baked sweet potatoes with whipped sea salt butter & truffle oil.
Everyone’s favorite classic side dish, made just a little fancier with two easy swaps: savory sea salt butter & earthy, silky truffle oil.
Makes: 4 potatoes Prep time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour
I really don’t spend enough time developing side dishes. I love meat-and-potato meals, and super simple ones, at that. Grilled meats, fresh salads, and crispy potatoes. Do we need another recipe for crispy potatoes? (Do we? I can write one)
Something made me pause while roaming the produce section this week, though. I hadn’t had a baked potato in years, and well, it was due time to make some. But that wasn’t it- I wanted to make something delicious with a sweet potato. I grabbed a few and hauled out (really, I meandered).
Really, I think side dishes should be super easy and fit in with the prep for the rest of your meal. This is no exception, as fancy as it sounds. The whipped butter takes no longer than five minutes, and the truffle oil is drizzled on as a finishing touch. The bulk of the time is roasting the whole potato, which unfortunately is a long process- but there’s hardly any prep, so the potatoes basically make themselves! Whether you’re grilling steaks or baking chicken, it is really easy to bake these alongside your proteins and have an easy, non-fussy night.
I will write further about ingredient specifics below, but just to introduce you to the stars, we have sea salt butter and truffle oil. Yes, truffle oil is a splurge, and there’s no way to get that same flavor with any substitution. I used Truff, which I found at Heinen’s and know is available online and at many grocery stores. The Truff I bought, and is most common, is black truffle, which has a more earthy tone than a white truffle oil would have. You can’t go wrong with either in this recipe, since both white and black oil pair well with butter and potatoes. I’d say, buy white truffle if you want a more subtle truffle flavor and eat more light and creamy dishes. Opt for black if you love truffle flavor and plan on using it for meaty, hearty dishes.
And that sea salt butter- delicious. Seriously, top-tier butter, and so simple. I’ve been noticing it at grocery stores more lately, from classic butter brands to total new-comers. Exciting time for butter, right? More on trendy butter below. Enjoy!
sea salt butter baked sweet potato ingredients
sweet potato: Pretty simple ingredient, the sweet potato. Don’t think too hard about shape and size, but try to grab 4 similar looking potatoes so roasting will be smooth and easy. I had one potato that was a little bigger than the other two and ended up a little undercooked, so make your life easy and get matching sizes. Also, yes, this recipe absolutely works with russets, if you prefer those! I just loved the robust flavor the sweet potato offered here.
sea salt butter: I’m serious, there are so many sea salt butters out there all of a sudden. I actually used mine in banana bread with delicious results, so don’t be shy in buying a pack! It’s surprisingly versatile, and honestly, in some recipes you may even want to add sea salt to it. For this recipe, I used Vermont Creamery sea salt butter. They sent it to me to test out, and yep- like all their products, it’s creamy and perfect and delicious. I’ll be honest, I ate some with a spoon, which I haven’t done in years. If you can’t find this specific butter, you can definitely make your own by adding sea salt to a regular unsalted stick of butter. I’d start with a teaspoon-per half stick- and add more to taste. DIY!
milk: Any milk works here. I used oat milk, I love how creamy and thick it is compared to other milk alternatives. Feel free to use oat, coconut, or almond milk. By the way, I found a deep bowl helped combine the milk and butter here, or else the butter just slips around.
truffle oil: As I linked above, I used Truff truffle oil, but there are many brands and varieties out there. You can find truffle oil in the olive oil section of the grocery store. Truffle oil is-usually- infused olive oil made with white or black truffles. White truffles are a more delicate flavor, so likely a better choice if you don’t love truffle flavor and would likely use it on potatoes, popcorn, or pastas. Black truffle is earthy and bold, and can be used on all the same things as white but also stands up to hearty, rich dishes as well. Really, you can’t go wrong here, and I do recommend splurging on a good one. It lasts a long time since you only need a few drops per dish, plus, with infused oils you want high quality- not imitation truffle!
sea salt butter sweet potato pairing options
I wrote this to be a side dish, but by all means, feel free to do it up as a main. I think ground beef or lamb would be really delicious piled high on this buttery situation, personally!
grilled steak, chicken, or mild sausages
baked or sauteed crispy chicken
grilled or baked whitefish, like halibut or chilean sea bass
cooked greens, like collards or simply steamed spinach
turkey or white bean meatballs
chardonnay, oakey sauvignon blanc, or negronis