Quick grilled sweet potato wedges with chili-lime sauce; easy enough for a quick weeknight side yet fancy enough for Sunday dinner.
If cooked correctly you get sweet and creamy spuds on the inside with a slightly crisp exterior. The charred flavor goes perfectly with the sweet-heat from the sauce. I use harissa dry spice which is a fiery and smoky, North African spice blend common in places like Tunisia and Morocco. Harissa is normally a paste, which you want to avoid for this recipe. If the dry version isn’t available, just use your favorite chili powder. These don’t last long in my house.
The key to these grilled wedges is pre-cooking the sweet potatoes. There are multiple pre-cooking options, from boiling to microwave, but I find roasting the best option for optimal flavor and texture. Starting from scratch on the grill nets great results, but take serious time.
Microwave saves you time but results in a mushy texture and too much char flavor. Boiling ain’t much better. You get a little bit more flavor, but the texture is still too soft and lacking any crispiness. I find that roasting intensifies the natural sweetness of the potato wedges. It has the additional benefit of pulling out the surface moisture which helps get that easy, good charring.
Grilled Sweet Potatoes Cooking Tips
- Cut the sweet potatoes into large wedges then wash them with cold water
- If using an outdoor grill, preheat the grill grates to get them sufficiently hot before placing the wedges down. Also, wipe them down using paper towel dabbed with oil. This will prevent the wedges from sticking and also net pretty grill marks
- If using an indoor stovetop grill spray with non-stick cooking spray first
- Cutting the sweet potatoes into rounds is actually easier to cook as far as avoiding burnt edges, but wedges rule for overall results
Making grilled sweet potato wedges with chili lime sauce
Put these tasty spuds in your weeknight dinner routine. If you make it, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback. Definitely take a photo of the dish and be sure to tag #foodfidelity so that I can see it.
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For other sweet potato recipes check out these roasted Hasselback sweet potatoes or these smashed sweet potatoes.
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes peeled and cut into wedges
- Ground Black Pepper
- Kosher Salt
- Juice from 1 medium lime
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
- 1 teaspoon Harissa spice mix or chili powder
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425º F. Cut the sweet potatoes in half and then cut each half into four equal sized wedges. Arrange the sweet potato wedges on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Season the sweet potato wedges with salt and pepper.
- Place sweet potatoes into the preheated oven and roast until the potatoes are fork tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside
- Preheat an outdoor grill to medium or place a cast-iron stovetop grill pan over medium heat.
- Grill until golden brown on all sides about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter;
- Mix together salt, pepper, lime juice, zest, maple syrup, and chili powder; add oil to the mixture slowly and mix well. Brush mixture on sweet potatoes, garnish with fresh cilantro, and serve immediately.
Nutrition
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