Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Miso Butter and Maple Recipe (2024)

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Miso butter adds savory richness; ginger and maple syrup add punch and sweetness.

By

Emily and Matt Clifton

Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Miso Butter and Maple Recipe (1)

Emily and Matt Clifton

Emily and Matt Clifton are recipe developers, photographers, and cookbook authors. Their two cookbooks are Cork and Knife (2019) andThe Ultimate Dutch Oven Cookbook (2021).

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Updated September 16, 2022

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Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Miso Butter and Maple Recipe (2)

Why It Works

  • Sweet maple syrup and salty miso add extra dimensions of flavor to roasted sweet potatoes.
  • Fresh grated ginger and white wine vinegar balance the dish's sweetness, keeping it from becoming cloying.

Like many people, we have a strategy for tackling Thanksgiving—I call it our "What Works" list. By knowing in advance that Sunday is when we make the stock and Tuesday is when we make the gravy, that this mixing bowl is big enough to hold all the rutabaga and that we'll need a certain number of chew sticks to distract our dog while we cook, we don't have to think too hard about almost anything, no matter how many people end up coming over. The trouble with the "What Works" list is that we sometimes get complacent, leaning on the same tired dishes year after year, without any variation. This roasted sweet potato recipe is one of our efforts to break out of our Thanksgiving rut this year.

Our idea was to combine two seemingly unlikely bedfellows with the roasted sweet potatoes: miso and maple syrup. Miso, especially the white kind we call for here, is not only salty and savory but also lightly sweet, making it a perfect match for sweet and earthy sweet potatoes. Maple syrup, meanwhile, delivers a complex flavor that plays beautifully off those salty, earthy qualities. Don't worry if you're serving a traditional crowd—this combination doesn't scream "fusion." In fact, if you don't tell them there's miso in it, most probably won't realize it (though they'll likely want to know your secret). And, of course, if you don't make this for Thanksgiving, it'll still be great on the table any other time.

The recipe itself is incredibly easy. We combine butter, maple syrup, and miso in a saucepan and cook them together to form a smooth sauce. Next, we stir in some white wine vinegar and grated fresh ginger, for some sharp, tart flavors to help balance the sweetness and add brightness to contrast with those earthy flavors. We toss diced sweet potatoes with that sauce and roast them until they're tender and browned. We like to leave the skins on, since they have good flavor and grow tender during the roasting, but feel free to peel the potatoes for a less rustic look.

That's basically all there is to it. Those of you familiar with othersweet potato recipeson Serious Eats may have noticed that we don't kick ours off with a low-temperature cooking step before the final roasting. That's because that step is designed to enhance the sweetness of the potatoes (by allowing enzymes that are active at those lower temps to break complex carbohydrates into simple sugars), but in this case, we already have more than enough sweetness from the maple syrup and white miso. Any sweeter, and we'd risk crossing into cloying territory.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Miso Butter and Maple Recipe (3)

This dish wasn't on our "What Works" list before, but we think there's a good chance it will be from now on. There are worse ruts to be in, right?

November 2016

Recipe Details

Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Miso Butter and Maple Recipe

Active20 mins

Total60 mins

Serves6 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 pounds (1kg) sweet potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 7 cups; see notes)

  • 6 tablespoons (90g)unsalted butter

  • 1/4 cup (60ml) puremaple syrup

  • 1/4 cup (60g) whitemiso

  • 2 teaspoons (10ml)white wine vinegar

  • 1 (1-inch) knob peeled fresh ginger, grated (about 2 teaspoons)

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Arrange sweet potatoes in a single layer in a 9- by 13-inch baking dish.

  2. In a small saucepan, combine butter, maple syrup, and miso and cook over medium heat, stirring, until butter is melted and sauce is smooth. Stir in vinegar and ginger and remove from heat.

    Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Miso Butter and Maple Recipe (4)

  3. Pour miso butter over sweet potatoes and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. (Be careful with the salt, as the miso will already be salty.)

    Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Miso Butter and Maple Recipe (5)

  4. Bake potatoes, stirring occasionally, until tender when pierced with a knife, about 40 minutes. Serve immediately. (To brown the potatoes more deeply, set them under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes; watch them closely to make sure they do not burn.)

Special Equipment

9- by 13-inch baking dish

Notes

We like to keep the skins on our sweet potatoes, but you can peel them if you like.

Read More

  • A Field Guide to Sweet Potato Varieties (and the Dirt on Yams)
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  • Truly Candied Yams (Sweet Potatoes)
  • The Best Way to Cook Whole Sweet Potatoes
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
318Calories
13g Fat
47g Carbs
5g Protein

×

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories318
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13g17%
Saturated Fat 8g39%
Cholesterol 32mg11%
Sodium 490mg21%
Total Carbohydrate 47g17%
Dietary Fiber 6g22%
Total Sugars 20g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 33mg167%
Calcium 88mg7%
Iron 1mg8%
Potassium 871mg19%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Miso Butter and Maple Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to make sweet potato to eat? ›

If you're in a hurry, you can also roast sweet potato halves for 30 minutes. Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise, rub them with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook cut-side up until lightly browned and tender.

Why freeze sweet potatoes before baking? ›

Freezing sweet potatoes drives excess water out of the potato, resulting in an interior with more concentrated flavor. Freezing also lowers the starting temperature of the potato, allowing more time for amylase enzymes to convert starch to sweet-tasting maltose.

Why is boiled sweet potato better than baked? ›

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.

What makes sweet potatoes taste good? ›

Why Are Sweet Potatoes Sweet? When you heat a sweet potato, an enzyme starts breaking down it's starch into a sugar called maltose. Maltose is made up of two glucose molecules bound together, and tastes about a third as sweet as regular table sugar, also known as sucrose. Maltose contains no fructose.

What makes sweet potatoes better? ›

They're high in fiber and antioxidants, which protect your body from free radical damage and promote a healthy gut and brain. They're also incredibly rich in beta carotene, which is converted to vitamin A to support good vision and your immune system.

What is the best way to process sweet potatoes? ›

Cure sweet potatoes by keeping them at 80 to 85 degrees F and a humidity of 85 to 90 percent. After curing, wash well using a vegetable brush and cool running water. Cook before freezing; wrap in freezer wrap, place in freezer bags or vacuum package. If sweet potatoes are sliced or pureed, leave ½ inch of headspace.

Why do you need to soak sweet potatoes before cooking? ›

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.

What happens if you freeze sweet potatoes without blanching? ›

Can you freeze raw sweet potatoes? It's not recommended to freeze raw sweet potato fries or cubes. They won't hold up well in the freezer and they won't cook correctly in recipes. Blanching or cooking sweet potatoes fully is the way to go.

What to eat with sweet potatoes? ›

What to Eat with Sweetpotatoes
  • Pork. Sweetpotatoes tend to pair nicely with pork, pork chops and other pork dishes. ...
  • Poultry. Chicken and other poultry products tend to have a mild flavor in general, so prepare them with thyme or rosemary. ...
  • Eggs. ...
  • Beans, Grains and Lentils. ...
  • Herbs and Spices.
Sep 20, 2022

What is the frozen sweet potato trick? ›

If you want the creamiest sweet potatoes. that practically mash themselves, freeze them first before baking. The starches and sugars within will form ice crystals. that pierce the flesh like 1000 pin pricks.

Is it better to roast or boil sweet potatoes? ›

Boiling may actually retain most of the antioxidant power of sweet potatoes, compared to roasting and steaming. If we compare baking to boiling microscopically, boiling helps thin out the cell walls and gelatinize the starch, which may enhance the bioavailability of nutrients.

Do sweet potatoes spike blood sugar? ›

Since sweet potatoes are high in carbohydrates, they can spike blood sugar levels. Their fiber content helps to slow down this process. Orange sweet potatoes have a higher GI. This can increase your blood sugar level, compared to other sweet potato varieties.

Is sweet potato better, fried or boiled? ›

Sweet potato contains more carbohydrate, vitamin C and minerals than Irish potato. In the food processing methods employed, it was observed that boiling retains more carbohydrate than frying while frying retains more vitamin C and minerals than boiling.

How do you enhance the flavor of sweet potatoes? ›

Dice the sweet potato, and leave the skins on. Then toss the chunks in a splash of tamari, oil, and maple syrup, and then dust heavily with chili powder, smoked paprika, and garlic powder. Roast at 400 Fahrenheit for about 30-50 minutes, or until the potatoes begin to crisp up.

Do sweet potatoes get sweeter? ›

Sweet potatoes are between 1 and 2.5 per cent sugar when raw, but they get sweeter as they cook thanks to the work of amylase enzymes that break down starch into simple sugars. These enzymes are most active at 75°C (167°F).

How do you sweeten sweet potatoes after harvesting? ›

Curing also improves the flavor of sweet potatoes as starches are converted to sugars during the curing process. After curing, store sweet potatoes at a temperature of 55 to 60°F and relative humidity of 85 to 90 percent. Storage temperatures above 60°F may stimulate sprouting.

Does boiling sweet potatoes make them sweeter? ›

Raw sweet potatoes are mostly starchy fibers, but they also contain an enzyme that will break down the starch into sugar at certain temperatures. According to food scientist Harold McGee, this enzyme happens to work best when the sweet potato is between 135°F and 170°F.

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