Healthy, delicious and beautiful are all words that describe this sweet potato tian with maple nut crumble. Yams and sweet potatoes are thinly sliced and coated with olive oil and maple syrup, then stacked horizontally and roasted until perfectly soft and sweet. Maple sugar and chopped nuts are the perfect crunchy finish for a healthy Thanksgiving side dish your family won’t forget.
For those who love to cook, Thanksgiving offers the opportunity to pull out our showstopping recipes and attempt to impress our families and friends. Depending on your family, this may or may not be successful, since sentiment and tradition tend to reign supreme at holiday meals. This sweet potato tian with maple nut crumble is a dish that aims to reach across the barrier; it’s a Thanksgiving side dish that is unique, fun to make, and beautiful to look at, but still feels traditional.
Like many memorable Thanksgiving side dishes, this sweet potato tian is deceptively simple. It only requires seven ingredients and about 15 minutes to assemble. It does spend a good chunk of time in the oven, but it's a forgiving dish that can share the oven with your turkey. It can also be partially cooked and then finished off after your turkey is done.
Use maple sugar for a distinctive nut crumble
The maple nut crumble on top of this tian features maple sugar, which gives the nuts a nice coating of glaze, and just a bit of flour (optionally) to add some extra crunch. Maple sugar not only adds maple flavor to the nuts, it has a lower glycemic index than brown sugar. It also has antioxidant and nutritive properties that brown sugar and cane sugar do not, which is another reason I like to use it regularly. There’s not enough in this recipe to make a huge difference nutritionally, but it's worth acquiring if you love the flavor of maple or are interested in sweeteners with a lower glycemic load.
You can find maple sugar at high end grocery stores, or on Amazon. It’s also pretty easy to make your own maple sugar from pure maple syrup. It might take a time or two to get it right, however, so it’s not something you want to be trying for the first time on Thanksgiving day. I recommend making your maple sugar the day before. You only need a tablespoon.
Ingredients and substitutions
Sweet potatoes or yams - You can use any type or combination of sweet potatoes and yams you want. White sweet potatoes are a little starchier, when I use them I prefer to mix them with yams. Buy more than you think you need, it takes a lot to fill up the pan. In any pan I've ever used, I've needed a minimum of 5 sweet potatoes.
Extra virgin olive oil - I recently switched to using Graza “Sizzle” Extra Virgin Olive Oil for roasting vegetables.
Pure maple syrup - Please, please, please no Log Cabin or any other maple-flavored syrup. Pure maple syrup. Grade A or B.
Kosher salt - I test my recipes using Morton’s kosher salt.
Walnuts and/or Pecans - Pistachios and hazelnuts are also delicious.
Maple sugar - I use Coombs Family Farms Pure Maple Sugar, and I find it at my local grocery store or on Amazon. You can also make your own (see above).
Flour - All-purpose wheat flour, rice flour, or gluten free flour will work, although they all yield different textures of crumble. You can also leave it out altogether.
Change up your sweet potato tian
- Use a mix of sweet potatoes and yams for a multicolored effect.
- For even more color, buy garnet, yellow, and purple sweet potatoes and scrub them well, but don’t peel them before slicing. This makes for a really beautiful presentation as a Thanksgiving sweet potato side dish.
- Use any mix of nuts that appeals to you in your nut crumble. Pistachios and hazelnuts are also a great addition.
- Add warm spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and ginger all pair nicely with the flavors in this sweet potato tian.
Tips for the perfect sweet potato tian
Generously oil your baking vessel. The maple syrup and maple sugar in this tian recipe make it prone to sticking to your pan, so it’s important to be generous when brushing the pan with olive oil before you assemble it. You can also use a good cooking spray.
Slice your sweet potatoes thin. Tians generally consist of very thinly sliced vegetables, and you want them to almost melt together as they bake. The thickest they should be is about ⅛ inch. You can use a mandoline or a very sharp knife.
Pack them in tight. The tian should almost roast as a tightly packed block. This doesn’t mean you have to work hard at squeezing in one more slice, but definitely get them packed in there so they aren’t leaning over. Use the end pieces to tuck into the corners if you are using a square or rectangular pan.
Bringing along this sweet potato side dish as a guest? Here’s how you do it:
- Talk to your host and determine the best time to reserve 30 minutes of oven time at anywhere from 350-400 degrees F.
- Prepare your tian up to a day ahead. Follow the recipe through the initial 45-minute bake, then remove from the oven, take off the foil, and allow to cool. If it is going to be more than 3 hours before you can reheat it, cover and refrigerate. Otherwise, cover with foil for transport.
- Combine the nuts, maple sugar, and flour in a lidded container. Pack the olive oil separately in another container.
- If you refrigerated your tian, time your day and travel so the dish has time to warm nearly to room temperature before you put it in the oven (about an hour).
- Roast in the oven (covered) for 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are cooked through and the olive oil is bubbly. Combine the nut mixture with olive oil sprinkle over the top. Proceed with the recipe from there.
Storing and reheating leftovers
Store any leftover tian in a sealed container in the refrigerator. It will be good for up to four days.
Sweet potato tian reheats beautifully in the microwave or the oven. The topping may crisp up a bit more in the oven; it won't crisp in the microwave. Regardless of which appliance you use to heat it up, keep the heat or the cook power in the mid range, and check frequently toward the end so the sugars don't burn.
Did you make this recipe?
If you make this sweet potato tian I’d love to hear what you think. I am always trying to get better at developing recipes, and your feedback helps me do that. I'd also love to see your tians! This is one recipe that allows you to get really creative for a beautiful presentation.
Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram (@parsleyandparm) and use the hashtag #Thanksgivingrecipes.
Sweet Potato Tian with Maple Nut Crumble
Equipment
- Baking dish -9X9 square, 9-inch round, euro 18cm X 28cm
- Vegetable peeler -or vegetable scrub brush
- Knife and cutting board -or mandoline slicer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Large mixing bowl
- Whisk
- small mixing bowl
- Aluminum foil
Ingredients
For the sweet potatoes:
- 5-6 sweet potatoes or yams or a mix -try to find yams that are as cylindrical as possible
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil -plus extra to coat the baking dish
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the topping:
- 1 ½ cups finely chopped nuts -walnuts pecans, or a mix
- 1 tablespoon maple sugar -brown sugar or raw sugar can be substituted
- 1 heaping tablespoon flour -you can also use gluten free flour or rice flour
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil -or enough to coat the crumble
Instructions
- Place a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat it to 375°.
- Prepare your baking dish by spraying it generously with cooking spray or brushing it liberally with olive oil.
- Add the olive oil, maple syrup, and salt to a large bowl and whisk together well.⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, ¼ cup pure maple syrup, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Peel or scrub the sweet potatoes and use a mandoline or a very sharp knife to cut them into ⅛ inch slices. Add the slices to the olive oil and syrup in the bowl as you go and toss intermittently to coat (this helps prevent browning).5-6 sweet potatoes or yams
- Arrange the slices in your pan standing up against each other. You can use any pattern you like, just make sure that they are packed in fairly tightly. Pour any remaining olive oil/maple syrup over the tian.
- Cover the pan tightly with foil and roast for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 15 more minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick or a small knife, which should pierce the middle with no resistance.
- Combine the nuts, sugar, flour, and olive oil in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the tian, and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on it so the topping doesn’t burn.1 ½ cups finely chopped nuts -walnuts, 1 tablespoon maple sugar, 1 heaping tablespoon flour, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Remove from the oven when the topping is golden brown and crunchy. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Need more servings?
To adjust a recipe for more or fewer servings, hover your cursor over the number servings on the recipe card. This will bring up a slider that you can move to the number of servings you want to make.
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