Perfectly roasted sweet potato wedges are drizzled with a creamy, flavorful, and bright green sauce in this recipe for tahini sweet potatoes. It’s an easy vegan side dish that you can make for a quick dinner or to impress guests.
Move over boring vegetable sides, there’s a new, fun, and flavorful recipe in town! I’m talking about these super delicious and very easy tahini sweet potatoes. They’re truly loaded with flavor, thanks to fresh basil, lemon, and garlic, and come together in a flash.
The sauce that’s drizzled over these beautiful taters is made with a base of tahini (sesame seed paste). It’s one of my favorite ingredients to use in dressings and sauces, mainly because it’s so creamy. If you didn’t know anything about this recipe, I bet you’d think the sauce was made with yogurt or something dairy-based. That’s how creamy tahini is!
Don’t believe me? Check out my Chopped Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing, Tahini Pasta with Cauliflower and Capers, and Cauliflower Steaks with Lemon Parsley Tahini for more ways to experience all that tahini has to offer. You can even use it in baked goods, like my Vegan Tahini Oatmeal Cookies.
In this recipe, tahini contributes a slightly bitter flavor, but the rest of the ingredients provide a perfect balance of zest, tang, and sweet. There’s garlic and lemon plus a little soy sauce and maple syrup. The sweet potatoes add some extra sweetness. All together, the result is a delight for your taste buds.
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Ingredients and Substitutions
- Sweet potatoes: Also known as yams in the US. I use about 3 large sweet potatoes for this recipe, but you can double the amount if you want because you’ll have extra sauce anyway. Purple sweet potatoes can be substituted for classic orange ones if desired.
- Tahini: My favorite brands are Soom tahini and Mighty Sesame Co. squeezable tahini. The squeezable kind is very convenient for making sauces, since it’s easy to measure out. Any kind of plain tahini with just one ingredient (sesame seeds) will work well in this recipe.
- Lemon juice: I like to use freshly squeezed lemon juice. You can try lime juice or rice vinegar if you don’t have lemons, but the flavor will be slightly different.
- Basil: This adds a pretty distinct flavor but you could substitute parsley or cilantro.
- Soy sauce: Use tamari or coconut aminos if you need your tahini sweet potatoes to be strictly gluten free.
- Maple syrup: Substitute honey if needed.
- Garlic: Use garlic powder, starting at ½ teaspoon then adding more as desired, if you don’t have fresh garlic.
Instructions
Get the full recipe card with instructions and ingredients at the bottom of the post.
Scrub the sweet potatoes clean then slice into wedges. For more information, see my tutorial on How to Cut Sweet Potatoes.
Toss the wedges in extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread on a lined baking sheet and bake until tender.
Combine the ingredients for the tahini sauce in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. If you don’t have a blender, just finely chop the basil and mince the garlic and whisk everything together.
When the sweet potatoes are finished cooking, drizzle with the basil tahini sauce. Serve and enjoy!
Storage and Reheating
Basil tahini sweet potatoes are best enjoyed right away. If you do have leftovers, try to keep the sweet potatoes and sauce separate so that the sweet potatoes keep better. Store them in separate containers in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. Reheat the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet at 300 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until warmed through. Drizzle with the sauce before eating.
More Sweet Potato Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Basil Tahini Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
Roasted sweet potatoes
- 3 large sweet potatoes - cut into wedges
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Salt - to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper - to taste
Basil tahini sauce
- ¼ cup tahini
- ¼ cup packed fresh basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice - from about ½ of a large lemon
- 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce - sub tamari or coconut aminos for gluten free
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 clove garlic
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Prepare the sweet potatoes by scrubbing them clean. You do not need to peel them but can if you want. Slice into wedges. Cut each potato in half lengthwise then cut each half in half again (lengthwise) and then into quarters. See my tutorial on How to Cut Sweet Potatoes if needed.
- Toss the sweet potato wedges in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them out in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, flipping halfway through, until tender and lightly browned.
- In the meantime, combine the tahini, basil leaves, lemon juice, soy sauce, maple syrup, garlic, and salt in a blender or food processor. Blend until creamy. If you don't have a blender, you can just whisk together the ingredients. Finely chop the basil and mince the garlic if you are going to hand whisk the sauce.
- When the sweet potatoes are finished roasting, drizzle them with the tahini sauce. Serve and enjoy!
- Leave a rating or review by tapping the stars on this recipe card (above) or in the comments section (at the end of the post)!
Notes
- You will likely have leftover sauce. Double the sweet potatoes if you need to serve more people and/or want to use up the sauce. You will just need to use 2 baking sheets and rotate them halfway through cooking time. The sauce also tastes great on bowls and salads.
- These are best enjoyed right away but leftover sweet potatoes and sauce can be kept in separate containers in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. Reheat the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet in the oven at 300 degrees F for about 10 minutes until warmed through.
Nutrition
Enjoy this tasty side dish! – Lizzie
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