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Miso butter adds savory richness; ginger and maple syrup add punch and sweetness.
By
Emily and Matt Clifton
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/20190408-AL3A7049-EmilyClifton-c091e5ce4ae14fe792238b5f81105660.jpg "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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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.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__images__2016__11__20161102-Roasted-Miso-Maple-Sweet-Potatoes-04-f495b8200591474badc69eb7adaabc4c.jpg "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
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
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Arrange sweet potatoes in a single layer in a 9- by 13-inch baking dish.
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.
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.)
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.)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__images__2016__11__20161102-Roasted-Miso-Maple-Sweet-Potatoes-01-e297e6dce1b24e26a07e7b406b7f0aae.jpg "Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Miso Butter and Maple Recipe (4)")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__images__2016__11__20161102-Roasted-Miso-Maple-Sweet-Potatoes-02-ace961491b4d41c4badf4eb06ad87014.jpg "Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Miso Butter and Maple Recipe (5)")
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)
- Miso-Scallion Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Brown Butter Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- The Best Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Truly Candied Yams (Sweet Potatoes)
- The Best Way to Cook Whole Sweet Potatoes
| Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 318 | Calories |
| 13g | Fat |
| 47g | Carbs |
| 5g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
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| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 6 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 318 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 13g | 17% |
| Saturated Fat 8g | 39% |
| Cholesterol 32mg | 11% |
| Sodium 490mg | 21% |
| Total Carbohydrate 47g | 17% |
| Dietary Fiber 6g | 22% |
| Total Sugars 20g | |
| Protein 5g | |
| Vitamin C 33mg | 167% |
| Calcium 88mg | 7% |
| Iron 1mg | 8% |
| Potassium 871mg | 19% |
| *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.)
