Spiced Herb Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges
A delicious and simple recipe, these spicy sweet potato wedges are a great and healthier alternative to chips or fries! You will kick out your cravings and won’t even feel like you are missing out on frying! A very versatile recipe, these baked sweet potato wedges are perfect as main meals, appetizers, sides or snacks!
You probably don’t know but I’ve got quite “the hots” for sweet potatoes. They are rich in fiber and minerals such as calcium, selenium and iron. Also, they are a great source of vitamin B and C. These spicy sweet potato wedges are a great easy and delicious recipe, made with just a handful of ingredients and are sure to become your favorite with the first bite! A bite full of wonderful flavors and just a hint of spicy that truly complements the sweetness in the potatoes.
The thyme, chili and the garlic mayonnaise sauce give so much flavor to these thick and crisp spicy sweet potato wedges. They make great appetizers for parties, a side dish for chicken recipes such as this air fryer stuffed chicken breast or nutritious soups such as this chorizo kale soup or or a nutritious and healthy snack. Not to mention these mouthwatering roasted sweet potato wedges are the perfect finger food for game night, potlucks or barbecues; a true delight! Roasted to perfection, these sweet potato snacks will have everyone asking for more!
On lazy days when you don’t want to do much cooking sweet potatoes can easily be turned into a full meal. Simply stuff vegetables or minced meat in them and have them as your lunch or dinner.
Who said salad has to be boring and tasteless? You can make a salad by cutting your sweet potatoes into smaller pieces and mixing them with avocado and apple. This may seem like a light meal but it is quite filling!
Often, Americans confuse them with yams. Yams are cylindrical shaped whereas sweet potatoes are long and have tapered ends. Sweet potatoes are commonly found in supermarket and grocery stores. They are readily available all year long.
More sweet potato recipes you will love:
- Baked sweet potato fries
- Chicken chili with sweet potatoes
- Twice baked chicken veggie sweet potatoes
- Taco stuffed sweet potatoes
- Garlic parmesan sweet potato wedges
And since these spicy sweet potato wedges are so easy to make, you’ll be happy to keep your crowd pleased and make some more! I used a few medium sweet potatoes that I scrubbed clean and I left the skins on, but if you would like you can peel them; I just have a feeling your healthy sweet potato wedges will not end up as crispy as mine.
To make my spicy sweet potato wedges, I cut the sweet potatoes in half, and then I cut each of the halves into four wedges. I then put them onto a lined baking sheet. This is because they tend to get a little juicy while baking. Lining the baking sheet will insulate the sweet potatoes and ensure a good clean up. I then drizzled them with olive oil and then sprinkled them with salt, pepper, hot chili powder and dry thyme. I gave them a good toss, roasted them for about 25 minutes and served them with a spicy mayonnaise and garlic sauce. The ultimate party in your mouth, lip-smacking, finger-licking food!!
A few tips on making these spicy sweet potato wedges
Before cooking them, rinse twice your sweet potato wedges in cold water. This removes the extra starch in them making them crispy when cooked. They do need about 30 minutes to bake, a little longer if you want your wedges extra crispy. So keep this in mind if you plan to serve these baked sweet potato wedges with something else that cooks faster.
An easy way to tell if your sweet potato wedges are well done is to stick a fork in them. If there is some resistance then let them cook a little longer so that they are well done. If you’re serving them with chicken or burgers, prepare your wedges first and toss them in the oven and then continue preparing the rest of the dinner while the sweet potato wedges bake in the oven.
How to make sweet potato wedges crisp
To make your wedges crisp, don’t over crowd them, leave about 1/2″ between each wedge. If the wedges are over crowded they’ll boil from the steam instead of roasting.
Also, the wedges tend to build up steam from the heat and burst. To avoid this, poke a couple of holes into the wedges so that air can escape and they cook evenly.
If you want extra-crisp roasted sweet potato wedges, when the 30 minutes expires, turn the oven to a higher setting and roast the wedges for extra 5 minutes. Ovens have different settings so keep an eye on your wedges to prevent burning.
I found that leaving the skin on helps to make the sweet potato wedges crispier. And to be honest I love how these taste with the skin on as opposed to their skinless version. Plus it makes preparing fuss-free and a lot faster. So if you scrub your sweet potatoes really well, you should be fine leaving the skins on.
Also, evidence shows that the skin of sweet potatoes is high in antioxidants. Therefore, it helps the body fight against the risk of cancer. To reap all the nutritional benefits of your sweet potatoes, don’t peel. Just make sure you give them a good scrub before cooking so that you don’t end up with dirt or debris on your plate.
Sweet potato wedges are easy to bake. After doing it a couple of times you will master the recipe!
Serving these spicy sweet potato wedges
We served oven roasted sweet potato wedges all kinds of ways as a snack, appetizers, side dish or even a meal on their own.
When we had these as snacks and appetizers we loved pairing them with a simple sauce made with mayo, garlic, lime juice and a little more chili powder (recipe below). We love how sweet potatoes taste when paired with lime juice so we couldn’t pass the opportunity to add a little to our mayo sauce.
When we served our wedges as a main meal we loved pairing them with these dishes:
As for drinks, we paired our sweet potato wedges with these non alcoholic beverages:
Spicy Sweet Potato Wedges
Making this simple but oh, so delicious recipe, all you need is a handful of ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. For this recipe is best to use medium sweet potatoes instead of larger sized ones. I used olive oil as this is always my choice when I make healthy recipes but sunflower oil would work well too.
For my sweet potato wedges I used hot chili powder as that’s what I had on hand but you could substitute it with cayenne pepper or hot paprika. As herbs I always prefer thyme but this herb could easily be replaced by basil or oregano.
I made my own mayonnaise for the sauce and I totally recommend you do the same as it tastes completely different than store bought mayo and enhances the flavors in the sweet potato wedges.
Please note that altering the recipe will give a slightly different taste so keep this aspect in mind if you choose convenience over taste and decide to use the spice you have on hand.
To make this recipe, you will also need:
Spicy baked sweet potato wedges with herbs
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet potatoes scrubbed clean
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp hot chili powder
- 1 tsp dry thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
For the mayonnaise sauce:
- 1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp hot chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp lime juice
You will also need:
- large mixing bowl
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 F.
- Scrub clean the sweet potatoes then dry in paper towels.
- Cut the sweet potatoes in half and then cut each half into four equal sized wedges.
- Place sweet potato wedges in a large mixing bowl and drizzle olive oil. Mix to coat evenly.
- Add the seasonings and mix to coat evenly.
- Arrange the sweet potato wedges on a lined baking sheet.
- Place into the preheated oven and roast until the potatoes are browned and crispy on the outside but tender on the inside, 25 to 30 minutes. For crispier wedges, keep 5 more minutes.
- Make the sauce: mix the mayonnaise with seasonings and lime juice and mix to combine.
- Remove sweet potatoes from the oven and serve with mayonnaise sauce.
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ABOUT PETRO
Hi, I’m Petro, author and founder of Easy Peasy Creative Ideas. Sewist, crafter, avid DIY-er, foodie, photographer, homemaker and mommy to one. I’m an expert at coming up with quick, clever sewing tips, recycling crafts and simple, easy recipes! You can find my ideas featured in reputable publications such as Country Living, Good House Keeping, Yahoo News, WikiHow, Shutterfly, Parade, Brit & Co and more. Thanks for stopping by and hope you’ll stay for a while, get to know me better and come back another time. Stick around for real fun projects! Read more…