Thai Vegan Sweet Potato Recipe (2024)

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Smothered in a zesty ginger tahini sauce, this Thai-style vegan sweet potato recipe is a simple vegan dinner that’s full of flavor.

Thai Vegan Sweet Potato Recipe (1)

Do you have a cookbook collection?In all honesty, the vast array of cookbooks in this world sometimes overwhelms me. There can only be so many recipes, right? Butthe more I’ve read, the more I realize that each cookbook is a unique perspective based on a one-of-a kindindividual — an actual person, not an anonymous faceless author who sits in a sterile test kitchen. Ina Garten is a real person, and so is Giada De Laurentiis, and that person who wrote The Joy of Cooking.Each person’s story and method for creatingrecipes is equally valid. So the more cookbooks the better, not the other way around! Keep reading for this vegan sweet potato recipe, which is from — you guessed it — another cookbook! It’s Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking.

About the book: Everyday Cooking

While we were in Portlandrecently, we had the pleasure of spending time withdear friends Dana and John, the sweet minds behind the website Minimalist Baker.They’re the type of people where you can laugh and eat loads of Mexican food with and then turn around and be completely vulnerable and real. I was so inspired to speak with Dana about some health issues that caused a recent struggle with hair loss (which she shared about here on the Jess Lively podcast),and share about some of my own health struggles with cancer.

And speaking of real life people who write books, Dana has just written a fantastic one: a cookbook calledEveryday Cooking. All the recipes are beautifully shot and plant-based / vegan. We love that her approach to eating is similar to ours: she’s not 100% vegan, but shares plant-based recipes to inspire eating more vegetables and follows this approach most of the time (which is what we’re all about too).

Thai Vegan Sweet Potato Recipe (2)

This easy baked vegan sweet potato recipe

Picking up the book, I immediately gravitated towards this Thai-style vegan sweet potato recipe. And the verdict after making it? Fantastically delicious.Thetahini ginger sauce and spiced chickpeas balance the sweetness of the potatoes, and topped off with a chili garlic sauce and cilantro, it became an instant household favorite.

Now, what makes this baked sweet potato recipe easy? This recipe has a great simple hack to decreasing the time to make a baked sweet potato in the oven. What’s that, you say? Slice the sweet potato in half instead of baking it whole! Slicing the sweet potato in half cuts down on the baking time: instead of about 45 to 60 minutes, you can cook it in about 25 to 30 minutes! It’s a great time saver, and we rarely bake sweet potatoes whole anymore. One difference if you slice the sweet potato in half instead of baking whole: you’ll have to rub them with a bit of olive oil. That’s a small consolation for the time saved, in our opinion!

As you look at the ingredients in this vegan sweet potato recipe, you might think it’s a long list. However, most of the ingredients are spices or things that are easy to stock in your pantry. While the sweet potato bakes, saute the spiced chickpeas and mix up the tahini drizzle. The tahini sauce would be simple to mix up in advance as well.

Order the Book

Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking

More sweet potato recipes

As you can see, we’re kinda sweet potato obsessed! Outside of this vegan sweet potato recipe, here are some of our favorite sweet potato recipes:

  • Baked Sweet Potato with Moroccan Lentils
  • Healthy Loaded Sweet Potato Rounds
  • Poached Eggs and Potatoes
  • Sweet Potato Pizza with Brie
  • Sweet Potatoes with Thai Peanut Butter Sauce
  • Broccoli Cheese Baked Sweet Potatoes
  • Sweet Potato Hash Browns
  • Best Instant Pot Sweet Potato Recipe
  • The Trick for Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
  • All-Star Sweet Potato Chili
  • Loaded Sweet Potato Skins
  • Vegan Sweet Potato Soup with Harissa

This recipe is…

This Thai-style easy baked sweet potato recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.

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Thai Vegan Sweet Potato Recipe (3)

Thai Vegan Sweet Potato Recipe

★★★★★5 from 3 reviews
  • Author: a Couple Cooks
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
Print Recipe

Description

Smothered in a zesty ginger tahini sauce, this Thai-style vegan sweet potato recipe is a simple vegan dinner that’s full of flavor.

Ingredients

Scale

For the sweet potatoes

  • 4 medium sweet potatoes, halved (1 1/2 pounds)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

For the chickpeas

  • 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained (or 1 ½ cupscooked)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon ground or fresh ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
  • ½ tablespoon coconut oil

For the ginger tahini sauce

  • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
  • ¼ cup tahini
  • 1 lime, juiced (2 tablespoons)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoon chili garlic sauce

To garnish

  • 2 green onions
  • ¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
  • 1/2 lime, quartered
  • ½ teaspoon chili garlic sauce

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and rub the halved sweet potatoes with the olive oil on all sides. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes (or more, depending on the size of the potato), or until very tender to the touch. Set aside.
  2. In the meantime, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. In a small bowl, toss chickpeas with the garlic powder, cumin, ginger, coriander, maple syrup, soy sauce, and chili garlic sauce.
  3. Once the skillet is hot, add the coconut oil. Saute the chickpeas until visibly browned and slightly dried out, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
  4. To prepare the sauce, add all of the ingredients to the same bowl used for the chickpeas. Whisk to combine. Then add 1 to 4 tablespoons hot water to thin until pourable. Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired.
  5. To serve, place the baked sweet potatoes on serving plates. Gently press into the middle of the potatoes to make a well for the chickpeas. Add the chickpeas and top with the sauce and garnishes of choice.
  6. Store leftovers (separately), covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or a 350°F oven until warmed through, about 20 minutes.

Notes

  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Thai Inspired

Keywords: Easy Baked Sweet Potato, Thai Style, Sweet Potato Recipes, Sweet Potato Dinner Recipes, Vegan Dinner Ideas, Plant Based Dinner Ideas, Healthy Dinner Ideas

vegan gluten free

Published on / Last updated on

Categorized In:

  • Dinner Recipes
  • Recipes

Tagged with:

  • Asian
  • Chickpeas
  • Cilantro
  • Cookbook Review
  • Dairy-Free
  • Fall
  • Ginger
  • Gluten-Free Recipes
  • Green Onions
  • Maple Syrup
  • Peanuts
  • Soy Sauce
  • Summer
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Tahini
  • Vegan Recipes
  • Winter

About the authors

Thai Vegan Sweet Potato Recipe (4)

Sonja & Alex

Hi, we’re Alex and Sonja Overhiser, married cookbook authors, food bloggers, and recipe developers. We founded A Couple Cooks to share fresh, seasonal recipes for memorable kitchen moments! Our recipes are made by two real people and work every time.

About Us

Thai Vegan Sweet Potato Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are Japanese sweet potatoes so good? ›

They're simultaneously drier and creamier than orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, which means that when you roast them at high heat (cubes, wedges, circles, or halves, simply coated with olive oil and salt and cooked between 425 and 450°), their edges get unbelievably crispy and burnished, belying the pudding-like centers.

Why do you soak sweet potatoes before baking? ›

The cold water bath helps rinse the starch off the sweet potatoes so they're a bit more crispy. That said, if you do not have the time, you can still get crispy baked sweet potato fries by using high heat and a little drizzle of olive oil.

What is the sticky liquid from sweet potato? ›

The ooze is actually referred to as "sap." It is made up of sugar and starch combined with the moisture found in the vegetable, and it escapes out of the damage made from the knife. The sap really equals the sweetness. If it's pouring out of your potato, that means it's a sweet and delicious vegetable.

Which is healthier, sweet potato or Japanese sweet potato? ›

Are Japanese sweet potatoes healthier than regular sweet potatoes? All varieties of sweet potatoes are good for you but these purple-skin tubers do have higher concentrations of specific vitamins and nutrients.

What is the difference between a sweet potato and a Japanese sweet potato? ›

Whereas the American sweet potato is slightly stringy, the Japanese sweet potato's fluffiness comes from its higher starch content. This results in a lighter potato, texturally similar to a russet, with a mild flavor that isn't as sweet as the American variety.

How do Koreans eat sweet potatoes? ›

This root vegetable is extremely popular in South Korea and enjoyed in so many ways, including pre-packaged snacks, lattes, noodles, pizzas, stews, desserts, you name it! And in the winter time, it's such a treat to warm up with a steaming hot sweet potato from a street vendor.

Which sweet potato is the healthiest? ›

Purple sweet potatoes are a good source of beta-carotene but are an even richer source of anthocyanin pigments, which act as antioxidants that can help reduce inflammation and boost your immune system. Purple sweet potatoes have about three times more anthocyanins than the average blueberry.

Are sweet potatoes healthier than regular potatoes? ›

Sweet potatoes are often touted as being healthier than white potatoes, but in reality, both types can be highly nutritious. While regular and sweet potatoes are comparable in their calorie, protein, and carb content, white potatoes provide more potassium, whereas sweet potatoes are incredibly high in vitamin A.

Why is boiling a sweet potato better than baking? ›

At the same time, the glycemic index of boiled sweet potatoes was found to be about half that of baking or roasting, so boiled sweet potatoes give us less of a blood sugar spike. Make sure to keep the skin on, though.

Do sweet potatoes taste better baked or boiled? ›

Baking whole sweet potatoes in the oven or cutting them into cubes and roasting them caramelizes the potatoes' starchy flesh, making it sweeter and giving it a silky smooth texture. Even if you are making mashed sweet potatoes, they will taste better with oven-cooked potatoes.

Is it better to wrap sweet potatoes in foil when baking? ›

Wrapping sweet potatoes in foil helps in a few ways. It prevents the exterior of the tuber from drying out and overheating too quickly, which would minimize enzymatic activity; it also results in a more evenly cooked texture.

What are the white dots in my sweet potatoes? ›

All it is is just a mixture of the natural sugar. starches in water that comes out like sap. when the cell walls of the plant are damaged and cut. This is actually indication of a really fresh potato, so it may taste even sweeter and better.

What is the white pus in my sweet potato? ›

It's sap, and it signifies sweetness

As explained by Southern Living, the white stuff that oozes from cut sweet potatoes is actually known as "sap." It's just starch and sugar mingling with the water in the root, and cutting it releases it from its tuberous confines.

Are Japanese sweet potatoes the healthiest? ›

Did you know that Japanese sweet potatoes are one of the healthiest foods you can eat? They're packed with nutrients and antioxidants, and they're a staple of the diet in Okinawa, Japan, one of the world's Blue Zones, where people live longer and healthier than anywhere else.

What is the best tasting sweet potato? ›

The most versatile and sweetest variation of sweet potatoes is the Beauregard. Throughout the United States, you will see this species stacked high in the grocery stores during the holiday season. Beauregard's have a bit of a stringy texture, but they stay soft: this is what makes them so popular.

Do Japanese sweet potatoes taste like regular sweet potatoes? ›

They taste like buttery chestnuts, and when you bake them their interiors get so fluffy, thanks to less moisture, they taste like a cross between a white Russet and an orange Beauregard — and somehow more appealing than either.

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