Grilled Sweet Potato Skewers
Thanks for your patience over the last week and a half as I’ve been a little slow at answering emails and comments. We returned Monday from our excursion to the glorious West coast. It was wonderful and I’m having a hard time adjusting back to real life (read: cleaning my own toilets and making my own dinners).
These sweet potato skewers are just the answer for a quick, weeknight side dish and are perfect served with anything from a grilled burger to marinated chicken or even pork. And let’s face it, you could just devour them all by their lonesome and still be extremely satisfied. They are that good.
The concept is ultra-simple and the sweet potatoes need only a quick burst in the microwave to soften up enough to thread on skewers.
Let your inner chef go crazy with the spice combinations you could use on these babies.
Any way you flavor them, they are absolutely sure to cure the returning-from-vacation-blues. Trust me, I know.
One Year Ago: Cheesesteak Subs
Two Years Ago: Moo Shu Noodles
Grilled Sweet Potato Skewers
Ingredients:
- 4 medium sweet potatoes/yams, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Bamboo skewers
Directions:
- Place all of the sweet potato chunks in a large microwaveable bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for three minutes. Remove from the microwave, stir, recover with plastic wrap and microwave 2-3 minutes more, until the sweet potatoes are just tender enough to thread on skewers (but not overly soft – they will cook through on the grill).
- Thread 5-6 pieces of sweet potato on each skewer. Place all the skewers on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, rolling the skewers back and forth to evenly distribute the oil. Sprinkle the skewers with salt and pepper.
- Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to medium or medium-high heat. Grill the sweet potato skewers, flipping every 5-6 minutes, for a total of about 20 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender. If desired, finish the hot sweet potatoes off with a quick brush of olive oil mixed with a little salt.
Notes:
The key to this recipe is cutting all the sweet potato pieces as close to the same size as possible that way they cook evenly. Also, feel free to add other spices to fancy them up a bit. Chili powder and cumin for a southwest kick anyone?
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Recipe Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Darn auto-correct, sorry! They are delish…
Hmmm, while we’ve tried these babies (and they are relish) surely they’re not the main course you’re serving off your grill on Thursday?Just wanted to mention that’s all you have posted on your Weekly Menu, Mel (in case you weren’t aware). But then again, they are pretty tasty, so maybe you are serving them as your main course? ☺️
If I don’t have a microwave??
Vanessa – you could try steaming them on the stovetop in a pot or skillet to soften them a bit.
wow, great idea, thanks for sharing.
Brilliant. Sheer genius! Thanks for sharing.
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Oh my! I thought, “How life-changing could these really be?” and the answer is REALLY LIFE-CHANGING! Thanks for a great, unexpected side dish for our steak tonight!
Ava – in my opinion, these are definitely best served immediately. The taste is fine the next day but the texture gets a bit too soft for my liking.
I want to know if these are still good warmed up the next day or are they really serve immediately?
These are so good! It may be my new favorite way to prepare sweet potatoes. I seasoned them with coriander, cumin, a bit of garlic powder, oregano, and salt and it was really good.
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These look yummy! One tip I love is to soak the skewers in water before so they don’t get quite as charred.
spice combination of choice, eh? i pick….cinnamon. and perhaps a bit of sugar. and maybe, if i’m feeling frisky, a dash of cayenne. 🙂
I use Tony Cachere’s. It’s the best season-all EVER.
Yes! Tony Cachere’s on sweet potatoes is my favorite!!!
These look fantastic! I love to keep the house cool on these hot summer days and it’s easy to find great recipes for meat or seafood on the grill but not always as simple to do sides without the oven or stovetop. We seem to be thinking along the same lines as I am posting a recipe today for grilled yellow potatoes!
Hi Mel,
I LOVE your food & make it both for my family & my little clients (I make healthy lunches for local schools). The little guys just lick their chops over it! (And so do I.)
One question about your French Bread Rolls: I just started baking for the kids & really love using white whole wheat in your awesome roll recipe. Can I double the recipe? Do I double the yeast & salt as well? Any suggestions for making it even bigger–tripling or quadrupling it?
Welcome back & THANK YOU for your awesome food!
Love the idea of the skewers. We have grilled sweet potato slices before, but always lose a few in the grate 🙂
Oh sweet mother of Mel! I think you just out did yourself. I may add just a dash of cinnamon to entice the taste buds further, but oh heaven this is gonna be good!
Seriously Mel you are the Queen of grilling! Love. These.
Oh! We will love this. My son will eat anything if I put it on a skewer or let him eat with a tooth pick!
Ingenious and hopefully will be the first sweet potato meal without marshmallows for my 3 boys.
Thanks for the recipe.
Yum! We love sweet potatoes! And I’m always looking for side dishes that I can make all in one place. So hard to manage grill and manage stove and manage dogs, etc. Leave one unattended and it will be eaten!
Melanie…you’ve done it again! I have been missing my roasted sweet potato fries because I refuse to turn on the oven when it’s 95 outside. I was just thinking that I needed to figure out a way to do sweet potatoes on the grill…but I hadn’t thought of skewers! I’m so excited to try this!
This looks amazing. And so quick and easy! I love sweet potatoes. I’ll definitely be trying these this week. Yum!
Rebecca {hearts} Salt Lake City
Your link to “One Year Ago” (Love those, btw) says Cheesecake Subs…what’s on your mind?! 🙂
Welcome home, Melanie! I’m glad you had a great time!
These look incredible, and very healthy. What a great idea, ’cause everything tastes better on a stick!
These are perfect for a quick snack without heading straight for the cookie jar.
Simple and yet delicious. I can totally dig this idea. 🙂
Nice, these sound great ! Going to give them a try this weekend. Jules
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