Don't let the good looks fool you. This roasted hasselback sweet potatoes recipe is easy enough for everyday eating or for a no-fuss Thanksgiving day side dish.
If you're looking for good sweet potato recipes on your menu, this is it. These sweet spuds include less than five ingredients, kicked up complex flavor, and are cooked all in one cast iron skillet. I mean why should you spend so much time on your sides when you have so many other dishes to prepare and cook.
MOOD MUSIC
In honor of the late great jazz savant Roy Hargrove who died earlier this month, turn up my favorite song of his "Strasbourg/St. Denis while you prep this magical dish or at a minimum add it to your Thanksgiving Day playlist.
My goal in cooking these was really to get something cool looking on the plate that was simple, tasty and fun to eat. Mission accomplished! These hasselback sweet potatoes are rich and smoky with hints of garlic and thyme. Even better are the crispy edges surrounding the soft fluffy interior of these sweet potato discs.
Hasselback Sweet Potatoes Ingredients
- Sweet Potatoes
- Olive Oil
- Ghee
- Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic Cloves
- Fresh Thyme
How To Make Hasselback Sweet Potatoes
Infuse the Oil
-
Heat a ¼ cup of the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and saute for about a minute with some stirring. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
-
Add the thyme and the rest of the olive oil, then turn down the heat to medium-low. Cook for 2-3 min with stirring.
-
Remove from the heat and let the oil cool down in the pan. This allows the oil to infuse further. Once the oil has cooled down, filter through a fine strainer. Put the oil in a closed container and refrigerate immediately. At this point you can discard the garlic. Keep the oil container in the refrigerator.
Make the Sweet Potatoes
-
Put sweet potato slices upright in a cast-iron skillet and oil generously. Season with salt and pepper. Set small gobs of ghee on top of sweet potatoes then add to the oven.
-
Bake at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes
-
Remove from oven, top with red pepper sauce, then add back to oven and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove and serve with green onions.
Cooking Considerations and Tips
Hasselback is the trend in cooking techniques. If you're like me you've seen versions from zucchini to potatoes. I'm not really a trend guy, but I do like the idea of individual slices of sweet potatoes. I think conceptually, I was somewhere between scalloped and hasselback.
Though cheese of some sort is a staple in either scalloped or hasselback potatoes, I decided to go cheeseless. In place of cheese I used my all purpose, super tasty roasted red pepper sauce which adds some mild heat and a nice smoky element.
I love sweet potatoes, but I'm iffy on overly sweet sweet potatoes. I need some savory nodes to balance things out. This was easily achieved with the thyme and garlic-infused olive oil, the smoky creamy red pepper sauce, and ghee - my secret ingredient.
Enjoy with a nice Sangria wine cocktail.
What is ghee?
If you don't know ghee, you need to get know ghee. Ghee is bomb azz clarified butter. It is 100% nutrient rich, highly flavorful butterfat. It's created by simmering butter and separating the oil from the other opponents by straining them off. You can easily make your own or do as I did and just buy some.
Ghee has grown in popularity and is no longer relegated to ethnic aisles of grocery stores; you can typically find in the aisle with other cooking oils since it's shelf stable. It is both lactose and casein free, while also having a high smoke point.
It's like super butter - you can cook at high temps without burning netting that buttery goodness and you get that creaminess without adding dairy. The ghee gives this dish a bit of nuttiness and richness, aka more depth of flavor without any additional work.
Hasselback Sweet Potatoes Recipe Cooking Tips
- Infuse the olive oil with aromatics like thyme and some garlic. This adds some complexity and can be used to top off other dishes as well
- Thinner the slice the crispier the potatoes. Keep this in mind as you consider thickness for the slices. I went about ¼ inch thick for both the crispiness and shorter cooking time.Give yourself more time if you go thicker cuts
- I used a cast iron skillet for ease and also because they retain heat longer helping to keep the sweet potatoes warm. A baking dish can be used as an alternative, but be sure to line it with aluminum foil for easy clean-up
- Make sure the roasted red pepper sauce is at least room temperature before adding to the sweet potatoes.
- Serve these with roasted leeks and blackened chicken.
More Potatoes Based Recipes
Sweet Potato and Black Rice Salad
Sheet Pan Lemon-Garlic New Potatoes
Duck Fat Smashed Sweet Potatoes
Coal Roasted Purple Sweet Potatoes
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Ingredients
For the Sweet Potatoes
- 3 large Sweet potatoes peeled and sliced thin (¼ inch thick)
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil infused with thyme and garlic infused is optional
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- ¼ cup roasted red pepper sauce (see recipe link in post)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped green onions for garnish
For the Infused Olive Oil
- ½ cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 fresh thyme sprig
Instructions
For the sweet potatoes
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
- Put sweet potato slices upright in a cast iron skillet and oil generously.
- Season with salt and pepper
- Set small gobs of ghee on top of sweet potatoes then add to the oven.
- Bake at 400 for 45 minutes
- Remove from oven, top with red pepper sauce, then add back to oven and cook for 5 minutes. Remove and serve with green onions.
For the Infused Olive Oil
- Heat ¼ cup of the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and saute 1 min with stirring. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add the thyme and rest of the olive oil and turn down the heat to medium-low. Cook for 2-3 min with stirring.
- Remove from the heat and let the oil cool down in the pan. This allows the oil to infuse further.
- Once the oil has cooled down, filter through a fine strainer. Put the oil in a closed container and refrigerate immediately. At this point you can discard the garlic. Keep the oil container in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Plain olive oil works just fine if you don't want to infuse it.
- Infuse the olive oil with aromatics like thyme and some garlic. This adds some complexity and can be used to top off other dishes as well
- Thinner the slice the crispier the potatoes. Keep this in mind as you consider thickness for the slices. I went about ¼ inch thick for both the crispiness and shorter cooking time.Give yourself more time if you go thicker cuts
- I used a cast iron skillet for ease and also because they retain heat longer helping to keep the sweet potatoes warm. A baking dish can be used as an alternative, but be sure to line it with aluminum foil for easy clean-up
- Make sure the roasted red pepper sauce is at least room temperature before adding to the sweet potatoes.