Have you ever tried grilling sweet potatoes? It’s quick and easy. You just peel the sweet potatoes, slice them into 1/4-inch slices, paint them with olive oil, sprinkle on some salt, and place on a hot grill. To serve, you want to slather them with some sort of vinaigrette—olive oil to keep them from tasting too dry, and an acid like lime juice or lemon juice to balance the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. We played around a bit with this recipe, after thinking we had “discovered” the wonderful combination of lime, cilantro, and sweet potatoes, only to find out many others have made a similar discovery. It’s a great combination. You can substitute lemon juice for the lime, lime is better but lemon juice will work. And you can substitute parsley for the cilantro, especially if you are one for whom cilantro tastes like soap. Otherwise stick with the cilantro, in our opinion, it just works better here than the parsley. We’ve also tried adding some minced garlic to the dressing, but I prefer it without it.
Grilled Sweet Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes
- 3-4 Tbsp olive oil
- Kosher salt
Dressing
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro (including tender stems)
- 1 teaspoon of lime zest or lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons of fresh lime or lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Pinch of salt
Method
1 Prepare your grill for hot, direct heat. While the grill is heating up, peel the sweet potatoes and slice lengthwise, or on a diagonal, into 1/4 inch-thick pieces. Coat the sweet potato slices with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with Kosher salt.
2 Combine all of the dressing ingredients into a small bowl.
3 Once the grill is hot, lay the sweet potato pieces down onto the grill grates. Cover the grill and cook until each side gets some grill marks, between 3-6 minutes for each side, depending on how hot your grill is.
4 Toss the sweet potatoes in a bowl with the dressing and serve hot.
Yield: Serves 4.
I love grilled sweet potatoes with sour cream dip or cheese, maybe it’s time to move on to a ‘grown-up’ dressing. Love your idea, Elise!
The first time I grilled sweet potatoes I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it sooner! Aren’t they just so delicious?
I love sweet potatoes this way. Add some chili to the vinaigrette!!
I just recently discovered my love of sweet potatoes. I never really liked the marshmallow mess that was made for the holidays. However, savory applications are pretty amazing. I seem to have problems with cutting them though. Do you have any tips?
It always helps to have some stability when cutting. With a large sweet potato, you can cut off the ends, stand the sweet potato up on one of the cut ends, and cut the sweet potato in half down the middle. Then place the sweet potato half, cut side down on the table and slice it from there. ~Elise
Elise, can I just say I think you’re the bomb?!
:-) ~Elise
I LOVE sweet potatoes. I can imagine how delicious it must be once grilled! Thanks for sharing!
We made these just yesterday. In the oven though. Honey is also good with these!
I love grilling them with olive oil and rosemary. Or olive oil and chipotle.
DH *hates* cilantro, but plan on giving this a try tomorrow with our burgers. The other way I like them is lyonnaise-style. I cut the sweet potatoes into cubes, then cook until soft and brownish with onions and rosemary. Very savory and has become a Thanksgiving tradition.
Muy lindas tus recetas!!!, gracias por compartirlas.
Saludos desde Buenos Aires…
Another great dressing for sweet potatoes is balsamic vinegar and fresh mint.
Love your slicing method and the lime dressing. I’m still BBQ-challenged when it comes to grill marks though. Is lots of oil the key?
The key is giving the grill enough time to sufficiently heat up. You should let it preheat for at least ten to fifteen minutes. ~Elise
This looks so good! I pinned it to Pinterest as I know I’ll be trying this one.
I just made some delicious grilled tofu and sweet potato kabobs with pineapple barbeque sauce. The barbeque sauce goes really well with sweet potato, especialy if it has a bit of a kick ot it!
These sweet potatoes look beautiful. I have baked them in a similar fashion in the oven, but putting them onto the grill takes them to a whole new dimension. Great idea!
I made these yesterday (added a couple of hits of fish sauce to the lime juice and cilantro), and they were a hit! They cooked so quickly, too — I’m definitely going to have to add these to my standard grilling repertoire. Thanks for the inspiration!
How about a glaze with cinnamon red curry and coconut milk? with or without the curry, this was a familiar flavor in the virgin islands.
Great idea! ~Elise
Love grilled Sweet Potato along with eggplant and zucchini etc. I wanted to comment, too, on the Carrot Souffle from December 2009. I just made it and it is due out of the oven shortly. What I totally forgot – the cheese! Yikes. So I put shredded cheddar on top. We’ll see. I wish it had said how many cups of carrot purée or of sliced carrots. The need to figure out how many carrots makes two pounds was distracting. However, I think I am gonna love it, even without cheese inside. It is a lot like a recipe I make with Sweet Potatoes (just to bring this back round to those).
Robyn or Elise. I would love to hear the cinnamon, red curry, and coconut milk recipe you used.
Also, in my mind I see using Basalmic and mayonnaise in some fasion. Hmmm… Any ideas.
We tried this over the weekend while camping. They were delicious and easy. Perfect addition to our camping menu! I love your recipes!
Looks great… we will definitely try this! By the way, I grew up in Sierra Oaks. My dearest friend lived in Carmichael until her death in 2003. My dad help start Arden Hills Swim and Tennis with Sherm Chavoor (before your time, but Sherm was Mark Spitz’s coach!)
My dear friend, Marty Mearns Fair was an incredible cook and entertainer in that area. Loved going to Raley’s Market to pick up all our fav ingredients!
Hi Jani, Cool! I remember Sherm Chavoor, he lived a couple blocks away, right on the river (I’m in my 50s). Arden Hills has really changed, very “spa”-ish now. ~Elise
Elise, Too spa-ish for my tastes (my friend was a member – we had lunch there). It was such a cool place when Sherm had it. I swam for the team until I broke my arm in ’53. I still swim, though! I love your blog. I will be back to visit!
oh my gosh I just made this and it is soooo good! Thanks for the recipe :D
These were amazing. I was surprised at how quickly they cooked (I still got great caramelization with the grill marks). So creamy on the inside. Our guests were fighting over the last pieces!
I always add lime zest and lime juice with a dash of cayenne to my sweet potatoes to make them festive!