This cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes and apples recipe is a healthy and easy fall side dish. Made with only 6 nutritious ingredients including pure maple syrup and ground cinnamon, it's a perfect dish to serve on Thanksgiving.
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 healthy sweet potato recipes, 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 paleo, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and totally delicious!
Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples: Ingredients and Substitutions
I love discussing the ingredients in my recipes, which is why I chose them and possible substitutions! So let's dish about these roasted sweet potatoes and apples!
- Sweet potatoes. Any variety of sweet potato works well in this recipe, classic orange is pictured here, but both purple and white sweet potatoes can be used! Yams are also a totally delicious substitution for sweet potatoes!
- Apples. I have used many different apple varieties to make this roasted apple sweet potato recipe including: Pink Ladies, Gala, Granny Smith, and Honeycrisp. Really any variety works great in this recipe, however you need to choose what flavor profile you want - tart? sweet? a mix? The sky's the limit!
- Coconut Oil. Butter, olive oil, ghee and avocado oil can all be used in place of coconut oil. However, please be mindful of the way the taste/texture of the oil will change the overall taste of the dish!
- Maple syrup. Pretty please, I implore you to only use pure maple syrup (no artificial substitutes). Honey can also be used; however, the maple syrup adds such a rich fall flavor that I don't recommend switching it out!
How to make Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Let's get started by discussing how to make this sweet potato and apples recipe so you get a perfect result on the first try!
Roast Sweet Potatoes Alone
Sweet potatoes take longer to get fully cooked and browned than apples, which is why it is very important to roast the sweet potatoes alone first.
To do this, toss the cubed sweet potatoes with melted coconut oil and sea salt. Then, roast the sweet potatoes until they just start to become golden-brown (about 15-20 minutes), stirring once.
It's important to roast the sweet potatoes alone so they become crispy. If added in the beginning, the liquid from the apples and maple syrup will cause the sweet potatoes to be soggy.
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 Apples, Maple Syrup and Cinnamon.
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.
Use room temperature ingredients.
This is an important note in this Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples recipe. Coconut oil is a solid at room temperature, which means that if the melted coconut oil comes into contact with a cold piece of apple, it will solidify almost instantly. This will result in an uneven distribution of ingredients!
Bake the Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes and Apples until golden brown
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.
FAQS about Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Here are some commonly asked questions about these Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples that I'd love to answer for you!
There are a few key elements in making baked sweet potato cubes crispy:
Roast with only oil and salt first. Like I mentioned earlier, it's important to roast sweet potatoes with only oil and salt before adding any other ingredients. You don't want to compromise bake time by introducing a wet ingredient (like in these peanut butter sweet potato fries) before it's time.
Flip and stir during baking. To ensure that all sides of your roasted sweet potatoes are browned, it's crucial that you stir/flip them during roasting. Sometimes I even use tongs to individually flip sweet potato cubes to ensure I didn't miss any!
Cut the sweet potatoes in small, thin pieces. The more surface area of the baked sweet potato cubes that are exposed to the surface of the baking sheet, the higher the ratio of browned, crispy outside to soft inside. Plus, using smaller pieces decreases baking time!
No. I mean, you can, but I do not recommend it! The skin is loaded with nutrients (see below) and adds a great texture and flavor to roasted sweet potatoes! I always recommend roasting sweet potatoes with the skin on!
Same answer as above! Plus, without the skin the apples in this recipe may fall apart and not hold together as well!
Yes. Here are some amazing health benefits of sweet potatoes:
High in nutrients such as Vitamins A, C & B, manganese and potassium - which helps regulate blood pressure!
Sweet potatoes are high in antioxidants and have amazing anti-inflammatory properties
They are high in fiber, which means they do not cause blood sugar spikes, like regular potatoes do!
Help boost fertility. I ate so many sweet potatoes and yams when I was trying to conceive to help my body be as healthy as it could be!
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Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes 4 cups, cut into 1” cubes
- 2 medium apples about 2 cups, cut into 1” cubes
- 3 TBS coconut oil melted & divided
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 TBS pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Grease a large baking pan, set aside.
- In a large bowl, toss cubed sweet potatoes with 2 TBS of melted coconut oil. Stir until coated.
- Add sea salt and stir until evenly distributed.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 min, stirring halfway through, until sweet potatoes just barely start to brown.
- While the sweet potatoes are baking: stir the remaining 1 TBS of coconut oil into the apples. Add maple syrup and cinnamon and stir to combined.
- After 20 minutes, or the sweet potatoes have begun to brown, remove the sweet potatoes from oven and add the apple mixture and stir to combine.
- Return to the oven and bake for 20 more minutes, stirring halfway through.
- Once the sweet potatoes and apples are browned and the maple syrup has caramelized on them remove them from the oven and serve immediately!
Video
Notes
Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or to restore crispiness in the oven. Ingredient Substitutions- Sweet potatoes. Any variety of sweet potato works well in this recipe, classic orange is pictured here, but both purple and white sweet potatoes can be used! Yams are also a totally delicious substitution for sweet potatoes!
- Apples. I have used many different apple varieties to make this roasted apple sweet potato recipe including: Pink Ladies, Gala, Granny Smith, and Honeycrisp. Really any variety works great in this recipe, however you need to choose what flavor profile you want - tart? sweet? a mix? The sky's the limit!
- Coconut Oil. Butter, olive oil, ghee and avocado oil can all be used in place of coconut oil. However, please be mindful of the way the taste/texture of the oil will change the overall taste of the dish!
- Maple syrup. Pretty please, I implore you to only use pure maple syrup (no artificial substitutes). Honey can also be used; however, the maple syrup adds such a rich fall flavor that I don't recommend switching it out!
Nutrition
More Delicious Side dish recipes:
Here are some more of our favorite sides!
- The BEST homemade sausage stuffing
- Brussels Sprouts! This recipe for Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts will turn a sprouts-hater into a sprouts-lover!
- Sweet Potatoes. This is the best sweet potato casserole ever, or try this healthy sweet potato casserole! If you like crisp potatoes (as opposed to mashed) try these maple roasted sweet potatoes!
- This butternut squash soup makes a great appetizer!
- Green Beans. I also make these apple cider sautéed green beans on Thanksgiving!
- Apples. These sautéed cinnamon apples always make an appearance on our holiday table.
- Cranberry Sauce. I'm all about homemade cranberry sauce! Try our healthy cranberry sauce.
- Salads: like this burrata salad or this balsamic caprese quinoa salad!
- Beets! We LOVE these balsamic roasted beets! They're like vegetable candy!
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Jennalin
Has anyone tried making this recipe in the air fryer? I only have one oven and all of my other thanksgiving dishes are at 350… I think these would turn out well in the air fryer but I’m hoping someone else has tried it and has some tried and true advice for me 😉 Thanks in advance!
Meg Ferry
Made this today to go with pork chops. Loved that it called for maple syrup rather than brown sugar. Roasting the sweet potatoes before adding the apples guaranteed that everything was just the right doneness. My husband loved it, too.
Jennifer
Made this today and it was very good. As an added bonus it made the house smell fantastic! I had it with some chicken but I think it would be fantastic with pork chops.
Ivy C
This is a great fall side dish recipe! I was afraid it would be too sweet, but it absolutely was not! It will be a new fall staple.
Kim Garnica
Delicious prepared exactly as written except olive vs coconut oil. Mixed this with chicken & apple sausage for a hearty meal.