The Kitchen · Vegetables
Crispy Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes
From The Kitchen · a side dish worth the oven time
Roasted face-down, the cut surface caramelizes against the pan and lifts off crisp. Scoring lets the oil, salt and cinnamon reach past the surface instead of sitting on top of it.
Scale
Scaled from the original recipe, sizing up or down is proportional, so taste and adjust the salt, acid & spice.
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Sea salt
- Ground cinnamon
Method
- Heat the oven to 425°F and line a sheet pan with parchment.
- Scrub the sweet potatoes and halve them lengthwise.
- Trim a thin slice off the rounded back of each half so it sits flat without rocking.
- Score the cut face in a crosshatch, cutting into the flesh but not through the skin.
- Rub the cut face with olive oil, then season with sea salt and cinnamon.
- Lay them cut-side down on the parchment.
- Roast 40 to 60 minutes, until a knife goes through easily and the underside is deeply browned.
- Rest them on the pan 10 to 15 minutes.
- Slide a spatula under each half to lift it, bringing the caramelized face up with it.
Gina's tip
The flat back is what makes this work. A half that rocks only touches the pan in places, and you get browning in patches instead of one whole caramelized face. The rest matters just as much, the sugars set as they cool and the surface releases cleanly. Lift one too early and it tears.
I hope this recipe finds a place in your kitchen as it has in mine. Enjoy!
Gina