I ‘ve been making so many “one pot” or “skillet” meals lately that I’ve barely made any traditional side dishes. I get a lot of questions about side dishes, though, so I’ve decided to challenge myself to come up with some more vegetable based sides. These Smoky Roasted Sweet Potatoes are just one idea that I’ve had up my sleeve…
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I love the mix of sweet, spicy, and smoky, so I took the spice rub that was used for the famed Glazed Pork Chops and applied it to sweet potatoes. I altered the ratio of the ingredients just a bit to account for the cooking method and the fact that the sweet potatoes provide a good amount of sweetness on their own. I sliced the sweet potatoes thinly for a more interesting texture, but you could certainly cube them if you didn’t feel like exercising your knife skills. ;) (Or you could use a mandolin.)
The cooking time for these Smoky Roasted Sweet Potatoes will vary slightly depending on the size and thickness of your sweet potatoes, so use my recommendations as a guide. You’ll want to test the sweet potatoes with a fork for doneness, just to be sure.
Smoky Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Servings 6Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, about 2 lbs. ($2.50)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.03)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika ($0.10)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, optional ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper, 10-15 cranks of a pepper mill ($0.03)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash and peel the sweet potatoes, then cut them into 1/8-inch thick slices.
- In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, smoked paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper.
- Place the sweet potato slices in a large bowl and drizzle the olive oil over top. Sprinkle the spice mix over the sweet potatoes, then toss until the potatoes are evenly coated in oil and spices.
- Arrange the seasoned sweet potato slices in a casserole dish, stacked in a row like a deck of cards. They don’t have to be perfect.
- Cover the dish with foil and roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and let cook for an additional 15 minutes. Test the sweet potatoes with a fork for doneness. If they’re still firm, allow them to roast for an additional 10-15 minutes. If they become too brown during that time, simply cover the dish with foil to prevent further browning.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Smoky Roasted Sweet Potatoes – Step by Step Photos
Start with two average sized sweet potatoes, or about two pounds. Oh, and start preheating the oven to 400 degrees.
Wash, peel, and slice the sweet potatoes. Slice them fairly thin, about 1/8 inch, to help them cook a little faster.
Prepare the smoky spice mix by stirring together 1 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional), 1/4 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper (10-15 cranks of a pepper mill).
Drizzle 2 Tbsp of olive oil over the sweet potatoes, then sprinkle on the smoky spice mix. Toss the ingredients until they’re evenly coated in oil and spices (this takes a little bit of mixing… use your hands).
Arrange the slices in a casserole dish, standing face to face. It doesn’t have to be perfect. I didn’t even turn the pieces all the same way, I just grabbed a stack and sat them in the dish until it was all filled up (squeezed a few down the center, too).
Cover the dish with foil and let it roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and roast for an additional 15 minutes. Test the sweet potatoes with a fork to make sure they’re tender (pick a larger piece to pierce). If they’re still a bit solid, let them roast another 10-15 minutes. The total time needed will depend on how thick or thin your slices are and maybe even the size or shape of your dish.
Would chipotle powder be a decent substitute for the cayenne?
You could use that as a swap. There is so little in this recipe that the difference would not be noticeable.
Where would I find the nutritional information for this recipe? Thanks:)
Unfortunately I don’t have the nutrition information, but there are several services online that allow you to enter recipe ingredients and they’ll calculate an estimate for you. I don’t find these calculators reliable or accurate, but it might be okay for your purposes. Google “recipe nutrition calculator” and you’ll have several to choose from.
Can you make these a two days before? I’m trying to figure out if I should cook and reheat on thanksgiving. My nephew made these last year and I loved them
I’m going to say that they’re probably best made the day of.
If I am making this with the Honey Mustard Pork Chops, can I cook them at 350 (the temp to cook the chops)? Would I need to cook the sweet potatoes longer? I never know what to do when making two recipes that call for two diff. temps at the same time. Thanks!
Yes, you’ll definitely need to cook them longer at a lower temp. I’m not sure how long it might take, though.
Husband loved these potatoes and is asking me to make them for Christmas. Simple recipe but very tasty. A new family favorite. Thanks for the great recipe.
EXCELLENT! i decreased the brown sugar by half and used splenda brown sugar. just the right amount of sweet and spice and the potatoes came out so tender with a little crunch on the exterior! Perfect!
This recipe is so easy and looks so great! But I have a question , do you know if I would get a decent dish just using potatoes?
Hmm, I think you might miss the subtle sweetness that the sweet potatoes provide. I like to do savory spice mixes for regular potatoes.
Awesome recipe! A welcome addition to my new healthful diet!
I tried this yesterday with my boyfriend. I sliced the sweet potatoes super thin, baked it covered with foil for 30 minutes, baked it uncovered for 15 minutes, then baked it some more for 10 minutes, then finally pour a bit of water into the pan and returned it to the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. The top of the “deck” was slightly singed by the time I was done, yet the sweet potatoes still had that slightly underdone crunchiness to it. I finally pulled it out, put it in a microwave safe dish, poured water on it, then nuked it in the microwave. It’s amazingly tasty when it’s soft and fully cooked through. Next time, though, I think I may have to put some water in the dish while I cook it covered and up the spices a bit to make up for the extra moisture.
These are the best sweet potatoes I’ve ever made! Definitely going to be a go to recipe!
I would normally never comment on a website like this, but these sweet potatoes were SO GOOD. So easy to prepare, pretty darn healthy, and SO GOOD. My roommates and I ate them all in one sitting. I’ll be introducing this recipe to anyone that will listen
These are so incredibly tasty and delicious!! Every time I have made this, everyone wants to eat more. I love this recipe you gave us, because it is also so easy and quick to prepare.
I made these and I think they are my new favorite way to enjoy sweet potatoes. Awesome recipe!
Dang, Beth, you’ve done it again. These sweet potatoes are sooooo good!
This looks so delicious! I’m going to try it tonight! Is there another substitute I could use for brown sugar? Would it taste similar if I used honey or agave?
Yes, I think honey would be really good. :)
This is the second recipe I’ve made from your site (the first was the Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup). When I decided I wanted to make this recipe I discovered that I didn’t have all of the correct spices in my cupboard but I did have something called “Perfect Pinch Salt Free Southwest Sweet n Smoky Seasoning” on hand. It has almost the same ingredients as your blend so I just used that instead. (I promise I don’t work for McCormick!) I also added black pepper as you suggested and a small amount of cinnamon, too. It turned out wonderfully except that after cooking the soup and now this, my wife says I’m in charge of cooking all meals from now on!
This recipe is soooo good and a favorite when we take to parties and potlucks. It’s now 100+ degrees, and I need to make a double batch for 4th of July. Any thoughts on cooking this in the slow cooker? On high for a few hours? Not sure how to convert with the higher roasting temperature. Thank you for this website. We seriously have at least 2 meals a week from it. You’ve helped me with my cooking skills and confidence over the years, and I’ve eaten and enjoyed so many things that I would have been too scared to try normally.
Well, the major difference between the slow cooker and the oven is that the slow cooker holds in moisture and creates a moist cooking environment, whereas the oven is a dry cooking environment. You’ll get much softer mash-like potatoes in the slow cooker. I’m not sure what time/temp would be needed to cook them in the slow cooker, though.
This is very late, but in case someone is reading the comments and wonders–I’ve used these seasonings with mashed sweet potatoes (both my wife and I have arthritis in our hands, and slicing raw sweet potatoes can be a challenge since they’re so hard, but I loved the flavors and wanted to be able to keep making them without shelling out for pre-chopped sweet potato cubes). I bake the sweet potatoes until they’re soft, scoop out the potato, and then mix in the seasonings. (I use whipped butter instead of oil, and start with 1 Tbsp, adding more if I think it needs it.) The flavor is still great.
So you could probably adapt this to crock-pot cooking–a different texture, but similar flavor.
My husband loves to cook on the charcoal grill. He likes to grill the veggies alongside the meat. We have grill pans for this or cook on heavy duty aluminum foil to prevent small pieces from falling through the grill.
Any suggestions how this might work on the grill?
I think the foil packet method is a good choice! I haven’t really cooked much on a grill myself (sadly, I don’t own one), so I don’t think I can offer much help. :(
I loved the smoky taste of these sweet potatoes!
These were fantastic! Instead of salt I used about 1/8 tsp ghost pepper salt which my husband got for Christmas from my parents. I also used smoked paprika which really enhanced the smoky flavor. I will definitely be using this recipe again and again and again! I wonder if I could convince every one to do a spicy Thanksgiving theme!
Just made this. DELISH! I used white sweet potatoes and it turned out great! Will definitely be making this again.
I made these the other night and the flavour was fantastic, but I just couldn’t get my potatoes to cook all the way through. I’m not sure what I did wrong, but some of them just didn’t cook properly – but I will have to try again, the flavour is really yummy!
If possible, try slicing them a little thinner. :)
Can these be frozen?
Potatoes do okay when frozen. They may dry out some, but in general will thaw and reheat okay.
Do you think this could work with 1 pound of potatoes? I haven’t been able to get my kids turned on to sweet potatoes yet, but my husband and I are huge fans.
Yep! You might want to use a smaller dish, if you have one and it might not take quite as long to make them tender.
I made these this weekend and they were amazing! I couldn’t stop eating them out of the pan!
Yummmmm. What I love about this blog (for years!) is not just the recipes themselves but them giving me ideas and inspirations for way to dress up food. I made this almost as is, but subbed cumin for the brown sugar and used it as a base for vegan burrito bowls…. SO good. I know that defeats the purpose of the smokey/sweet idea you had, but I seriously never would have thought of this on my own!
Great idea! I love it when people share their spin offs. :)
I made these the other night and they were amazing! Love, love, love! Thanks Beth, for another great recipe and a fantastic site!
We made these with your honey mustard pork chops recipe, and all I can say is OMG YUM!
You saved the day/night with this recipe, and now my boyfriend knows it by heart…score!
Made these last night, my husband and I loved them. Thanks for the great recipe, we will be making these often.
This is being added to our Passover table this year! Thanks!
I never met a sweet potato I didn’t love–well, excluding those prepared with too much sugar and marshmallow goo–and these certainly don’t disappoint! I loved the taste of the savory spices, and they look beautiful on the plate. Curry powder would be a good sub for the paprika, too, although I’ve been dumping smoked paprika on tons of stuff lately and am glad for yet another place to use it!
Incredibly delicious. In fact, my wife has already developed an addiction and wants these again soon.
would this work well with butternut squash?
Hmm, probably! :)
will try it out and report back!
Going to make these for dinner now. Original side dish for tonight was going to be baked sweet potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows– this sounds infinitely better.
Update: All of my yes are belong to this. Ate some of it as-is, and cut marshmallows into quarters over the rest of it and let them melt. Best of both worlds right there. This is SO getting made again.
These look lovely and colorful. Do you think, frying them in a cast iron pan would work for smaller batches? I am currently coping without an oven :(
Oooh, yes, that would probably be very delicious! :)
Thanks, Beth. I will give it a try soon. Keep up the great work and delicious recipes.
The combination of smoky and sweet sounds interesting. I’ll definitely have to try these.
Hi there…I have some regular baking potatoes on hand, do you think I could use those instead?
It will definitely have a totally different flavor. I’m not sure I’d like this brown sugar mixture with regular baking potatoes.
I use this combo of spices minus the brown sugar on regular potatoes all the time. I usually grill the potato slices, but I think baking them would be just as delicious.
so colorful and flavorful! sadly, sweet potatoes here are $2.49 to $2.89 per pound, making this a significantly pricier side dish. i roasted a batch of sweet potatoes last night, and served them as a side with greens and cornbread. tonight, i cut up some of the leftovers and added them at the end of a stir fry. tomorrow… maybe i’ll toss the rest with some smoked paprika!
That’s crazy expensive! Sweet potatoes around here are less than a dollar a pound and often as cheap as 50 cents!
the ‘price’ i pay for living in a rural corner of an outer island! we do grow the purple okinawan sweet potatoes, but their texture is quite dry, and the flavor is more starchy than sweet. not sure they’d work in this dish, but worth a try.
I had a plain steamed Okinawan sweet potato. They are so pretty. I wish I knew how to season them!
Oh YUM. Isn’t roasted veggie weather here in Australia right now but this is going in the oven the first cooler day we have!
Did you cook these together with the pork chops — and if so, at which temperature? Both look great!
I actually did these first, since I was taking photographs and everything. If you want to do them at the same time, I’d use a lower temp to accommodate the chops and just bake the sweet potatoes longer.