Brown Butter-Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Arugula and Bacon
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Author Notes: This is hands-down my favorite side dish to make in the fall and winter. It’s a real crowd-pleaser, the type of dish that makes people swoon when they taste it. Inspired by a Suzanne Goin recipe, I’ve tweaked it to my liking over time (I’ve probably made it over two dozen times, I like it that much!). I’ve always viewed the bacon as a necessity, but it was only recently that it occurred to me to lay the bacon strips over the sweet potatoes while roasting instead of cutting them into lardons and crisping them in a separate pan. This way, the delicious bacon drippings soak into the sweet potatoes and you save yourself a dirty pan. This is the sweet potato dish I serve at Thanksgiving, because in our house, you must have a sweet potato dish AND mashed potatoes at the table. Leftovers heat up beautifully, so I always make the full recipe even if cooking for two. - EmilyC
Food52 Review: Reading the ingredient list alone, I knew I was going to enjoy EmilyC's sweet potatoes. The contrasting colors and textures make for an elegant presentation for this comforting side dish. The method for cooking the bacon in the oven on top of the sweet potatoes is super smart and while overall flavor combination is spot on, you can easily adjust the bacon and arugula proportions to suit your tastes. - annie_smalls - Food52
Serves 6
- 4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” cubes
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 6 T unsalted butter
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp thinly sliced sage leaves
- 1 T finely chopped thyme leaves
- 4 slices of bacon
- 6 oz arugula, baby arugula preferably or large leaves torn into small pieces
- Kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with the brown sugar. Set aside.
- In a sauté pan over medium heat, cook the butter until it turns brown and nutty, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat, and add the red pepper flakes, sage and thyme. Pour the brown butter and herbs over the sweet potatoes, making sure to get all of the brown bits. Toss well, thoroughly coating all of the sweet potatoes with the brown butter and herbs. Season with 1 T kosher salt and ¼ tsp pepper and toss again to combine.
- Transfer the sweet potatoes to a roasting pan, large enough that the potatoes are in a single layer. (A large sheet pan works well, and I like to line with parchment paper for easy clean-up). Lay the bacon strips evenly across the potatoes. Roast for 40 minutes to 1 hour, or until the sweet potatoes are tender and caramelized. After about 15 to 20 minutes, toss the potatoes with a spatula to make sure they’re coated evenly with the brown butter and herbs. Your bacon may be done at this point, depending on its thickness and how crispy you like it. If it's not, just set the bacon strips to the side, toss the potatoes, then lay them back across the potatoes for more time in the oven.
- When they're done, remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and put them into a serving bowl. Let cool for a few minutes, then toss in the arugula. You want the arugula to slightly wilt but retain some of its shape. Crumble the bacon over the sweet potatoes and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Root Vegetable Side
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6 months ago Kitchen Butterfly
oh yes, i uhave all the ingredients....this is going into our faux (we live in Nigeria, where Thanksgiving isnt a celebrated holiday) Thanksgiving feast tonight!!!
6 months ago EmilyC
That's great that you're doing a faux feast (how fun!). I'm happy you're making the potatoes, hope you enjoy them! Have a wonderful meal!
9 months ago savorthis
Yum. Glad that this was surfaced again. Sweet potatoes and bacon are such a magical combination and I'm still up to my ears in sage. I think this will pair nicely with the salt crusted fish we are doing tonight!
9 months ago EmilyC
Of all my FOOD52 recipes, this is the one I make the most. I made it a ridiculous number of times last year. It + salt-crusted fish sounds fantastic. Is this going to be your celebratory dinner for your winning recipe? Congrats again -- very happy for you!
9 months ago savorthis
I bet! We do a similar hash-type dish with shallots, bacon, sweet potatoes that we usually serve with grilled rib eye and a sriracha, truffled mayo type dip. But fish was already on the docket for tonight. I made it in a salt crust last week with a version of those brown butter tomatoes and it was so good we decided to do it again. Thanks for the congrats!
over 1 year ago LeslieMac23
Thanks for this great recipe. I plan on making it for Thanksgiving, but I used the cooking method and then added the bacon infused roasted sweet potatoes to a soup. While the potatoes were roasting, I sauteed chopped leaks, finely chopped celery and grated ginger into a stock pot. Once the potatoes were done, I added them to the pot with chicken stock (8 cups), orange juice (1 cup) and brought to a boil. Then reduced the heat and let simmer for about 20 min. Pureed the entire pot with an emersion blender (you could also use a food processor with small batches of the mixture). Garnished each bowl with a dollop of Crème fraîche and of course the crumbled bacon that cooked into top of the potatoes in the first place! YUMMY!
over 1 year ago EmilyC
What a great idea to use the brown-butter roasted sweet potatoes as the base for a soup! Sounds delicious -- I'm going to try this, too! Thanks for reporting back, and I'm really happy you're making this for Thanksgiving.
over 1 year ago hardlikearmour
hardlikearmour is a trusted home cook.
This sounds incredible. I think I could just eat a large serving for supper one night!
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thanks, HLA! There's something about sweet potatoes + a little brown sugar + browned butter that is magical. And I'm with you, I've definitely made dinner out of this dish before!
over 1 year ago Waverly
Emily, this was incredibly delicious. I made a few adaptations (I opted for using bacon fat instead of butter- I am sure I will have a heart attack soon) and spinach. It was outstanding.
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Waverly -- just now seeing your comment. I'm so happy you liked the dish (and with extra bacon fat -- yum!) -- thanks for reporting back!
over 1 year ago Angela Wilson-Nowlin
This sounds so good...I will have to try it!!
www.thedinnerpage.com
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thanks Angela -- hope you try it and like it! Be sure to report back!
over 1 year ago Angela Wilson-Nowlin
This sounds so good...I will have to try it!!
www.thedinnerpage.com
over 1 year ago gingerroot
This sounds amazing, EmilyC!! I love your tweak of laying the bacon right over the sweet potatoes. We always have sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes as well and I'm saving this to try. Thanks for the recipe!
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thanks gingerroot! I like sweet and mashed potatoes so much at Thanksgiving that I don't think I'd miss the turkey!
over 1 year ago lapadia
Browned butter ans bacon...oh my, love that! Also love that this is a sweet potato side w/o all the sweetness often found as a topping. Would be sub spinach for Arugula, though.
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thanks lapadia! It's just enough brown sugar to aid the caramelization of the potatoes. I'm not a fan of a lot of sweetness, either. And spinach is a great substitute!
over 1 year ago inpatskitchen
We must have sweet potatoes and mashed at our house too on Thanksgiving..This one sounds wonderful!! Saved!!
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thanks, inpatskitchen -- hope you're able to try it sometime!
over 1 year ago Waverly
Saved. Thanks for a great recipe!
over 1 year ago EmilyC
You're quite welcome, Waverly!
over 1 year ago wssmom
Bacon and sage and arugula, wow. Just, wow. :)
over 1 year ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
My sentiments, exactly. I have not heretofore been a huge fan of sage, but I know it's going to be positively delicious in this! ;o)
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thanks wssmom! Don't forget brown butter! : ) The sage is a must here, and this comes from someone who isn't crazy about it...
over 1 year ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
love
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thanks, drbabs!
over 1 year ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Yumm, indeed. On the must-make list. Wonderful recipe, EmilyC. ;o)
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thanks AJ! I'd love to know if you end up trying it. And by the way, I just finished my third piece of your coffee cake...so good...
over 1 year ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Oh, we definitely will try this, but I'm thinking I probably will use less brown sugar and may even splash on some red wine vinegar before serving. And maybe roast some onions with the sweet potatoes. I'm so looking forward to it!! ;o) P.S. Thanks for the kind words about the coffee cake . . . . .
over 1 year ago EmilyC
It's definitely adaptable, so have fun with it! The original Suzanne Goin recipe calls for 1/3 cup brown sugar but I reduced to 1/4 cup. (And she calls for two sticks of butter, by the way. I practically NEVER reduce butter in recipes, but 6 T is just right in my opinion to coat the potatoes without an excessive amount pooling in the bottom of the pan.)
over 1 year ago fiveandspice
Emily is a trusted source on Scandinavian Cuisine.
Yum yum! I make something almost exactly the same, but with spinach instead of arugula. I love the idea of peppery arugula here though!
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thanks so much, fiveandspice! You really can't go wrong with either spinach or arugula, but I agree, the peppery notes are nice here.
over 1 year ago Midge
Sweet potatoes, bacon, and brown butter? Seriously yum. This is going in my thanksgiving file.
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thanks, Midge! It's definitely a good Thanksgiving side. And I have to admit, I now have a hard time preparing sweet potatoes any other way!
over 1 year ago AntoninDevourChoc
This looks really good. I like the arugula with this. Kind of unexpected and it balances the sweetness of the sweet potatoes and the salty, smoky bacon.
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thank you -- I like the arugula for the same reasons!
over 1 year ago Bevi
Wow is right! The flavors sound complex and delicious.
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thanks Bevi! The brown butter takes the roasted sweet potatoes to a whole new level! Well, and the bacon doesn't hurt.
over 1 year ago EmilyC
Thanks so much, sdebrango! It definitely has the "wow" factor in my opinion. It's also fun to play around with, subbing spinach for arugula, butternut squash for sweet potato, etc. But this version is my favorite.
over 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
This sounds so incredibly good it will definitely make it to my Thanksgiving dinner, every year I try a different sweet potato recipe and they are always ok but never WOW, this year will be different.