Posted Nov 08, 2018, Updated Sep 30, 2024 When it comes to a meal (especially Thanksgiving) I am all about the sides. Sure turkey is great, but I’d rather fill up on dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, and delicious sides like these cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes and apples. This roasted sweet potato and apples recipe is a perfect healthy side dish that is made with only 6 ingredients and is ready in 40 minutes! It’s light and delicious – with all the flavors of fall! Also try savory roasted sweet potatoes or cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes!
Sweet Potatoes and Apples: Ingredients and Substitutions
Sweet potatoes. Any variety of sweet potato works well – orange, purple or white. Also, yams are a good choice. Apples. I have used many different apple varieties to make this roasted apple sweet potato recipe including: Pink Ladies, Gala, Granny Smith, and Honeycrisp. Any variety works great in this recipe, however you need to choose what flavor profile you want – tart? sweet? a mix? Salted butter. coconut oil, olive oil, ghee and avocado oil can all be used in place of butter. Maple syrup. Honey is a great substitute.
How to Make Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Let’s get started by discussing how to make this sweet potato and apples recipe – don’t forget to watch the video.
Roast Sweet Potatoes Alone
Sweet potatoes take longer to get fully cooked and browned than apples, which is why it is important to begin by roasting the sweet potatoes alone. To do this, toss the cubed sweet potatoes with melted butter and sea salt. Then, roast the sweet potatoes until they just start to become golden-brown (about 15-20 minutes), stirring once. As you can see in the photo below, the baked sweet potato cubes are soft and some of them are browned on one side, which is exactly what they should look like before proceeding to the next step.
Add the Remaining Ingredients
While the sweet potato cubes are baking, toss the apples with the remaining coconut oil, maple syrup and cinnamon in a large bowl until everything is well combined. Once the sweet potatoes begin to brown, remove them from the oven and add the rest of the ingredients to the pan, stirring to combine. Spread the sweet potatoes and apples evenly in the pan in a single layer so they cook quickly and brown nicely.
Bake
Return the pan to the oven and bake until the sweet potatoes and apples are browned and the maple syrup has caramelized, or thickened. At this point, remove the pan from the oven and serve immediately!
Serve
I like to serve this apple sweet potato recipe as-is, they are just so delicious! However, for presentation I recommend putting them in a nice serving dish. You could sprinkle them with pomegranate seeds and top them with fresh rosemary too, like I did with these maple cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes. I do recommend serving them fresh from the oven. Letting these Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples sit too long at room temperature might cause them to lose some of their crispiness.
Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or to restore crispiness in the oven. If you make and love our recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along with us on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so we can see your creations!
