t find it, then you can get by with some extra salt and tahini. Make the recipe as per instructions, but omit the miso paste. Taste test, then add more salt and tahini as needed until you are satisfied. Be careful to avoid over-blending the dip though, as this can result in the olive oil becoming bitter. If you want to test lots of little adjustments, mix the extra tahini and salt in with a whisk, by hand, rather than in the blender.
Equipment
I won’t list all the basic gear, but here are a couple of appliances that are must-haves for this recipe:
- Blender: I love my Vitamix for this recipe as it is a jug-style with an open top that allows me to drizzle the olive oil while the blender is running. It’s quite an investment as far as appliances go, but if you’re in the market for a blender, it’s regarded as the best of the best. You don’t need a special blender for this recipe though, as the dip ingredients are soft and any regular blender should be able to handle it. If you are using a closed blender like a Nutribullet, you will need to add a little bit at a time (about a tablespoon or two), stop, blend, then continue.
- Oven: This recipe is a tray bake, so you’ll need an oven to make it.
Storage
Refrigerator: Store the roasted vegetables and white bean dip in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat the vegetables in the oven or microwave before serving.
Freezer: The roasted vegetables can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat before serving. The white bean dip is best fresh, I don’t recommend freezing it.
Meal Prep: If you’re making this for meal prep, put the vegetables in one container and the dip in a separate small container or jar. That way you don’t have to reheat the dip along with the veggies.
Expert Tips

If you have time, try using whole cumin and coriander seeds for an extra depth of flavor. Toast the whole cumin and coriander seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant before grinding them. You can use a mortar and pestle, spice mill or a small closed blender like a Nutribullet. This simple step enhances their aroma and brings out the spices’ natural oils, making your dressing even more flavorful.

FAQ
Absolutely! Feel free to use any vegetables you like or have on hand, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, or red cabbage.
Store the roasted vegetables and white bean dip in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat the vegetables in the oven or microwave before serving.
You can make the dip ahead of time, but the vegetables (although they can be reheated) are best straight out of the oven. If you want to cut down the time on the day, prepare the vegetables by peeling and dicing them so they are ready to be roasted, and getting all your spices together in a jar.
I hope you enjoy this wholesome and hearty Middle Eastern-inspired tray bake! I would be super grateful if you could leave a star rating and review—it really helps the algorithm send my recipes to more people. You can also tag me in your photos on Instagram @glowdiaries___ and I will reshare to stories 🙂

Middle Eastern Vegetables with White Bean Dip
Equipment
- Oven
- High powered blender
Ingredients
Vegetables
- 1 medium head of cauliflower (about 1kg/2.2 lb) broken into florets
- 500 g butternut squash peeled, seeds removed and diced into 2.5cm/1" cubes
- 3 cloves garlic unpeeled
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 medium red bell pepper (capsicum) stem removed, diced into large pieces
- 1 red onion sliced into 8 wedges
- 1 (400g/14oz) can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
Dressing
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt divided
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper optional
- 1/4 tsp cracked pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
White Bean Dip
- 2 (400g/14 oz) cans of white cannellini or butter beans rinsed and drained
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 1/3 cup lemon juice (juice from approx 2 large lemons)
- 1 tbsp white miso paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup olive oil extra virgin
To serve
- Fresh parsley leaves
- Lemon wedges
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F. Place cauliflower florets, pumpkin and unpeeled garlic cloves on an extra large, lined baking tray. Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Toss or use your hands to coat evenly. Roast for 25 minutes or until the pumpkin is just tender.
- While the vegetables are roasting, make a dressing by combining the olive oil with all spices.
- Remove tray from oven. Carefully remove garlic cloves and set aside to cool. Add diced capsicum, onion and chickpeas. Drizzle the dressing on top and (being careful not to burn yourself) brush it over all vegetables.
- Return the tray to the oven for a further 20 minutes or until all vegetables are tender and spices are fragrant.
- To make the dip, peel garlic cloves. Add the garlic cloves, white beans, tahini, lemon juice, miso paste and salt. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides if needed. Lastly, gradually add the olive oil. Add a drizzle of water or extra olive oil if you prefer a thinner consistency. Taste and season as desired.
- Serve by dividing the white bean dip among 4 plates. Spread to form a small bed, then top with roast vegetables. Serve with a wedge of lemon and fresh parsley leaves.
Video

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