Simple to make in the oven or air fryer, these Easy Roasted Plums only have 2 ingredients. They’re ideal to make the most of slightly under or over ripe plums and they can be served in all manner of delicious ways or used to add to bakes and cakes. Reduce the sugar and they’re great even to serve with savoury dishes too.
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It’s been a summer of plums here and as they’re easily one of my favourite fruits to bake and cook with, I am just fine with that. I’ve made Plum Curd, Smooth Plum Jam, Plum and Apple Crumble and even Plum Chutney. So for this recipe I wanted to keep things super simple.
I’ve manged that by simply roasting the plums with a little sugar. A small batch is really easy to make in the air fryer and larger batches can go in the oven – I’ve provided the instructions and timings for both.
How to Serve Roast Plums
Roasted plums are just as delicious served hot or cold. Just be careful not to dig in too soon after they’re cooked. Because of the sugar, they will be nuclear hot so proceed with caution.
I tend to think of these plums in terms of layers.
- As a base of a dessert, you can top them with cream or ice cream for a very simple and quick option. Evaporated milk is another old school topping.
- Or you can think of using them as a middle layer. Switch the Roasted Strawberries in this Strawberry Ginger Trifle for plums or make up your own layered trifle, parfait or ice cream sundae.
- Then they’re a delicious topping. You’ll see in the images on this page that I used them on top of my wonderful and creamy Stovetop Rice Pudding. They’re equally great served on yogurt for breakfast or with a simple sponge cake like my Easy Pound Cake.
Adding roasted plums as an extra topping to my Plum Curd Tarts would also be delectable.
By reducing the sugar a little, you can serve roasted plums with savoury dishes like pork chops with greens and potatoes or even whizz them up with a little cream or stock to make a sauce.
Ingredients for Simple Roasted Plums
Plums
You can use any plum that you have to hand for this recipe. Roasting is a good way to use up slightly less ripe plums that seem unlikely to ripen. If they’re very sour, you might want to add a little extra sugar. Equally if they’re very ripe and already taste very sweet, you might want to reduce the sugar a little.
I had a mixture of purple skinned plums, some with bright ruby red insides and some that were yellow like victoria plums.
If you’ve previously frozen plums these can be used too. I’ve not seen frozen plums available to buy but you can buy them canned if you need to.
You don’t need to peel the plums but of course you do need to remove the stone. I find the easiest way if they are a bit resistant is to halve the plum as normal and then use a pair of (clean) plyers to twist the stone out of the second half. This is oddly satisfying.
Sugar
I’ve stuck to using just a simple granulated white sugar for this recipe because I wanted the plum flavour to really shine through. You can use caster (superfine) sugar if you wish but there is no real need.
Depending on how you’re planning on serving the plums, you could use a golden sugar or light brown to add a little extra flavour.
Very dark brown or muscovado sugar would really change the flavour of the plums but there is almost certainly a time and place for this. I would however recommending using half white and half dark so the texture isn’t overly affected and the taste isn’t too strong.
Be Flexible
Because I’ve kept this recipe extra simple with no additional flavourings other than the plum and sugar, there are an infinite number of ways to vary or pimp up the recipe.
On a very basic level, you can mix up the fruits. Sub some of the plums for ripe peaches or nectarines. Or throw in some berries around half way through cooking.
Then we can add other flavours. I love to add citrus – orange is especially delicious with plums. Citrus zest is the best way to add this flavour. Rubbing zest into the sugar before adding to the plums will really maximise the flavour.
You can also add spices if you wish. Winter spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise and ginger are very well matched with plums. If you’re aiming for this sort of flavour profile, you can use ground spice blends like British mixed spice or pumpkin/apple pie spice blends. I would also add any spices to the sugar before adding to the plums so they’re thoroughly combined.
To take things in a more savoury direction, you can add herbs like thyme, rosemary or oregano – these all pair beautifully with plums, especially when serving with pork or lamb. Remember to reduce the sugar in this case.
Whether looking to serve sweet or savoury, a good glug of something boozy is always a welcome addition as far as I’m concerned. Take things a little tropical by adding rum, keep things more earthy with a whiskey or bourbon, add almond notes with amaretto or lean into orange with triple sec/Cointreau.
Vegetarian or Vegan Roasted Plums
These roasted plums are suitable for both vegetarians and vegans without any modification.
Make it Allergy Friendly
This recipe is free from egg, dairy, gluten and nuts.
Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.
Equipment Notes for Roasted Plums
You need very little of note to make these plums – only basic kitchen equipment like a baking dish, sharp knife and measuring spoons. You should aim to use a dish that gives you a snug fit for the plum halves sitting in a single layer.
If you are going to air fry the plums, you will of course need an air fryer! You will also need to make sure that your baking dish sits in the air fryer with a little room around the edge to make sure the air has room to circulate. I also try to use a nice thin tin as this will conduct the heat better.
A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.
Get Ahead
You can roast plums anything up to around 4 or 5 days before you want to use them. Make sure they are fully cool before adding to an air tight container and storing in the fridge.
To reheat you can add back to the oven or air fryer but using the microwave would be easier.
The plums will likely fall apart during the reheating process, they are very fragile as it is. So bear this in mind, you might want to undercook them the first time round if you are planning on reheating.
You can freeze the roasted plums but they really will disintegrate on thawing. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, they will just be more of a sauce than chunky.
Leftovers
You can use leftover plums in any of the ways I’ve suggested for how they can be served/used above.
Easy Roasted Plums Tips
If you plum stones prove stubborn to remove, you can cut the plum into quarters around the stone and prise it out that way.
The plums will be epically hot when you take them out. Please give them 5 or 10 minutes to sit before digging in.
Be very gentle when moving the plums around during the cooking process. They do need a little poke to make sure that they’re basted with their juices but the more they cook, they easier they tend to break up.
Which leads me to say that you will need to be very gentle when removing the plums from the pan when they’re ready. I use a big spoon and fish them out one at a time to prevent them from breaking up.
Some will inevitably break up and become part of the sauce in any event, this is natural but you might want to take that into account if you want a certain number for presentation purposes. Cook more than you think you’ll need to be safe.
Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?
Still Have Questions?
Simple! Just contact me and I will do my best to help as quickly as I am able. Head over to my Contact Me page, any of my social media channels or post a comment at the bottom of this page and I’ll see what I can do.
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More Fruity Recipes
The Recipe
Easy Roasted Plums Recipe (Oven or Air Fryer)
Equipment
- Air Fryer optional!
Ingredients
- 500 g Plums - fresh or frozen
- 3 tbsp Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c fan | 190c | 375f if oven cooking. Otherwise start the preheat setting on your air fryer if there is one.
- Take 500g Plums and run a sharp knife right around the centre of each plum. Twist the halves in opposite directions and pull apart.
- Pull the stone out (use the tip of the knife to carefully cut around if its stubborn) and repeat until all the plums have been prepared.
- Place the plums cut side up in an ovenproof dish. If air frying, make sure that the dish fits in the air fryer with space left for the air to circulate.
- Scatter over 3 tbsp Sugar and gently toss to coat.
- Spreading the plums out in the dish – try to allow them room to sit in a single layer.
To Oven Cook
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Give the plums a gentle stir/turn after 10 minutes and then after 20 minutes.
To Air Fry
- Air fry at 160c | 320f for 13 minutes.
- Give the plums a a gentle stir/turn after 5 minutes and then after 10 minutes.
Cat says
So simple and really delicious served with some vanilla ice cream!
Graham says
My plum tree was blooming this year and I’ve been using your recipe to roast them. Perfect every time.
Lesley says
Absolutely delicious, I added a touch of mixed spice and served them warm with a scoop of ice cream.
Hazel says
I love plums and this is a great way to cook and serve them. I served the plums with rice pudding and they were so good.