Here's a quick recipe for you! I've been using these same four seasonings to season anything and everything sweet potato related for the longest time. I was thinking about how convenient it would be to have this premixed and on-hand since I use it so often.
I made a quick batch of sweet potato fries to taste-test the seasoning. This was by far my favorite way to enjoy the seasoning so far. If you're wondering about those, I just peeled and cut up a sweet potato, tossed in some melted coconut oil, and baked at 400ºF for about 35 minutes. Super easy.
We use this seasoning often on one of our weeknight go-to recipes. It's pretty easy too. It's just chicken, cubed sweet potato, and spinach combined in the same dish with this seasoning sprinkled over it all. Sometimes we bake it all in one dish, sometimes we pressure cook the whole thing in the Instant Pot, and other times, we steam the sweet potato in the microwave and cook the spinach and chicken in some bacon fat on the stovetop.
If you've made this before and something looks different, it's because I updated the photos (November 2019). Since I included photos of a whole sweet potato this time, I wanted to share how I made that too in case you are wondering. The whole sweet potato that you'll see in a few pictures was cooked in the Instant Pot. I added a cup of water then added a steamer rack/trivet with the sweet potato on top. I cooked it under pressure for 25 minutes. Once the pressure released, I sliced it open and fluffed it with a fork then added some dairy free butter and a good sprinkle of the sweet potato seasoning blend.
Need more ideas? How about sweet potato that has been baked, mashed, steamed, or fried? Or even made into tots?
If you want to stick around, I have something exciting to tell you about! (If not, the recipe is at the end of this post :))
I got to go out to eat!!!
It's so rare that I can eat out safely. Other than the Minsky's Pizza by my house, I haven't eaten out since we vacationed in Colorado last October. I knew there was nothing in our area but since we were traveling to my parent's lake house at Beaver Lake, I decided to see if we might pass any safe restaurants on our way there and sure enough, there was a dedicated gluten free restaurant just a half hour away in Eureka Springs! I was completely surprised. It's a Mexican restaurant called Aquarius Taqueria. I checked it out and they said they never have gluten in the kitchen and the only gluten in the restaurant is the beer. I had some serious doubts that beer would somehow cross-contaminate my food so I completely trust them. (Update: This restaurant is closed as of August 2021.)
But apparently I'm the worst food blogger ever. I committed a serious food blogging crime. I was so excited to eat my food that when it came out...I forgot to take a picture (GASP!) I'm the worst. But let me paint you a picture with words. <—Stop rolling your eyes at that sentence.
Everything on the menu sounded amazing. In particular, they had so many creative varieties of tacos. I almost got the fish tacos but I wanted something with more variety (aka, more foods) so I got what they call the Aquarius Plate.
The Aquarius Plate was a large platter of salad, beans, rice, guacamole, salsa, and meat. I went with their pork which was so good. The pork was shredded into larger pieces and was so tender but still had those little crispy edges. (Important update: get the fish. OMG SO GOOD.)
I also tried their homemade corn tortillas and it was unlike any corn tortilla I’ve ever had. They were really more like a steamed flour tortilla but softer.
P.S. I didn't get sick which is the most important thing.
Recipe
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PinDescription
The perfect seasoning blend for sweet potatoes - baked, mashed, steamed, fries, tots,... really any form you can think of!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp salt
- ½ Tbsp pepper
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp cayenne
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients and mix together. Keep on hand to season your favorite sweet potato dishes. Done!
Notes
If you have an empty seasoning jar, use it to store this sweet potato seasoning and always have some on-hand.
Oh my goodness!!! Love this post so much! It's fantastic you were able to enjoy a meal out and without awful repercussions! Oh btw, what was that yummy looking blue drink in the pic?! Oh and that sweet potato seasoning sounds fantastic (minus the pepper!) what an awesome idea to always keep some on hand, especially for yummy sweet potato fries ? Oh, and I am totally trying that chicken and spinach sweet potato dish sometime for dinner!
It was some sort of Blue Curacao margarita. It wasn't mine but yeah, it looked good. I'm excited for you to try the chicken spinach sweet potato dish. Let me know how it turns out!
Good to hear you found somewhere to eat, must get frustrating sometimes especially when you want a break form cooking.
I like the sound of the spice combination I am going to try it and I love sweet potato !! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Tracey. It seems like it should be frustrating but I've had to do it so long that I don't even think about it anymore. I'm so fortunate that cooking has always been a hobby of mine as opposed to a daily chore. However, there is something exciting about finding new restaurants and trying new dishes. I do miss it sometimes. So when I actually do find a safe place to eat, it's just that much more special.
Be sure to let me know what you think of the seasoning blend. I really think the spicy/sweet combination is perfect on sweet potato. Thanks for trying it!
Hi Meagan, I tried this blend today on my sweet potato chips for lunch, I like the kick you get from the cayenne pepper but its not too spicy. Its really good will use again. Thank you!
★★★★★
Thanks for the feedback, Tracey. So happy you liked it!
I found your post, sweet lady, thanks for sharing. I just tried these spices on my sweet potato/apple dish!
Tasty tasty tasty. My husband said it's a keeper!
Thanks for the feedback, Sheila. I'm so happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed the seasoning!
Hello. Can I use paprika or chili powder in place of the cayenne? Thank You for the spice mix idea!
The cayenne is mostly added for a touch of spice rather than flavor but I don’t see why those wouldn’t work! I’d mix up the other spices and add them to your food then sprinkle on either paprika or chili powder to taste. If you use paprika in particular, you’ll probably end up adding quite a bit (unless it’s smoked paprika!) Chili powder will change the flavor a lot more than paprika but it sounds like it would be good too! I don’t think you can really go wrong if you just play around with the spices a little and see what tastes good to you!