Bourbon Sweet Potatoes
on Nov 16, 2022, Updated Jul 03, 2024
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These Bourbon Sweet Potatoes are my twist on candied sweet potatoes. Sweet potato rounds are topped with a butter, maple syrup, bourbon, and cinnamon mixture and baked until soft and tender. Top them with chopped pecans and flaky sea salt for a holiday side dish everyone will love!
Don’t want the bourbon? Try my brown butter mashed sweet potatoes!
Why you’ll love them
Soft, sweet, and buttery – The sweet potatoes are perfectly tender and the cinnamon, maple, bourbon, butter sauce compliments they’re natural sweetness perfectly.
Easy to make – Nothing about this sweet potato side dish is difficult. The most time consuming part is slicing the potatoes, and even that doesn’t take very long.
A nice alternative to sweet potato casserole – Don’t get me wrong, sweet potato casserole is great. You should try my cinnamon maple squash casserole if you’re really into it. However, if you’re looking for a simple alternative that doesn’t use as many ingredients, try the bourbon sweet potatoes.
What’s the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?
Yams have brown bark-like skin are dry and starchy. Sweet potatoes are what you’re likely seeing in the grocery stores. The skin is thin and smooth, the flesh can vary in color (orange, white, purple), and the flesh is moist.
The names are used interchangeably even though they are two distinctly different vegetables. As a rule of thumb, most American grocery stores are selling you sweet potatoes and not yams.
Ingredients you’ll need
- sweet potatoes – Look for ones that are longer and uniform in size. They will be easier to slice and stack this way.
- bourbon – Use your favorite brand, whiskey can also be used.
- maple syrup
- butter
- cinnamon and allspice – allspice can be substituted with nutmeg or additional cinnamon if you prefer.
- Flaky sea salt
How to make bourbon sweet potatoes
Slice the sweet potatoes – As I mentioned above, looks for longer sweet potatoes rather than short and fat. Doing so will make the rounds more uniform in size and easier to stack in the casserole dish.
Scrub the potatoes clean and then it’s up to you if you want to peel them. I left mine unpeeled. Cut the sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch thick rounds.
Make the sauce – In a bowl or glass measuring cup whisk together the melted butter, maple syrup, bourbon, cinnamon, allspice, and salt.
Arrange the sweet potatoes – Stack the sweet potatoes into the casserole dish and then fan them out. You can make it spiral shaped like I did or just keep them in straight lines if you’re using a rectangular or square dish.
Pour the sauce all over the sweet potatoes and then season them with additional salt.
Bake – Bake the sweet potatoes at 350° F. for 45-60 minutes or until the potatoes are soft and tender. Remove them from the oven and garnish with toasted chopped pecans and flaky sea salt.
Make ahead tips
The sweet potatoes can be sliced, and peeled if you choose to peel them, a day ahead of time. Cover and store them in the refrigerator. The sauce can also be made 1-2 days ahead of time. Microwave it until the butter is melted before adding it to the sweet potatoes.
Storage and Freezing
Storage – The leftover bourbon sweet potatoes will keep in the fridge for up to a week. The butter in the sauce will solidify, but will melt again once they’re reheated.
Freezing – You can also freeze them. Put any leftovers into a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then reheat in the oven covered with foil, at 350° F. for about 20 minutes or until warmed through. You can also reheat in the microwave.
More holiday side dishes
Did you make these bourbon sweet potatoes? I’d love if you’d leave a recipe rating and review below.
Bourbon Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 pounds sweet potatoes
- 1/2 cup bourbon
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup toasted pecans chopped
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. And spray a 9×13 or similar size baking dish with cooking spray.
- Slice the sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch rounds and arrange them in the baking dish. Season them with salt and pepper (I used about 1/2-3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt)
- In a glass measuring cup melt the butter and then to it add the maple syrup, bourbon, and spices. Pour the sauce all over the potatoes.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes or until they’re soft and tender. Halfway through the baking time spoon the sauce from the bottom of the dish over the potatoes. You can also toss them around in the sauce if presentation isn’t important. Once baked, top with toasted chopped pecans and flaky sea salt.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What can I substitute for the butter that won’t compromise the buttery flavors . Trying to keep it non dairy
I haven’t made a dairy-free version of these sweet potatoes, so I can’t say for sure. If I were to try this I would probably just substitute with a good quality vegan butter.
Can I prepare a day ahead, then bake just before?
Yes. The sweet potatoes can be prepared up until the baking step a day ahead of time.
Hi,
I can’t use the pecans because of nut allergies. Would sweetened dried cranberries go well in this dish?
Thanks
Absolutely! Pepitas would be another option, or use both.
Wondering if you know of a sub for the bourbon? Would love to take these to a thanksgiving gathering but it’s a no-alcohol family. Thanks
Unfortunately I don’t have a substitution for the bourbon since it’s one of the main ingredients. Sorry about that.
I have a question regarding the quantities for the sauce for the bourbon sweet potato recipe. There are no quantities listed for the bourbon, butter ,maple syrup etc. I plan on making this tomorrow and just realized there were no measurements. Thank you if you can answer this.K.
All of the amounts and directions are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog post.
even better than my sweet potato dish, thank you, love the bourbon and the pecans add some nice texture too thank you