Sweet Potatoes With Tahini Butter

Name: Sweet Potatoes With Tahini Butter
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes of any color (about 4 medium), washed; 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), at room temperature; 1/4 cup well-stirred tahini; 2 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, plus lime wedges, for serving; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil; 1 clove garlic, finely grated or pounded smooth with a pinch of salt; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds; Flaky sea salt, for serving

Recipe from Carla Lalli Music

Adapted by Samin Nosrat

Sweet Potatoes With Tahini Butter — David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Total Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 5(6,244)
Comments: Read comments

Carla Lalli Music, a food writer and editor, is vehemently opposed to roasting sweet potatoes. “I don’t understand why people are constantly roasting them,” she says. “Roasting just makes them more fibrous and leathery, and they never, ever really get crispy.” Instead, she posits that steaming performs a kind of alchemy on sweet potatoes that roasting never does — the moist heat fluffs them into absorbent clouds. And to make up for the inherent blandness of the cooking method, she slathers them with a rich tahini butter spiked with soy sauce, which immediately melts into a mouth-smacking sauce. Her simple recipe ends with a shower of golden sesame seeds and a torrent of lime juice. Try it — every bite will surprise you with crunch, salt, umami and acidity to counterbalance the sweetness of the pillowy potatoes. —Samin Nosrat

Featured in: How to Make Perfect Sweet Potatoes Every Time

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

2½pounds sweet potatoes of any color (about 4 medium), washed
6tablespoons unsalted butter (¾ stick), at room temperature
¼cup well-stirred tahini
2 to 3tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, plus lime wedges, for serving
2tablespoons soy sauce
1teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1clove garlic, finely grated or pounded smooth with a pinch of salt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2tablespoons white sesame seeds
Flaky sea salt, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a medium pot fitted with a steamer basket or footed colander. Place sweet potatoes in the steamer. Cover, reduce heat to medium and steam until potatoes are completely tender, 35 to 40 minutes. (Use a skewer or paring knife to check for doneness; the potatoes should be soft all the way through.)
Step 2
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk butter, tahini, lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic until smooth. It might seem as if the butter and liquids will never fully combine, but they will — just keep stirring! Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and more lime juice as needed.
Step 3
Set a small pan over medium heat. Toast the sesame seeds, swirling the pan continuously, until seeds are golden. They’ll give off some oil and start to clump together, so if needed, stir with a wooden spoon to keep them moving so that they toast evenly. They’ll turn a nice deep-golden shade just as they dry off a bit, about 4 minutes. Transfer seeds to a small bowl to prevent them from overcooking.
Step 4
When the sweet potatoes are tender, use tongs to transfer them to a large plate or platter. When they are just cool enough to handle, split potatoes in half lengthwise, and season with flaky salt. Spread tahini butter generously onto the flesh, and top with sesame seeds. Serve immediately with lime wedges.

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Ratings

5 out of 5

6,244 user ratings

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Comments

SR6 years ago

OK I try not to weigh in often but as a physician who has recently lost over 25 pounds, can I say that a vegetable 'fat bomb' of this nature fits in beautifully with starch and fat cravings while contributing vitamins and fiber that are so much better than any processed foods? Eating this recipe weekly is part of the secret to my success!

Maureen6 years ago

We frequently eat baked sweet potatoes that are wrapped in foil paper. This time I baked one in the oven in foil paper and steamed one. The steamed one was tasted bland; the baked one was deliciously sweet. The tahini butter was a nice touch, but was unnecessary with the baked one. I'll stay with baking.

Alison5 years ago

This is one of the BEST recipes I've come across on here. It's delicious. I've made it several times in the past few weeks at the request of friends and family. And I've been asked to share the recipe several times as well. Delicious with Japanese yams, and works great if subbing tamari for soy, too. Definitely a winner! Full disclosure: I cooked my sweet potatoes in the microwave, because I'm often short on time and also I'm a complete heathen.

Steaming ruins the sweet potato!17 hours ago

I totally agree that the tahini sauce that goes on top of the sweet potatoes was delicious. That, however, is that a good reason to ruin perfectly good sweet potatoes! I roast sweet potatoes all the time, so I was curious to try this preparation method. Steaming made a food that is usually flavorful and delicious totally bland. Everyone at the table agreed that the cooking method ruined the sweet potatoes. Such a shame because the sauce would have gone amazingly well with a roasted sweet potato.

Liz1 month ago

I recently went to a small toast and coffee shop here in Arkansas and ordered the Nosrat toast. It wasn’t until after I bit into it that I put two and two together realizing I had eaten and loved this flavor combination before. It was a big piece of whole grain toast slathered with sweet potato, striped with the tahini butter, sprinkled with micro greens and a small drizzle of olive oil. The second best thing I ever eaten after the original recipe straight up. I make it all of the time now. A great breakfast or lunch…Simply delicious!

jenna1 month ago

I really wanted to love this but ultimately found it just OK. The idea of the tahini butter sounded so good, but i'm not sure it was worth the considerable effort to emulsify the butter with the liquids. It might be just as good if you made a regular tahini sauce with lime instead of lemon and add the soy per the recipe, and then pour that over a buttered sweet potato. Still, it was tasty, filling and went well with some crispy chickpeas and broccolini.

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