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A twist on traditional potato salad? Yes, please. One of Chef Tanya Holland’s favorite ways to serve sweet potatoes is by grilling them alongside green onions. She then blends the charred onions with mayo, lemon juice, and horseradish to create a dressing to spoon over the tender, smoky spuds. The best part is, you don’t need to peel or boil the potatoes: They go directly on the grill. To achieve the perfect grill marks, Holland recommends using a wire brush to clean your grill grates, ensuring an even cooking surface. And don’t walk too far away. Both the onions and potatoes have relatively short cook times so be ready to remove them as soon as they’re done cooking. (Using a combination of metal tongs and an easily maneuvered flipper makes that easy.)
The heat of the grill concentrates the sugary sweetness of the orange roots while the combination of smoke and the savory tang of the dressing adds balance to keep things in check. The round sweet potato slices cook quickly and evenly on the grill, but if you wanted to cut the potatoes into wedges and serve the sauce on the side (to dip like elevated sweet potato fries), you certainly could. Any way you go, this sweet potato recipe is the perfect side dish for any backyard barbecue. Serve it with Sticky BBQ Chicken, pork chops, or short ribs—or make it the base for a main dish, piling on various toppings like you would nachos. Think refried beans, melty cheese, spicy green salsa, cilantro, and more.
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What you’ll need
BBQ-AID All Angles Grill Brush
$25
Food Processor
$70 At Amazon
16" Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Utility Tongs
$9 At Amazon
Rimmed Baking Sheet
$28 At Amazon
Chef’s Knife
$115 At Hedley & Bennett
Mercer Culinary Hell's Handle Fish Spatula
$39 $32
Recipe information
Total Time
30 minutes
Yield
4–6 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Prepare a grill for low heat; oil grate with vegetable oil. Toss 3 large sweet potatoes (about 2 lb. total), scrubbed, sliced into ¼"-thick rounds, with 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper in a medium bowl to coat. Place 1 bunch scallions, trimmed, on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil; turn to coat.
Step 2
Arrange sweet potatoes and scallions on opposite sides of grill. Grill sweet potatoes until charred in spots and tender, 10–12 minutes per side; transfer to a platter. Grill scallions, turning halfway through, until tops are charred and whites are tender, about 5 minutes.
Step 3
Transfer scallions to a food processor; pulse until finely chopped but not puréed. Add 1 garlic clove, finely chopped, ½ cup crème fraîche, ½ cup mayonnaise, 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, 1 Tbsp. prepared horseradish, ¼ cup coarsely chopped parsley, and remaining 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt and ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper. Pulse until well combined.
Step 4
Drizzle sauce over sweet potatoes. Top with parsley leaves; sprinkle with flaky sea salt.