Give Sweet Potatoes A Spicy Upgrade With This Sticky Drizzle

Some food pairings are just meant to be. A quick drizzle of spicy honey can turn humble roasted sweet potatoes into the loudest thing on the plate. Home cooks have long been sweetening roast veggies with this ancient delicacy, but the move is catching on again because it's absurdly easy and utterly satisfying — and because hot honey in particular seems to be having a moment. 

Roast your spuds until caramelized (save yourself the misery of dry sweet potatoes with this easy foil trick), slice them open lengthwise to expose the flesh, and then drizzle your favorite store-bought or homemade hot honey over them. The drizzle clings to those crisp edges and pools into the soft orange flesh, creating the glossy, sticky finish that makes them taste twice as rich for double the flavor payoff. 

You don't have to stop at whole baked sweet potatoes, either. You can finish any sweet potato dish with hot honey, including melting sweet potatoes that have been roasted in broth for an extra luscious texture.

Hot honey on sweet potatoes isn't just a home cook's hack anymore — it's everywhere. You'll find it drizzled over fried chicken at restaurants, slicked on pizza crusts, and bottled in the condiment aisle of your favorite supermarket. But there's no reason to buy it when you can whip it up in minutes. Our guide to making your own hot honey shows how simple it is: Warm honey with fresh or dried chiles until the heat blooms, then let it cool before straining. The result is sweet, fiery, and balanced — a sticky and spicy condiment that feels restaurant-worthy with almost no effort.

That same balance of heat and sweetness brings roasted sweet potatoes to life. Brush it over baked halves for a burnished glaze that caramelizes as it cools, or swirl a spoonful into mashed sweet potatoes for a subtle, spicy kick. It's an easy upgrade for any of our favorite sweet potato recipes, from fries to casseroles. However you cook them, finish with a drizzle, and don't forget to avoid these common sweet potato cooking mistakes to keep those creamy interiors intact. Once you try a hot honey finish, you'll never go back to plain roasted sweet potatoes again.