These sweet potatoes are smokey, sweet and a little spicy, making a fantastic side dish for your next dinner party or BBQ. They are so easy to make and great for meal prep.

Why you’ll love the Spiced Sesame Sweet Potatoes:

Perfect for hosting- This side dish is so simple and very easy to scale up for hosting large dinner parties or BBQs. I love recipes where the oven does all the work, making it easier for me to spend time with guests and ensure my food comes out at the perfect temperature.

Easy to make- These take 10 minutes in prep time and are thrown in the oven to cook for about another 30 minutes.

Healthy- This simple veggies side is full of flavor and nutrients. Sweet potatoes are full of fiber, pre and probiotics that promote gut health and antioxidants.

Ingredients for Spiced Sesame Sweet Potatoes:

Sweet Potatoes- Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet (hence their name), slightly earthy and creamy. They are caramelized during roasting, brining out more of the sweetness. Sweet potatoes are packed with nutrients, antioxidants, promote gut health and eye health.

Avocado or olive oil- Oil helps the sweet potatoes caramelize and cook evenly. It also helps the spices to coat and stick the sesame sweet potatoes.

Paprika- Paprika is a spice made from dried peppers. There are three types of paprika depending on what peppers were used- sweet paprika, hot paprika and smokey paprika. I prefer smokey paprika for this recipe because it adds complexity and depth to this sweet potato dish.

Cinnamon- Cinnamon is a warm and slightly sweet spice that brings out the natural sweetness in the roasted sweet potatoes. It compliments the smokey paprika and heat from the cayenne pepper really well.

Cayenne- Cayenne pepper is a spice made from ground chilis. It adds a nice kick and heat to these roasted sesame sweet potatoes.

Honey- Honey is drizzled over the caramelized sweet potatoes, enhancing their natural sweetness and helping the sesame seeds to stick to them. While there is little evidence to support the claim that local honey helps with allergies, I still like to use local honey to support the beekeepers in my community.

Sesame seeds- Sesame seeds add nuttiness and earthiness to these spiced sweet potatoes. The subtle crunch they provide balanced the creaminess of these roasted sweet potatoes.

Looking for more side dish ideas?

Check out more sides here!