These Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Buttery Brown Sugar Pecans are a simple and quick side dish your holiday table needs. Easy preparation and basic ingredients provide you with extra time to focus on the more intricate recipes while still having a delicious sweet potato dish on the table.
**Update: the recipe and photos have been updated since the original posting date in 2014 to better reflect photography style and improve upon the recipe.
Somehow it’s mid-October and the holidays will be here before we know it. Are you a planner or more of a fly by the seat of your pants kind of person? I love a good plan and to do list so if I were hosting Thanksgiving I may be already making menu plans.
Alas, I am not hosting but it’s never too early for you to start compiling some ideas for what to serve on turkey day. I’m pretty sure your list should start with these roasted sweet potatoes with buttery pecans.
Perfect for the Holidays
From start to finish, this dish is done in 40 minutes or less. To break down the process, they will bake for a total of 30 minutes.
Depending on the amount of sweet potatoes you are making, the prep work shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. The prep being cutting up the sweet potatoes, roughly chopping the pecans and cutting the butter into pieces.
They don’t need much attention which means you can give more of your time to the tricky, intricute and time consuming holiday dishes. I always think it’s important to put in a few of these types of recipes to cut down on the stress that a holiday meal can cause, especially if you’re preparing the whole thing.
Bringing the Sweetness
I know a lot of you out there think the only sweet potatoes that belong on the holiday table are mashed and topped with a glorious amount of mini marshmallows. It that’s you, do your thing.
But I have a small confession…I don’t like marshmallows. They’re too sweet for my taste and when combined with sweet potatoes it’s just too much.
Instead, this recipe consists of roasted sweet potatoes for a little more texture and a sauce of brown sugar, buttery goodness.
The creamy butter and a sprinkle of salt helps balance out that sweetness for me. And don’t worry, they are still plenty sweet from the brown sugar. The toasted pecans bring a rich, nutty flavor and additional texture that really puts the dish over the top.
The sweet potatoes are roasted on their own, tossed in olive oil and salt, for the majority of the cooking time then in the last few minutes they are tossed with the brown sugar and butter to create a delicious little glaze over them.
Although I always think of sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, these are delicious and easy enough for any day of the week. And I’m betting you keep a majority of the required ingredients on hand for everyday cooking and baking.
Whether these are making a special appearance for the holidays or hitting the weeknight table, I’m pretty sure they will be a hit among your family.
More Sweet Potato Favorites:
- Sweet and Spicy Sweet Potatoes
- Cheesy Broccoli Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Pecan Streusel
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Buttery Brown Sugar Pecans
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes (about 4 large)
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 4 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup roughly chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Meanwhile, scrub and dry sweet potatoes. Cut into 1/2-inch chunks and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Toss with olive oil and salt. Bake for 22 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Remove sweet potatoes from oven and sprinkle evenly with butter, brown sugar and pecans. Add back to the oven and bake another 8 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully toss until evenly coated.
