Sweet and Salty Roasted Sweet Potatoes

As I go through coupons from the newspaper every week, I often come across recipes in advertisements. Most of the time, the recipes use some sort of processed and/or convenience food that is advertised with a coupon for the product. Since we generally try to stay away from processed foods, I rarely clip out these recipes or these coupons.

But I recently found a recipe alongside a coupon for Morton Course Sea Salt. Now, this is a product I can see myself using. The recipe was for roasted sweet potatoes using maple syrup and sea salt. It sounded like an easy side dish that’s perfect for fall…and hopefully kid-friendly as well!

I decided to try the recipe, and I only made one or two minor changes (sorry Morton, I just used the bulk sea salt that I already had in the spice cabinet).

Here’s how I made the sweet potatoes:

Sweet and Salty Roasted Sweet Potatoes (serves 4-6 as a side dish)

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs (2 large) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes (I used beauregards)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup of chopped pecans
  • fresh cracked pepper, to taste

I preheated the oven to 425 degrees and sprayed a 9″x13″ baking dish with olive oil cooking spray. In a bowl, I mixed all of the ingredients except the pecans. I poured the sweet potato mixture into the baking dish and arranged the potatoes in a single layer. The potatoes baked, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes (I stirred them once about halfway through baking) until the tops and edges of the potatoes turned brown and a little crispy. I removed the potatoes and sprinkled the chopped pecans over them along with additional sea salt, to taste.

These sweet potatoes turned out heavenly! They reminded me of Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole. You won’t even miss the brown sugar, butter, and marshmallows (well, maybe you will…but I sure didn’t)! This recipe feels like a splurge, but it’s really pretty healthful since it is made with “real” ingredients. It tastes decadent, but it is easy enough for a weeknight!

I LOVED this recipe for sweet potatoes. I was surprised that my kids didn’t gobble them all up, considering they tasted like a dessert to me. My kids aren’t huge potato eaters, but I think I can get them to come around if I make this dish more often. Believe me, it’s THAT GOOD!