Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Horseradish Butter

Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Horseradish Butter
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
About 1¼ to 2 hours, plus chilling
Rating
4(224)
Notes
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This recipe plays velvety, honeyed roasted sweet potatoes against the sharp bite of a fresh horseradish and herb compound butter.  It’s a great dish for feeding a crowd at Thanksgiving or another gathering. You can roast the potatoes and make the horseradish butter ahead, then pop them into the oven just 15 minutes before serving, while the turkey rests. If you can’t find fresh horseradish, substitute another aromatic ingredient like garlic, fresh ginger or scallions, adjusting the quantities to taste. You'll need less ginger and garlic than you would horseradish, and probably the same amount of scallions. Taste as you go. —Melissa Clark

Featured in: Thanksgiving Vegetables Get Freshened Up

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings
  • 8tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ¼cup finely grated fresh horseradish, plus coarsely grated horseradish for garnish if desired
  • 3tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, more for garnish
  • 3tablespoons chopped fresh dill, more for garnish
  • 3tablespoons panko bread crumbs
  • Finely grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼teaspoon black pepper
  • 2pounds sweet potatoes
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

168 calories; 9 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 173 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag, combine butter, horseradish, parsley, dill, panko, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper. Close the bag, pressing out most of the air. Mash everything together until well combined and smooth, then use a ruler or the back edge of a knife to scrape and work the butter to the bottom of the bag so it forms a log, rolling it as you go. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to firm up, or up to 1 week.

  2. Step 2

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prick sweet potatoes several times with a fork and wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Transfer to a baking sheet and roast until potatoes are tender, 45 minutes to 1½ hours, depending on the size of the potatoes. Once cool enough to handle, unwrap and slice into ½-inch-thick rounds (there is no need to peel unless you dislike the skins). Potatoes can be roasted up to 2 days ahead; wrap and chill, then slice them just before using.

  3. Step 3

    Arrange rounds on a large rimmed baking sheet and count how many you have. Slice enough thin slabs of butter from the log so that you have one per potato slice, and place butter on top of potato slices.

  4. Step 4

    Move the oven rack so that it's 4 inches away from the broiler. Bake potatoes at 350 degrees until they are heated through and the butter is softened, 5 to 15 minutes depending upon how cold the potatoes were. Adjust oven temperature to broil, and broil until the butter is golden brown at the edges, 2 to 4 minutes. Serve garnished with herbs and fresh horseradish if you like.

Ratings

4 out of 5
224 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

What would happen if you use horseradish from a jar?

I tried it with horseradish from a jar and it was a bit hard to judge how much to use and I tried to get as much liquid out of it b4 mixing into butter. Used about 2 tablespoons, not enough in my opinion, but was still very good.

This is a very easy, very pretty dish which is so delicious, one wonders why no one ever before paired sweet potatoes with butter, horseradish, dill and lemon! Leftovers were delicious the next morning, warmed gently in the microwave and then topped with poached eggs.

This was so delicious I still can't get over it. I pretty much made the butter according to the recipe but can imagine 1001 variations. This will probably be my go-to recipe for ages now. Another great thing is that I could do most of it ahead of time and then just put it together in a jiffy at the end.

Had this last night for Thanksgiving dinner and everyone loved it. I used the recipe exactly as written. The combination of horseradish and lemon was so darn fresh. Such an intriguing recipe. I think substituting ginger for horseradish might be a good variation.

I made this recipe tonight and followed it exactly. Overall my dinner group thought it was very good. I was surprised the horseradish wasn't more pronounced. I am going to try it again with more horseradish, herbs and lemon. Also, the idea of using ginger is interesting. This is another of the many Melissa Clark recipes that provide an interesting idea and a technique that invites you to put your own twist on it.

Served this for Thanksgiving and though I personally thought it looked beautiful and tasted delicious (and could be partly made in advance), it was the one side dish that was hardly touched - not a winner with this crowd - did not like the horseradish taste ( I used fresh) - too pungent for some. Might try with ginger next time, it is really pretty and very easy to put together.

What could be substituted for the fresh horseradish? I'm not sure I'll be able to find that.

In the recipe, it says you can use ginger, garlic, or scallions instead of horseradish. But my local Kroger affiliate had fresh horseradish in the produce section, so it's not TOO uncommon.

I think it's still quite delicious at room temperature. It's even not bad cold out of the fridge as a left-over.

Seriously perfect. And an elegant dish for an elegant meal, which we did for the holidays. My only advice is to have the potato slices at room temperature, which speeds up the process when reheating with the flavored butter.

Highly recommend this dish. I made the horseradish/herb butter a week in advance in a large plastic bag as recommended. Baked the potatoes two days in advance and it only took a few minutes for the final steps. Potatoes looked lovely on the platter and everyone seemed to enjoy them as there were no leftovers.

Everyone loved this, but I probably could have cut the butter by half or more...

Unbelievably good. This will be on our holiday tables for all future meals. Mashed sweet potatoes are no longer allowed. The compound butter was so good we were scraping the remnants off the bag with spoons.

Nice. And easy to transport for Thanksgiving. Had the roasted potatoes in a baking/serving dish, dabbed them heavily with the horseradish butter, and reheated. Excellent side.

This was easy to make ahead and very good, but the horseradish was almost undetectable (which I figured based on the reviews, but specifically wanted a very light horseradish flavor for this dinner). I mostly tasted lemon and herbs, which was still delicious. I added scallions to mine. Next time more horseradish, and I'll roll the butter wider so it covers more of the surface of each sweet potato slice.

I think ill bake a sweet potato and use this as a topping! I ordered the fresh horseradish on etsy FYI since my local store didnt have any this time around.

How many ch fresh ginger? A couple of tbsps?

Made this recipe as a side dish for a roast chicken. It was delicious. I would absolutely add more horseradish though. I doubled the amount and still could barely taste it. The lemon and lemon zest added to the butter created a pleasant combination with the sweet potato. My guests raved about this dish. Will make this one again!

Agree that this needs more horseradish BUT overall it was really delicious and quite simple. We'll certainly be using the compound butter again. Definitely a hit.

Just made trial run for Christmas dinner. Very tasty, but the horseradish is not pronounced. Will add more next time.

Everyone loved this, but I probably could have cut the butter by half or more...

Would it ruin the horseradish/butter topping if I left out the panko bread crumbs? We have a couple of people with gluten intolerance. Any ideas for substitutions?

A bit late, but you can find gf panko!

The panko helps the butter stay put. And, gluten free panko is widely available now. Also, after having the fresh horseradish really not coming through the last time I made this, this time I used creamed prepared horseradish--twice as much. Very good!

Served this for Thanksgiving and though I personally thought it looked beautiful and tasted delicious (and could be partly made in advance), it was the one side dish that was hardly touched - not a winner with this crowd - did not like the horseradish taste ( I used fresh) - too pungent for some. Might try with ginger next time, it is really pretty and very easy to put together.

Seriously perfect. And an elegant dish for an elegant meal, which we did for the holidays. My only advice is to have the potato slices at room temperature, which speeds up the process when reheating with the flavored butter.

Thinking of taking it to a party. Would it be good served at room temperature?

I think it's still quite delicious at room temperature. It's even not bad cold out of the fridge as a left-over.

Highly recommend this dish. I made the horseradish/herb butter a week in advance in a large plastic bag as recommended. Baked the potatoes two days in advance and it only took a few minutes for the final steps. Potatoes looked lovely on the platter and everyone seemed to enjoy them as there were no leftovers.

after your baked your potatoes 2 days in advance..did you freeze them or just in the freg?

This is a very easy, very pretty dish which is so delicious, one wonders why no one ever before paired sweet potatoes with butter, horseradish, dill and lemon! Leftovers were delicious the next morning, warmed gently in the microwave and then topped with poached eggs.

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Credits

Adapted from "V is for Vegetables" by Michael Anthony

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