Grilled Sweet Potatoes Recipe

Sweet Potatoes are great on the grill! Caramelized outside, sweet and tender inside, firm enough to hold up to a salad or to grab in hand and dip into a tasty dressing or aioli. Here’s my easy fool-proof method for making awesome Grilled Sweet Potatoes. Plus a tasty ginger-tahini dressing for dipping or drizzling.

My goal when making Sweet Potato Fries is to get them sweet and tender but not so soft that they’re mushy or droopy. If you’ve tried making oven roasted sweet potato fries, you know how challenging this can be. It’s hard to get them brown and crisp on the outside without overcooking them. But with this grilling technique, they come out perfect every time!  

HOW TO GRILL SWEET POTATOES

The key to making great grilled sweet potatoes is to precook them partially in the oven, before grilling.

• Scrub the sweet potatoes, skin on, and pop them in a 400ºF oven.
• Bake them partially – 40 minutes or so – until they’re just soft enough to slice easily. (this step can be done up to a day ahead)
• Once cooled, cut the sweet potatoes into wedges, brush them with olive oil, and set them on a hot grill.
• Ten to fifteen minutes on the grill will get them crisp and caramelized on the outside, with gorgeous grill marks, and sweet and tender inside. They’ll stand up like good fries should, firm enough for grabbing and dipping into delicious aioli or tahini sauce.

HOW TO SERVE GRILLED SWEET POTATOES

• GRILLED SWEET POTATO APPETIZER Serve em on a big platter with spicy aioli for dipping.
• GRILLED SWEET POTATOES SIDE DISH The simplest thing to do with grilled sweet potato wedges is heap them on a platter, drizzle them with good olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. For extra zing, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika or a little chili powder.
• GRILLED SWEET POTATO RICE BOWL I had an incredible grilled sweet potato rice bowl in London that I re-create often. Brown rice, wild rice or quinoa (or all three mixed together) is the base. Throw on some blanched or steamed greens or veggies – spinach, kale or broccoli. Top with grilled sweet potatoes and a fried egg. Dress with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper, or drizzle with ginger tahini dressing. Yum!!

Tahini-ginger dressing (recipe below) is great on grilled sweet potatoes. Big thanks to my sister-in-law Jen for this delicious recipe.

Grilled sweet potatoes are the best kind of comfort food – totally delicious with the added comfort of knowing that the food you’re enjoying is healthy.

Here’s the recipe for grilled sweet potatoes. If you make them I hope you’ll come back to leave a comment, a rating and to let me know what you did with them and how you like them.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes Recipe

Grilled Sweet Potatoes. Perfect as a grab and dip appetizer, summer side dish, or in a salad.

• Author: Lisa
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
• Yield: 6-8 1x
• Category: Vegetable side dish, main dish, or appetizer
• Method: Barbecue
• Cuisine: Mediterranean

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 3 large sweet potatoes of similar size. Garnet yams are my favorite. (2 1/2 pounds)
• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

For The Ginger Tahini Dressing:

• 1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tablespoons roughly chopped ginger root
• 3 medium cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons Tamari, soy sauce or coconut aminos
• 1/4 cup water

For The Chipotle Aioli Dip – Recipe and instructions here.

Optional Ingredients For Making Rice Bowls or Salads:

• Cooked brown and wild rice or cooked quinoa or a combination (1/3 cup or so per person)
• A bunch of scallions, trimmed, brushed with olive oil, grilled for a 3-4 minutes, salted and sliced
• One head of broccoli, cut into bite sized florets, blanched and drained (cook florets for 2 minutes or so in boiling water and drain)
• Fried or poached eggs (1 per person)

Instructions

1. To Make The Grilled Sweet Potatoes: Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Scrub the sweet potatoes, pierce with a fork a few times and set them on your oven rack. Bake them for 40-45 minutes or until they are cooked enough so that if you push your thumb in firmly, you can make an impression. Baking time will differ depending on the size of the potato but you can always adjust later with more or less time on the grill, to get the desired result.
2. Let the potatoes cool until you can handle them. (At this point you can store the partially cooked sweet potatoes wrapped in foil or plastic in the fridge for up to 24 hours) Slice each potato in half lengthwise, then cut each half into wedges, lengthwise. (6-8 wedges per potato)
3. Preheat the grill to medium-high. Place the potato wedges, skin-side down, on a large tray or platter. Brush the cut sides generously with olive oil. Arrange them on the hot grill, cut side down, and cook, with the grill cover down, for four to six minutes per side, flipping them over to the other cut side half way through. Leave them to cook until they get nice grill marks and are cooked to your desired consistency. The longer you cook them, the more tender and sweet they will be, with more crisp browned parts.
4. Let them rest for 5-10 minutes, tented with foil. Serve them warm or at room temperature.
5. To Make The Ginger Tahini Dressing: Blend all the ingredients together in a blender or small food processor. Add more water, a teaspoon at a time, to thin to desired consistency.

Notes

SERVE THEM AS A SIDE DISH: Dress with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Add onion powder and/or chili powder, if you like.

MAKE GRILLED SWEET POTATO RICE BOWLS: Fill bowls with rice, quinoa, grains or a combo. Add blanched broccoli florets, wilted greens, or grilled scallions. Dress with olive oil, lemon or lime juice, salt and pepper. Add a fried or poached egg, if you like. Drizzle with ginger tahini dressing, if you like.

MAKE A GRILLED SWEET POTATO APPETIZER: Season grilled sweet potatoes with salt and pepper. Serve with chipotle aioli dip.

Keywords: How to grill sweet potatoes, grilled sweet potato fries