Easy Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

If you’ve only roasted, baked or boiled sweet potatoes, you have to try grilling them. Cooking sliced sweet potatoes on the grill gives them smoky flavor and charred edges that you can’t get when you roast them in the oven.

These sweet potatoes are seasoned in a mix of pantry spices before they go on the grill. I toss them with cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and of course, salt and pepper. Dried seasonings are perfect for grilling vegetable because they can handle the heat and not burn like what would happen with minced fresh garlic.

This is a great late summer to fall recipe. Sweet potatoes are one of those incredible vegetables that are tasty no matter the time of the year. For me, it has to be pretty cold outside before I stop firing up the grill. This is good choice for a shoulder season recipe.

The sweet potatoes are topped with pico de gallo. With fresh tomatoes, onions, cilantro, jalapeños and lime juice, this is the perfect dip/condiment to make the dish feel complete.

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

For potatoes:

• Sweet potatoes can vary quite a bit in size. I prefer medium sweet potatoes because they are easy to cut. Peeling is optional. I don’t bother doing it. Look for sweet potatoes that are firm with no soft spots and feel heavy for their size.
• Dried seasonings: The recipe calls for cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I use a similar combination when I make Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries.
• Olive oil helps the spices go evenly onto the sliced potatoes and prevents them from sticking to the hot grill grates. I don’t put the potatoes into foil packets because I want them to get smoky and lightly charred by making direct contact with the grill.

For pico de gallo:

• Tomatoes: Always use ripe tomatoes for the best taste. This makes a big difference.
• Onions contrast with the tomatoes and add something crisp and sharp.
• Jalapeños give pico de gallo heat. You can increase or decrease the amount you mix in depending on your preferred spice level.
• Cilantro is a classic fresh herb in many Mexican dishes.
• Lime juice: Always squeeze limes and use fresh citrus juice rather than bottled.
• Salt & pepper: It’s important to add seasonings to round out the flavors. 

Substitutions

This pico de gallo is one of several options you have for serving with your grilled sweet potatoes. You can swap it out and use one of the following:

• Store-bought salsa: If you want to reduce the humber of ingredients in the recipe and just focus on the sweet potatoes, go ahead and buy a jar of salsa instead of making your own pico de gallo.
• Pesto: Try herby basil pesto. This is a good substitution if you don’t like cilantro.
• Ketchup: Treat the potatoes like French fries and dip them into ketchup.

How To Make These Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Preheat a gas or charcoal grill on medium high heat.

1. Cut the sweet potatoes. Start by slicing them in half lengthwise and then cutting them into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Again, peeling is optional.

2. Season the sweet potatoes by tossing them with olive oil, cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

3. Grill the sweet potatoes. Give them about 6-7 minutes per side to become tender in the middle while getting grill marks.

4. Make the pico de gallo. Just stir together the tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl. 

5. Plate the grilled potatoes and top them with pico de gallo. You also can finish them with more cilantro if you want.

Serving

You can serve these sweet potatoes as an appetizer or a side dish. It makes sense to pair them with grilled dishes that have similar flavors such as a Mexican Chopped Salad, Southwest Pasta Salad, Black Bean Corn Salad or Vegetarian Burrito Bowls or proteins like grilled chicken, fish or burgers. 

Leftovers & Storage

Grilled sweet potatoes are best eaten warm on the day you make them. If you do have leftovers, spoon the pico de gallo into a separate airtight container, so the potatoes don’t get soggy. They both can be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 days. You can rewarm the potatoes in a 350-degree F oven. They will lose some of the crisp edges they had when they were first grilled.

Recipe Tips

Pick sweet potatoes that are all about the same size. As mentioned, I look for medium ones that are close to the same shape and length. This will make consistent cutting easier.

Cut the sweet potatoes the same thickness. This is how you get them to cook uniformly. Stick to 1/4-inch thick. You can also cut them into rounds if you prefer that to slices. Again, thickness is what matters.

Watch out for hot spots on your grill. Get to know the heat. Certain areas might be hotter than others, so you may need to move some of the potatoes if they are getting charred to quickly, risking the centers not being soft and cooked through