I love to try new recipes, and one of my strategies is to pair something new with something familiar. This is both to ensure that there’s a friendly food on my three-year-old’s plate, and since new recipes can take more time and mental energy, it’s nice to have an easy, cooks-itself dish alongside.
…Like these roasted sweet potatoes! This is a Cook’s Illustrated recipe I’ve been making for years, and I love how simple it is to get such delicious results. We eat a ton of sweet potatoes, all different ways, but this might be my favorite.
The potatoes roast for 30 minutes covered with foil, then 15 uncovered, then are flipped for another 15, so definitely start them first and then prep your meat and any other sides! I started with two enormous ones (yes, pulled out of my in-laws yard). I sliced them into 3/4″ rounds and tossed them with vegetable oil, salt and pepper and put them in a single layer on a foil-lined and greased sheet pan. (Don’t skip the greasing step, it will make your life easier and you won’t lose all the brown crispy parts of the sweet potatoes when you flip them!)
Kindly ignore my Pac-Man-like potatoes, there were some weird spots inside one of them!
The experimental dish was a last-minute decision when I realized I had all the ingredients: jalapeño cheddar turkey burgers! I found the recipe over at Annie’s Eats, and it is so flavorful. I usually think of turkey burgers as inferior to real burgers, but I’m hungry again just looking at these pictures! I made two burgers (full disclosure: my three-year-old enjoyed her burger plain), and used half the amount of the “mix-in” ingredients for 2/3 lb of ground turkey (which I subbed for the chicken). And since I already had onion and jalapeño and lime cut up, it was no extra labor to smash up an avocado for a quick guac! (No recipe – just bust out the chips early and start tasting!)
Sometimes things like this happen while you try a new recipe, too. So, that’s awesome.
Yum. I had my burger naked but Jay loaded his up on an English muffin. And look how deeply caramelized the potatoes get! You could flip them sooner if you don’t like that much browning, but the almost-burned bits taste like roasted marshmallows to me. These are so sweet it’s hard to believe there’s no sugar on them!
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
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Ingredients
- 3 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4″ rounds (about 6 medium)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Stir potato slices in a bowl with oil, salt and pepper until evenly coated. Place them on a foil-lined and greased baking sheet in a single layer. Cover the pan tightly with foil.
- Put the pan in a COLD oven and turn on to 425. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and cook about 15 minutes until bottoms are golden brown.
- Flip slices and continue to roast until bottoms are brown, about 15 minutes.
Notes
This recipe is super easy to scale – you don’t even really need to measure, just eyeball it and make sure your potatoes are lightly coated with oil and get a good hit of salt! The slices around the edges of the pan get more brown, so I put smaller, “end” pieces in the middle so they don’t get too well-done. Also, Cook’s Illustrated recommends longer roasting times once the foil is off, but in my oven they are very brown with the times listed above.
Recipe from Cook’s Illustrated via Serious Eats
View Comments (12)
I loved reading this yummy recipe while slapping ham and cheese on wraps for my family's dinner... It's really good for my self esteem.
That's what I'm here for. Did you at least feel good about the pom-pom etc. disaster on the floor?? ;o)
I'm with Laurie. We haven't had a dinner this beautiful/creative/healthy in quite. some.time. So, I tried to pin this to motivate (guilt?) myself into copying you...but the pinning link won't work? Is it me?
I love this blog!
Hmm. I had some issues when I tried to pin an earlier recipe but I thought I fixed it. I'll look into it! I think it works if you copy the link and pin it that way, but I definitely want you to be able to do it directly from here. Thanks for the heads up! And for commenting, it kind of makes my life. ;o)
I love these potatoes! I made them tonight, and they were a hit. Can I also say that it's a very thrifty recipe? One potatoe can feed 3 people? Bet--love your timing suggestions--like when to start items. Perfect timing of a 'meal' can be the hardest part of cooking.
Emily, I totally agree...I'd be embarrassed to say how many times I skip the veggie/salad part of dinner because I forgot to start it and everything else is ready! ;o)
I'm currently making these for perhaps the 3rd time in 3 weeks... so good! I've told at least 5 people about them. :)
Yesss! That makes me so happy! You might be my number one recipe tester! ;)
Made these tonight! They were the BEST! Thanks for always giving super specific instructions. I need those in my life :]
Yaaay! Great jorb! Thanks for always commenting, it brings me great joy. ;o)
It's 9:15 PM and I am lusting after these.
You could be eating them before...11! Totes doable!