Thyme Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Oven roasted sweet potatoes are a nutritious side dish that can be made in a variety of ways to keep the flavors interesting.

This side dish pairs well with almost everything, but especially beef-based main dishes (in my opinion). I often serve it with hamburgers, or steak.

If you’re used to sweet potatoes with brown sugar and butter, it may sound crazy, but savory roasted sweet potatoes really are hard to beat.

Ingredients for Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I’ll outline ingredients substitutions below, but my favorite combo happens to be garlic and thyme roasted sweet potatoes. The subtle natural sweetness of the potato pairs so well with the pungent flavors of garlic and herbs, tied all together with salt.

• Sweet potatoes
• Olive oil (I use light tasting olive oil)
• Salt
• Garlic
• Thyme
• Super simple, as you can see, and since this is a roasting recipe, it’s easy to make substitutions to suite your taste.

Instead of thyme and garlic, you can use a different combination of herbs, such as rosemary and black pepper.

Another variation that is nice is using smoked paprika, chili powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper.

I usually use light tasting olive oil as my fat in this recipe because it’s neutral, and has a high smoke point. Another good option is ghee, which of course, you would melt in the microwave or on the stove top before using.

Pro-tip: Cut your sweet potatoes into smaller chunks, and toss with halved brussels sprouts to roast together for a complete side and vegetable dish.

How to make Oven Roasted Sweet Potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 400º
2. Peel sweet potatoes with a potato peeler, and slice into 3/4 inch thick slabs, and then cut down into cubes, and place on a large baking sheet.
3. Mince garlic and thyme, and sprinkle over sweet potatoes.
4. Drizzle with oil and toss well.
5. Spread potato cubes out into a single layer, not touching to the degree that you can.
6. Sprinkle with salt. (I find sprinkling the salt on works better than tossing it with the other seasonings)
7. Place in oven, and bake for 15 minutes.
8. Toss potatoes, and bake another 15 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender, and lightly browned on the edges. (for larger sweet potatoes wedges, increase the cooking time)

At the 400º temperature, they shouldn’t brown too much before they’re cooked through, so if you like your potatoes more brown, try turning up to 425º, but watch them closely, as they can go from brown to burnt very quickly.

Storing leftovers

Cool potatoes completely, and refrigerate in an airtight container.

I find that sweet potatoes reheat much better than white potatoes, which makes them nice to bulk roast, and keep on hand as meal prep.

To reheat, either pop back in the oven until hot, or heat a little oil in a skillet, and stir fry until heated to your satisfaction.

More recipes for you

• Simple Sweet Potato Chili
• How to can sweet potatoes
• Sweet potato pie recipe
• One-pan sweet potato hash
• Sweet potato egg-in-hole