Published: · Modified: by Christina Lane · This post may contain affiliate links · 82 Comments
The first thing everyone reaches for on my Thanksgiving table is not the turkey or even that green bean side dish. My melting sweet potatoes are everyone's favorite side dish! The potatoes are delicately crisp on the outside and fluffy and velvet-like on the inside. You can serve them with maple pecan sauce, or plain--they're great either way!
These oven roasted sweet potatoes are my favorite part of my small Thanksgiving for two menu.
The business of making a starch melt in your mouth is actually quite simple. The only technique required is roasting in the oven with butter. A long time ago, we stopped drizzling things with melted butter before roasting in the oven. Also a long time ago, oven fries died.
I'm not sure when oil became the only acceptable thing with which to roast, but its heyday has come and gone in my kitchen.
I love neutral oils as much as the next chick, but golden brown and crispy, it does not make my starches. Ergo, I'm back to the butter.
The Ingredients
Sweet Potatoes. We need two pounds of fresh sweet potatoes. You can double this recipe and use two roasting pans and 4 pounds of sweet potatoes. I reach for the orange variety, and please note that I have not tested this recipe with any other variety of sweet potato. If you do, let us all know in the comments.
Butter. Yes, we really need a half stick of butter. We're roasting in all butter today, which is key for the texture of these melting sweet potatoes.
Salt. A pinch of sea salt before roasting brings out the sweetness of the tubers.
Optional Maple Pecan Sauce Ingredients:
Maple Syrup. I commonly reach for grade B maple syrup because I love the smokiness, but anything you have is fine. However, please don't use pancake syrup with imitation maple flavor.
Pecans. Chopped pecans that have been toasted gently in a skillet or low oven until they smell very fragrant.
How to Make Melting Sweet Potatoes:
First, peel and chop your sweet potatoes into 1" round disks. For Thanksgiving, I would use slightly less than one pound of sweet potatoes per person. As a side dish to a meal, I would plan on one pound per person.
2. Spread the disks on a roasting pan, making sure they are not touching. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter per pound of sweet potatoes, and drizzle it on top.
3. Toss the slices together with the butter.
4. Spread them back out in an even layer, not touching. If you're making the wet pecan sauce, add a small sprinkle of salt. If not, add ¼ teaspoon of salt per pound.
5. After roasting for 20 minutes at 425, flip each melting sweet potato disk over. They will be nice and golden brown on the first side. It will be hard to resist eating one, but just you wait--they're going to get even better.
6. After 20 minutes roasting on the other side, they look like this. Which is glorious, in case you couldn't tell.
I kinda sorta forgot to take photos of the wet pecan sauce, but it's very simple.
Gather your ¼ cup of chopped pecans and ¼ cup of maple syrup per pound of sweet potatoes.
Bring the maple syrup to a boil in a small pan. Add the chopped pecans. Bring it back to a boil, then cook for 1 minute, and you're done!
You can use all of the sauce for the melting sweet potatoes, but I think the recipe makes a bit much. (I didn't want you to be lacking on the big day).
The pecans do get softer and softer the longer they sit in the maple syrup, so try to use it up in 2 days.
Drizzle it over the melting sweet potato disks, and serve with a smile.
These melting sweet potatoes are so good that I made them 3 times in one week. The texture of the sweet potatoes indeed is like velvet. I love them on top of Buddha Bowls for lunch, and with fried eggs for breakfast. Yes, they are that good.
And we haven't even talked about the sauce. I made a wet pecan sauce to top them for your Thanksgiving festivities. It's entirely optional, but when you see that it only has 2 ingredients and comes together in 7 minutes, you won't be one to opt out.
Yield: 4 servings
A small Thanksgiving: Melting Sweet Potatoes (with Maple-Pecan Sauce)
These melting sweet potatoes topped with pecans and maple syrup are a delicious side dish everyone will love.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Ingredients
2 pounds of sweet potatoes
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
½ teaspoon salt
For the maple pecan sauce:
½ cup maple syrup
½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425. Have ready a roasting pan.
Peel and slice the sweet potatoes into 1" thick slices, and scatter them on the roasting pan, not touching.
Melt the butter, and drizzle it on top of the sweet potatoes. Sprinkle on the salt. Toss to coat, and then redistribute on the pan in a single layer, not touching.
Roast for 20 minutes.
Flip with tongs, and roast for another 20 minutes.
The potatoes are done when they're golden brown and crisp, and the insides are light and fluffy.
To make the maple pecan sauce: bring the maple syrup to a boil in a small sauce pan.
Add the pecans.
Wait for the sauce to come back to a boil, cook for 1 minute, and then remove from heat.
Boiling sweet potatoes retains more beta-carotene and makes the nutrient more absorbable than other cooking methods such as baking or frying. Up to 92% of the nutrient can be retained by limiting the cook time, such as boiling in a pot with a tightly covered lid for 20 minutes.
Baking Soda – boiling the potatoes in baking soda draws out the starch and allows the outside to get brown and crispy. Sweet Potatoes – yams work fine too. Extra Virgin Olive Oil – gets infused with rosemary and garlic and is the key to getting that crispy exterior.
TIPS & TRICKS to Make this Recipe: The main secrets to achieving that incredible crispy texture, is to soak the cut sweet potatoes in cold water for at least 30 minutes. This helps remove the starch from the sweet potatoes so they´re not limp & soggy.
There is not much difference between boiling sweet potatoes with the skins on versus peeling them, but you will get a boost of fiber and potassium if you keep the skin on. The skin also adds a subtle texture to each bite. If you're looking for a smoother mash, peel the potatoes first before boiling.
Baking sweet potatoes caramelizes their natural sugars, especially when done whole. It intensifies their flavor and creates a richer taste compared to boiling, which can result in a watered-down, bland flavor.
Therefore, from a nutritional standpoint, boiling rather than baking should be recommended for cooking sweet potato. Boiling may theoretically be best, but sweet potatoes are so incredibly healthy that the actual best way to prepare them is whichever way will get you to eat the most of them!
Add enough cold water to cover potatoes and sprinkle with salt. Bring to boiling, cover, and cook until tender. How long can you boil sweet potatoes: For one pound of sweet potatoes, cover the pan and cook sweet potatoes in the boiling salted water 20 to 25 minutes or until just tender.
Playing With pH: Why You Should Add Baking Soda to Your Water. In my previous roast potato recipe, I recommended adding a splash of vinegar to the water for the initial boil. The idea is to control the breakdown of pectin, the cellular glue that holds vegetables together. Think of it as the mortar between bricks.
The reason they are hard in the middle is cook them longer or on a higher temperature. Soaking will not help soften your sweet potato unless you are putting the potato and water in a pot on the stove and cooking it. If your sweet potato is still hard it's not cooked enough.
Before baking, use a fork to prick each sweet potato several times. You don't need to jab the fork in deep. We're creating steam vents. Otherwise the pressure in the sweet potato could build up so high in the oven that it explodes—an unlikely possibility but one best avoided!
Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.
Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and let the potatoes cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until you can easily pierce several pieces (always test more than one) with a knife. Potatoes cut into small pieces will take less time to cook.
If you enjoy sweet potatoes, you can absolutely enjoy them daily. However, eating multiple sweet potatoes every day could cause a harmless condition called carotenodermia, where your skin turns yellow-orange. You may also want to be cautious about your sweet potato intake if you have a history of kidney stones.
They should offer little resistance and slide in easily when fully cooked. As a basic guideline, you want to cook whole sweet potatoes for about 40 minutes, 2-inch cubed sweet potatoes for about 25 minutes, and 1-inch cubed sweet potatoes for about 15 minutes.
Plus, the way you prepare your potatoes may lead to micronutrient losses. For example, potatoes pack a significant amount of vitamin C. However, baked or microwaved potatoes have about twice the amount as boiled or fried potatoes ( 1 ).
The majority of the nutrients are retained when potatoes are baked, roasted, or microwaved with their skin on. There are less water-soluble nutrients in boiled potatoes. One of the healthiest ways to prepare potatoes is to bake the skin on.
The takeaway. If you want to eat sweet potatoes and maintain blood sugar balance, Sapola suggests boiling rather than roasting them. This method will take the glycemic index impact down a few points and maybe even challenge your cooking creativity.
Introduction: My name is Twana Towne Ret, I am a famous, talented, joyous, perfect, powerful, inquisitive, lovely person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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