Harissa Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Tahini Maple Drizzle

Harissa roasted sweet potatoes with tahini maple drizzle -- a simple, slightly spicy side dish for any meal!

Two of my favorite things in the whole wide world right now: harissa and tahini. Not necessarily together (though in this recipe they are), but in general? Let's just say lately I've gone through... oh, about a jar of tahini per week. Which is totally normal and not excessive in any way... right?

Because it's really that there are so many ways to use it (besides eating it with a spoon, which I can't say that I don't do). You can use tahini in salad dressings, hummus, dips, spreads, and sauces. And, since it's essentially like a nut butter (it's made of sesame seeds!), you can bake with it too, i.e. tahini cookies are a thing, and a beautiful thing at that.

Oh, or like these coconut cacao tahini snack bites? Um, swoon.

As for harissa (a sort of hot chili pepper paste or seasoning), it's definitely a first-time experience for me. Any time before when I'd seen it in an intriguing recipe, I skipped over it because I didn't have it on hand or wasn't entirely sure where to find it in a store. Basically, a typical case of avoiding unknown territory. Was it a sauce? A seasoning? Where would I find it? Um, am I even pronouncing it correctly??

Well, I finally went out and bought some so that I would find a way to use it, and that was that. Cooking challenge accepted. And (spicy) new kitchen staple accepted.

And then? These harissa roasted sweet potatoes happened, complete with a tahini maple drizzle because it just sounded like it belonged in this recipe. Tasted like it, too!

Just a heads up on harissa paste, though -- it's pretty spicy in like a typical hot sauce sort of way. Being someone who's probably right in the middle when it comes to spicy food tolerance, I would say it's not SO spicy that it's unbearable. These harissa roasted sweet potatoes have a nice zing to them, but I balanced it out a bit with some maple syrup. If you're particularly sensitive to spicy foods, you can always up the dose of sweetness or use less harissa.

Conversely, if you like it extra spicy, add more harissa and leave out the maple syrup. Cooking is flexible like that.

Me? I like the maple syrup in there because I'm all about that spicy-sweet action.

Soooo this is how you make 'em. Super easy, as usual.

For the prep, the bulk of the work will be preheating your oven to 425, lining a baking sheet with some foil or parchment paper, and cubing your sweet potatoes. You can peel them if you want, but I like leaving the peelings on in part because they contain a lot of nutrients, and in part because I like how they taste. Also because I'm lazy.

After they're cubed you can put them in a bowl because we'll be tossing them in the harissa mixture, which is very simple: just a bit of harissa paste, maple syrup, and olive oil. Whisk them together in a small bowl and pour over the sweet potato cubes, then toss to coat evenly.

Next, the spices. In another small bowl, combine two parts garlic powder to one part paprika, and some salt and pepper. Sprinkle that all over the sweet potato mixture, and toss again to evenly coat. The reason I like to do the spices separately from the harissa mixture is because I like how they stick to the outside of the sweet potatoes and get kind of crispy from the roasting. But if you want to be more efficient, you could whisk together the spices, harissa, olive oil, and maple syrup in one bowl and toss the sweet potatoes in that. Deliciousness awaits you either way.

So, get those babies on your prepared baking sheet, spread them out so they're in an even layer, and put them in the preheated oven to roast. In the meantime, you'll make the maple tahini mixture, which is nothing more than tahini and maple syrup mixed together. It's so simple, yet SO delicious. I like about ¼ cup tahini with one tablespoon of maple syrup. Whisk it together, and it should have a fluid texture that's perfect for drizzling. Or dipping, if that's your style.

After about 35 minutes (or until sweet potatoes are browned on the outside and cooked completely through), remove them from the oven and drizzle immediately with the tahini maple mixture. And voila, you have your delicious side dish, which I envision with chicken or steak (or perhaps spiced chickpeas or lentils for vegetarian/vegan), and something green... like sautéed kale or collard greens, or maybe some sort of kale and cabbage slaw. You know, because pretty colors.

Seriously, see how easy they are?!

Oh, and when roasted sweet potatoes get that crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside goodness?? That, in general, is one of my favorite joys of life.

In short, you need harissa roasted sweet potatoes this week. You really do.

And you need both harissa and tahini in your cooking arsenal.

Also, I have no idea what these would be like on a grill because I don't have one, but someone please try it because summer and grilling = life.

And that tahini maple drizzle sauce stuff? Yeah, probably just double the batch so you can put it on everything.

Print