Chili Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cranberry Maple Citrus Glaze

Everything you already love about Roasted Sweet Potatoes just got even more exciting. Sweet potato rounds are dusted with chili powder and brown sugar and roasted in the oven until soft, sweet, spicy and caramelized. Then they’re topped with lots of chopped scallions and a warm ruby glaze made from fresh tart cranberries, orange juice, lemon juice, mustard and maple syrup. 

These will look SO GOOD on the Thanksgiving table with all that color! And they are as delicious as they are beautiful!

A departure from the classic Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole (which is actually dessert disguised as a vegetable), this roasted sweet potato recipe is all about exciting contrasting flavors: richly caramelized sweet potatoes with a spicy zing of chili, sweet-sour-tart cranberry glaze and fresh onion-y scallions.

How To Make These Roasted Sweet Potatoes:

The sweet potatoes are coated with olive oil, chili powder and brown sugar and roasted in the oven until tender and caramelized. Then they’re plated and topped with a warm cranberry maple citrus glaze. This recipe is easily manageable for a busy occasion, with good options for prepping ahead (see below).

1. Peel and Slice The Sweet Potatoes: Peel the sweet potatoes and slice them into 1-inch rounds. Transfer them to a bowl of water to prevent them from discoloring. When you’re ready to cook, drain the potatoes in a mesh colander, transfer them to a large bowl and dry them well with a clean dish towel.
2. Roast The Sweet Potatoes: Toss the potatoes with olive oil to coat. Add brown sugar, salt, pepper and chili powder. Use your hands to mix and coat the potatoes with with spices. Spread them out on two rimmed baking sheets and roast them for 30-35 minutes, until tender and caramelized.
3. Make The Glaze: While the potatoes are roasting, make the cranberry glaze. In a saucepan simmer fresh cranberries with maple syrup, orange juice, lemon juice, and brown sugar for ten minutes to reduce and intensify the flavors. In a separate small bowl whisk up a mixture of olive oil, maple syrup, mustard, salt and pepper and stir it into the hot glaze.
4. Plate and Serve: When the potatoes come out of the oven, arrange them on a platter. Spoon warm glaze on top, sprinkle with scallions and serve.

Make Ahead Strategies:

The sweet potatoes are best served the same day they are made. They can be served at room temperature or reheated just before serving. You can peel and slice the sweet potatoes several hours ahead of time as long as you keep them immersed in a bowl of cold water. Put the bowl in the fridge to keep cold if waiting more than two hours to use.

1. Do Everything Ahead of Time and Serve At Room Temperature:  If serving this dish at room temperature you can roast the potatoes up 2 hours ahead. When they come out of the oven, arrange them on a serving platter and cover it loosely with foil. The glaze can be made up to a day ahead and stored in the fridge. Just before serving, heat the glaze gently over very low heat, spoon the warm glaze over the potatoes, garnish with scallions and serve.
2. Do Everything Ahead of time – Reheat and Serve Hot: To avoid the hassle of reheating the potatoes on baking sheets, this method calls for using an oven-to-table casserole for assembling, reheating and serving the dish. Roast the sweet potatoes up to 8 hours ahead. The glaze can be made up to a day ahead and stored in the fridge. Arrange roasted potatoes in an oven-to-table casserole pan that will also be your serving dish. Cover the pan with foil put it in the fridge if you’re waiting more than 2 hours to reheat. Bring the potatoes to room temperature for 15-20 minutes and then reheat them, covered with foil, in a 425ºF oven for 15-20 minutes. Reheat the glaze gently over low heat, spoon it over the potatoes, top with scallions and serve.

You may also like these delicious side dish recipes:

• Roasted Squash Stuffed with Roasted Vegetables
• Roasted Vegetable Antipasto
• Caponata: Sicilian Sweet and Sour Eggplant Relish
• Roasted Vegetables From the Spice Islands.

Here’s the roasted sweet potatoes recipe. If you try this recipe I hope you’ll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I’d love to know what you think!

Chili Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cranberry Maple Citrus Glaze

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

A festive roasted sweet potato dish with exciting flavors. A great side dish for holiday entertaining.

• Author: Lisa
• Prep Time: 40 min
• Cook Time: 35 min
• Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Yield: Serves 10-12 as a side dish 1x
• Category: Side Dish
• Method: Roast
• Cuisine: American

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

Equipment: 2 large rimmed baking sheets, small saucepan

For The Sweet Potatoes

• 5 pounds yams –  (red skinned sweet potatoes), peeled and sliced into 1-inch rounds
• 9 tablespoon olive oil,  divided
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (use a full teaspoon if you like a lot of heat)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more, to taste
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

For The Cranberry Glaze

• 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
• ⅓ cup plus 4 tablespoons real maple syrup, divided
• ¼ cup fresh squeezed orange juice (1 juicy orange)
• ¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (1 –2 lemons depending on size)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1  teaspoon Dijon mustard

Additional Ingredients:

• 1 large bunch of scallions (6–8 scallions) trimmed and thinly sliced crosswise.

Instructions

1. Arrange racks in the top and bottom of the oven. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Toss sweet potatoes with olive oil (5 tablespoons) in a large bowl, to coat. Sprinkle on the spices: brown sugar (2 tablespoons), chili powder (½ teaspoon), salt (1 teaspoon) and black pepper (¼ teaspoon). Mix with your hands to coat potatoes with spices, arrange in a single layer on baking sheets. Roast for 30-35 minutes, until tender and starting to brown, switching positions of the trays after the first 15 minutes.
2. While potatoes are roasting, make the cranberry glaze. In a saucepan combine cranberries (1 ½ cups), maple syrup (⅓ cup), orange juice (¼ cup), lemon juice (¼ cup), water (2 tablespoons) and brown sugar (1 tablespoon). Bring to a simmer and cook on low. for 10 minutes, stirring gently occasionally, until mixture has thickened quite a bit. Remove from heat. In a separate small bowl whisk maple syrup (4 tablespoons) with mustard (1 teaspoon), salt (½ teaspoons) and pepper. (¼ teaspoon). Slowly pour in olive oil (4 tablespoons) while whisking, to emulsify the mixture. Add mixture to hot cranberry glaze and stir gently to combine. Glaze can be made up to a day ahead, stored in the fridge, reheated gently on low heat.
3. Arrange sweet potatoes on a large serving platter. Season with more salt and pepper, to taste. Spoon warm cranberry glaze on top. Sprinkle with scallions. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

Make Ahead Strategies: 

1. Serve At Room Temp: Roast sweet potatoes and make glaze up to 2 hours ahead. Arrange potatoes on a platter and tent with foil. Reheat glaze gently over low heat just before serving, spoon glaze over potatoes, sprinkle with scallions and serve.
2. Reheat and Serve Hot: Roast sweet potatoes up to 8 hours ahead and arrange them in an oven-to-table casserole that will also be your serving dish. Cover with foil and set aside or store in the fridge if waiting more than 2 hours to reheat. Glaze can be made up to 8 hours ahead and stored in the fridge. Bring potatoes to room temp for 20 minutes and reheat in a 425ºF oven for 15-20 minutes. Make or reheat glaze, spoon it over potatoes, top with scallions and serve.

Keywords: roasted sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes with cranberries, Thanksgiving sweet potatoes, glazed sweet potatoes