I’ve never been a huge fan of potatoes growing up. I think it has to do with my first traumatic experience eating mashed potatoes…which involved my Dad forcing me to eat them when mom wasn’t home one night (which Mom never made me eat them) and basically seeing them come up right back onto my plate…Yeah. Sorry. I went there. Me and potatoes never really saw eye-to-eye after that experience, unless they were fried and came in a cardboard container with a big M on the front.

When I started living in my first off-campus apartment in Chicago though, something in me shifted. One night out eating at one of my all-time favorite Chi-town spots, Cheesies, I decided to order sweet potato fries with my meal. Needless to say, I gobbled them up faster than I finished my grilled cheese and unashamedly ordered a second helping. After that night, I was craving sweet potatoes like NO OTHER and knew I needed to make them a part of my life ASAP.

So despite my best efforts to avoid potatoes at all costs, I started buying a few sweet potatoes at the grocery store. At first, I had no clue what do with them. I tried simply baking them, which for a college student takes way too long, and mashing them was also an utter disaster. I needed a simple recipe where I could enjoy the sweet potato goodness without wasting three million hours of my day. Cue the recipe I am about to share with you.

In reality, when inventing this recipe for the first time, I was craving the sweet potato fries I originally had at Cheesies. So I tried to put something together that resembled that taste…while still trying to be *somewhat* healthy during the process. It is now an all time favorite, and I have shared the love with some of my family members who can’t help but make it all the time as well.

Print Recipe

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Side Dish

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 2 Sweet potatoes peeled & diced
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Garlic salt
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Mix the potatoes and oil in a bowl until evenly coated.
• Sprinkle salt & pepper first, then mix.
• Sprinkle the paprika & garlic salt next.
• Add potatoes to a sprayed (or oiled) 13x9 pan.
• Shake the pan to evenly spread out the potatoes.
• Roast for 30 minutes, tossing the potatoes halfway through.

Notes

I honestly guestimate the amount of sprinkled spices going in (1 teaspoon is a guess, but I'm pretty sure I use more paprika than that since I'm a paprika freak). So feel free to add and coat to your liking.