Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Cashew Sauce
How early is too early to start bombarding you guys with sweet potato recipes?
If it were up to me, this blog would be a year-round carousel of bright orange awesomeness.
I know that sweet potatoes aren’t for everyone though, so I do my best to at least corral my obsession to the few months that actually warrant non-stop sweet potato exposure.
I know I’m a little early this year, as fall is still about a month away, but I just couldn’t keep this delicious recipe to myself for that long.
These roasted Spiced Sweet Potatoes, slathered in a slightly sweet Coconut Cashew Cream Sauce, are the stuff foodie dreams are made of.
Featuring an extensive list of common pantry spices, these aromatic spuds are packed with earthy, far east flavor.
To balance the savory and bring out the sweet, they’re topped with a melt in your mouth sauce made from silky coconut milk and creamy cashews.
Lavender salt is the secret flavor booster in this off beat dish, which adds an interesting aromatic twist to the dish. However, any salt will do.
This recipe was inspired by one of my favorite starters at the popular LA vegan restaurant Cafe Gratitude, the “Comforted” roasted garnet yams.
In fact, it was created after an unsuccessful attempt at finding their recipe online one evening when I was too lazy to drive over and pick up take-out. It’s not identical, but I’d call it an equally attractive cousin.
This vegan sweet potato dish is full of nutritional benefits including beta-carotene from the taters (hello antioxidants), monounsaturated fat from the cashews (hooray for heart health), plus a plethora of minerals — copper, phosphorous, manganese, magnesium, and zinc, to be specific.
It makes a great side dish or a satisfying main.
- 2 large sweet potatoes, cubed
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon coriander
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup cashews
- ½ cup unsweetened vanilla coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon lavender salt
- thyme (optional garnish)
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Rinse and scrub sweet potatoes with water. Chop into 1 inch cubes.
- In a small bowl, mix together all spices.
- In a large bowl, toss sweet potatoes with coconut oil.
- Evenly distribute spice mixture over sweet potatoes and toss to combine.
- Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread potatoes in one layer.
- Bake for about 25 minutes.
- While potatoes are cooking, combine all sauce ingredients in a high powdered blender or food processor.
- When potatoes are cooked through, drizzle with sauce, garnish with thyme, and serve.
If the amount of spices listed is overwhelming, feel free to sub them out for an Indian spice mix.
And if you’re more of a savory foodie, I suggest using regular coconut milk instead of vanilla. My husband falls into that category and he deemed the dish a little too “rich” for his tastebuds.
I on the other hand couldn’t get enough of the flavor and deemed this recipe a suitable dish for lunch, dinner or dessert.
Weigh In: Are you ready for sweet potato season? Do you prefer sweet or savory dishes?
Danielle @ Wild Coast Tales says:
This sounds amazing! I eat sweet potatoes year round… so I’ll happily take the sweet potato recipes! Haha.
Les @ The Balanced Berry says:
Whitney, these sound AMAZING. I’m a huge sweet potato lover too, and am always looking for new ways to make em. I definitely need this sauce in my life.
Deborah @ Confessions of a mother runner says:
Those are all of my favorite spices! Yum right up my alley. Hope you will link up with meatless Monday this week or next week.
Krissy @ Pretty Wee Things says:
These look delicious! I love spices. Pinning this to try next time I do meal prep! xxx
Kelli @ Hungry Hobby says:
I do not discriminate when it comes to sweet potatoes, I love both sweet and savory! I think you just broke the seal right? Like everyone was thinking “when is it too early?” Now that you’ve posted believe it’s time to let the sweet potato and pumpkin season begin! HOORAY!
Lauren @ The Bikini Experiment says:
Love, love anything with sweet potatoes. Great recipe.