If there's one side dish that works for any occasion, it's these perfectly Roasted Sweet Potatoes. They're golden and caramelized on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, and seasoned with simple pantry spices you already have on hand. With just a few ingredients and a super easy method for seasoning these sweet potato wedges are easy enough for a weeknight side and special enough for your Thanksgiving table.
TL;DR - Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- 🍠 Why you'll love it: Foolproof caramelized edges, perfectly balanced sweet-and-spicy flavor, and ready in 30 minutes.
- 🧂 Ingredients: 5 (or less for plain sweet potatoes)
- ⏲️ Prep Time: 5 minutes
- 🔥Cook Time: 30 minutes at 425°F
- 🔪Pro Tip: Cut pieces evenly and avoid crowding the pan for crispy edges every time.
- 🥔 Love roasted veggies? Try my honey roasted carrots or corn ribs next. Both great side dishes that work from weeknight meals to Thanksgiving dinners.
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Key Ingredients
- Sweet Potatoes: Try and find sweet potatoes that are all about the same size for this recipe so that they all cook at the same rate.
- Spices: I like the sweet and spicy mix of honey and smoked paprika, but use any spice combinations you love.
Spice variations for oven roasting sweet potatoes
While I love the sweet and spicy mix in this recipe, you can easily try any of these other flavor combinations with great success.
- BBQ: Use your favorite BBQ spice mix.
- Super Sweet: Use maple syrup in place of the honey and toss with cinnamon sugar.
- Garlic: Use homemade garlic butter sauce in place of the honey and spices
- Chipotle: Mix some of the sauce from chipotles in adobo into the olive oil right on the sheet pan.
- Middle Eastern: Use a shawarma spice blend or za'atar blend in place of the paprika.
🧑🍳 Pro Tips for Perfect Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Use a large sheet pan. Give the sweet potatoes plenty of space, crowding them while roasting traps steam and makes them soft instead of crisp. If needed, use two pans and rotate them halfway through baking.
- Cut evenly. Try to keep all the pieces about the same size whether you are using sweet potato halves, wedges or cubes so that they roast evenly and finish at the same time.
- Baste halfway. After about 15 minutes, brush them lightly with the oil from the pan. This helps the skin crisp up and embeds more flavor.
- Don't skip the high heat. Roasting at 425°F (220°C) helps the natural sugars in sweet potatoes caramelize and crisp at the edges.
Foolproof Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Start by preheating your oven to 425℉ degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper (you'll see from the photos that foil works as well).
Step 2: Wash and pat dry your sweet potatoes. With a sharp knife, trim off the ends and then cut it lengthwise in half.
Step 3: On the parchment lined baking sheet, drizzle the olive oil first, then the honey, and then sprinkle all the seasonings over the top. Using the pastry brush, mix the oil, honey and spices together and make sure that the entire pan is covered.
Step 4: Place each piece of sweet potato cut side down on the baking sheet. Put into the hot oven and roast until soft to the touch and caramelized on the bottom.
Step 5: Once they are fully roasted, take the potatoes out of the oven and immediately use a spatula to loosen from the aluminum foil before they get stuck for good.
Other ways to cut roasted sweet potatoes
Changing the cut of the potato lets you keep things fresh at the dinner table. My family could eat sweet potatoes 3x a week...but I like to mix up it up between wedges, fries and cubes. Here's how:
- Roasted sweet potato rounds: To make slices, use a mandoline set to a thin setting. Place one cut side down on the prepared sheet pan, and brush the other cut side with the olive oil and honey mixture.
- Sweet potato cubes: Cut your sweet potato into ½" cubes and then toss with a spice rub, oil and honey right on your sheet pan before roasting. The cook time will be shorter.
- Roasted sweet potato wedges: Slice the sweet potato in half lengthwise, then slice each half into thirds. This will give you six sweet potato wedges out of each potato. Then continue with the recipe as written.
- Sweet potato fries: Slice the ½ sweet potato into smaller french fry sized pieces Then follow the recipe as written. While these bake, stir them every 10 minutes or so to be sure they don't burn.
Recipe FAQ's
- Mash them up and add them to a sweet potato casserole or serve as a sweet potato puree.
- Eat them straight from the fridge as an afternoon snack.
- Take off the peel and use in place of the pumpkin puree in these pumpkin overnight oats.
These potatoes have such great flavor that they could really be added to anything. I like to add them cut up to salads, build a sweet potato quinoa bowl with them (add avocado and black beans for a super healthy meal) or even stuff them with other yummy toppings for a quick lunch.
Nope. That's the best part of this recipe. The potato skin gets crispy and delicious while the inside gets soft and perfectly cooked.
More Awesome Roasted Vegetable Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Foolproof Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Equipment
- sheet pan
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Sweet potatoes (all similar sizes)
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
- ½ Tablespoon Kosher salt
- ½ Tablespoon Smoked paprika (or any other spices you like)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425℉ degrees and line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.
- Wash the sweet potatoes and dry well. Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and set aside. On the foil line pan, drizzle the olive oil followed by the honey. Then sprinkle the spices and seasonings over the oil and honey and schmear together with a pastry brush.
- Place the sweet potatoes cut side DOWN on the baking pan and nudge around a bit to make sure the cut side is covered in the oil, honey and spices. Using your pastry brush, brush the skin side with any residual oil and spices from the pan.
- Put into the preheated oven and roast at 425℉ degrees from 30-40 minutes. You want the sweet potatoes to be soft inside and caramelized on the bottom.
- As soon as your remove the pan from the oven, use as spatula to turn over the sweet potatoes so that they don't stick to the foil pan.
Notes
- Cut size matters: Keep all sweet potato pieces the same size so they roast evenly.
- Pan spacing: Use a large sheet pan or two smaller ones, overcrowding traps steam and makes the potatoes soft instead of crisp.
- Oil + seasoning: Toss the sweet potatoes in the olive oil and spices right on the sheet pan for less cleanup and even coating.
- Flavor swaps: For sweet-spicy balance, use cayenne + smoked paprika. For cozy fall vibes, swap in cinnamon instead.
- Storage & reheat: Store leftovers airtight in the fridge up to 3 days. Eat straight from the fridge in salads or as a snack. To reheat them pop into the oven at 375°F for 10 minutes or in the air fryer for 5 minutes.
Patti says
I'm going to make these for Easter this year! They sound amazing!
Marni Katz says
I hope you love them as much as we do!