Honey Mustard Caramelized Sweet Potatoes
These sweet potatoes are one of my favorite ways to cook them lately. Roasting them cut-side-down lets the natural sugars caramelize directly against the parchment, creating a deeply golden, almost candy-like crust. Then they get brushed with a simple honey-mustard glaze and roasted again until sticky, glossy, and caramelized.
Honey Mustard Caramelized Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for brushing
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven: Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- 2
Prepare the sweet potatoes: Wash and dry the sweet potatoes, then cut them in half lengthwise. Lightly brush the cut sides with olive oil.
- 3
Roast: Place the sweet potatoes cut-side-down directly on the parchment paper. Roast for about 35 minutes, or until tender and deeply caramelized on the cut side.
- 4
Make the glaze: While the sweet potatoes roast, whisk together the olive oil, honey, Dijon mustard, salt, and black pepper.
- 5
Glaze: Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and brush the glaze generously over both sides of each sweet potato.
- 6
Caramelize: Return the sweet potatoes to the baking sheet cut-side-down and roast for another 10 minutes, until the honey mustard glaze is bubbling, sticky, and beautifully caramelized.
- 7
Serve: Let them cool slightly before serving. Finish with a sprinkle of flaky salt if desired.
Lauren's Note
- The cut-side-down method is the secret! It allows the natural sugars from the sweet potato to caramelize directly against the hot parchment.
- Don't glaze them from the beginning, the honey can burn before the sweet potatoes have had a chance to fully caramelize.
- A little flaky salt on top is especially good here because it balances the sweetness of the honey and sweet potato.
Frequently asked questions
Absolutely. Any medium sweet potato works, although varieties with naturally sweeter, orange flesh will give you an especially caramelized result.
They're best straight from the oven, but you can roast them through the first 35-minute stage ahead of time. Glaze and finish them in the oven just before serving.
The natural sugars in the sweet potato need time to caramelize first. Adding the honey glaze later gives you the best of both worlds, a deeply caramelized sweet potato underneath and a sticky, honey-mustard glaze on top.
