Sweet Potato Rounds with Herbed Ricotta, walnuts, cranberries, and honey are a winning appetizer for any occasion! This easy two-bite finger food is loaded with flavor and is so fun to make and share!
I know what you’re thinking.
You want to fold these up like mini tacos and eat them for dinner.
“Appetizer, my foot!” you say. To which I respond: get out of my head.
These sweet potato rounds go down so seamlessly when you fold them in half and snarf them in one bite. They’re just the dandiest little swanky root vegetable tacos.
Hey! I double dog dare us to make sweet potato round sandwiches out of these and wrap the whole thing in bacon.
We’d do that, wouldn’t we? That’s so us.
In all seriousness, If you’re looking for a last-minute holiday appetizer or tasty finger food for any occasion, I’ve got you!
This is the perfect side dish for the holiday season or any time of year.
The Inspiration for This Recipe:
I was inspired to make this healthy appetizer recipe over the weekend because I had a partial tub of ricotta cheese that needed to find a home lest it get round filed.
I took one look at the ginormous sweet potato sitting on my counter, and the answer was immediately clear: ricotta-topped sweet potatoes.
Much to my delight, this ingenious idea resulted in the tastiest little appetizer nugget that happens to be perfect for holiday entertaining!
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for this delicious side dish! The best part is all of the ingredients can be found at all major grocery stores.
Ingredients for Sweet Potato Rounds:
Sweet Potato
Ricotta Cheese
Honey
Italian seasoning
Raw walnuts
Dried cranberries
Sea salt
Recipe Substitutions:
- I use whole milk ricotta because it provides a nice rich creamy flavor, but you can also go with part skim ricotta.
- If you prefer brown sugar or pure maple syrup over honey, feel free to make the swap!
- Do you have fresh herbs on hand? Feel free to finely chop up fresh herbs and use them in place of dried Italian seasoning.
- Swap the walnuts for pecans if you’d like!
- To make this recipe vegan, use vegan ricotta and swap the honey for pure maple syrup, agave, or coconut nectar.
- All kinds of sweet potatoes will work. Japanese sweet potatoes, purple sweet potatoes, traditional orange skin sweet potatoes, and garnet yams are all great options.
- Get creative with your topping options. Savory versions are great too with sour cream, parmesan cheese, lime juice, black beans, ground meat, garlic powder, etc.
How to Make Sweet Potato Rounds:
These swanky root tacos (or, sweet potato treats) are super easy to make.
Start by preheating the oven, then use a sharp knife to carefully slice up a large whole sweet potato into 1/2-inch thick rounds.
Place the rounds on a baking sheet in a single layer and lightly coat with cooking oil (I use avocado oil). Roast the slices in the oven until golden brown and soft!
While the sweet potatoes are baking, prepare the herbed ricotta spread. Simply stir all the ingredients for the ricotta in a bowl. Give it a taste test and add more sea salt or herbs if you’d like.
Once your baked sweet potato slices are cooked through and through, simply top rounds with the herbed ricotta and dried cranberries and serve.
An optional fancy step is to put the rounds back in the oven after you top them with the ricotta spread and broil for a couple of minutes.
This will make the ricotta nice and gooey and golden-brown.
Don’t forget the drizzle of honey on top!
It’s like dessert in the form of euphoria on top of divinity sprinkled with jubilation doused in love potion.
A perfect addition to any gathering necessitating food, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how quickly these sweet potato wedges disappear!
Storage Options:
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat this sweet potato recipe in the air fryer, toaster oven, or the oven. I don’t recommend reheating in the microwave.
If you’re making this ahead of time for your Thanksgiving table or Christmas dinner, simply transfer the prepared baked sweet potato slices to a large sheet pan and reheat in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until warm.
And that’s it! Your this healthy side dish is your ticket to a crowd-pleasing appetizer (slash dinner if you’re like me 😉 ) that wins every time!
My sister is certifiably obsessed with these cheesy delights, and this is by far my most popular appetizer recipe on this site!
They are a great way of keeping guests tied over before dinner, or a great snack for everyday living.
The next time you’re looking for a delicious way of preparing sweet potatoes for a special occasion, whip up this easy recipe!
For my fellow sweet potato lovers, be sure to make my Sweet Potato Casserole with Streusel Topping recipe and my Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries too!
If you love this recipe, also check out my Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds with Guacamole and Bacon and my Sweet Potato Rounds with Goat Cheese and Roasted Cranberries!
Sweet potato tacos for life!
Cheers!
Sweet Potato Rounds with Herbed Ricotta and Walnuts
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato sliced into ¼-inch rounds
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
Herbed Ricotta:
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 ½ tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp honey
- ¼ tsp sea salt to taste
For Serving:
- 1 cup raw walnuts roasted and chopped
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
- honey
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients for the herbed ricotta to a small bowl and stir well to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Use a sharp knife to slice the sweet potatoes into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thick rounds.
- Add the sweet potato slices to a large mixing bowl and drizzle with avocado oil. Sprinkle sea salt and ground cinnamon over rounds. Use your hands to rub the oil and seasoning on both sides of the sweet potato rounds. Arrange rounds on a large baking sheet (or two if necessary). Bake for 20 minutes. Flip the rounds, then bake for another 17 to 20 minutes, or until rounds are cooked through and crispy on the edges
- Spread walnuts on a baking sheet. 8 to 10 minutes before the potato rounds are finished cooking, place the walnuts in the oven to roast.
- Remove sweet potato rounds and walnuts from the oven. Place walnuts on a cutting board and chop.
- Place oven on high broil setting and move the oven wrack second to the top shelf. Place a dollop of herbed ricotta on each sweet potato round and place in the oven for 2 minutes, just until ricotta is melty and warm.
- Add chopped walnuts and dried cranberries to the rounds. Drizzle with honey and serve!
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These look delicious! About how many sweet potatoes/how much olive oil do you recommend?
Hi Caitlin! I use 1 large sweet potato, which usually takes about 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of oil. You can definitely scale up the recipe to make more if you’d like 🙂
Made these for a small dinner party. Delicious! I substituted pecans for the walnuts.
I’m so happy to hear it, Cristy! Thanks for letting me know!
I made these for a Christmas get together. They were a hit.
Wow, these look delicious! I never would’ve thought of this combination but it sounds amazing!
These look amazing! do you know how much the recipe serves approximately? Just trying to figure out how much to multiply this recipe by for my Christmas eve. party.
Hi Jenny! It serves 4 to 6 assuming each person goes back for a second or a third round 🙂 Hope your guests love them!
Found these via Pinterest awhile back and with my need to try something new every time I host Thanksgiving I reviewed my boards and came across this recipe. My husband LOVES sweet potatoes and I gave him the choice between these and mashed sweet potatoes with caramelized onions and brie. He chose these. I can’t wait to taste them! Thought about ma king a test batch but am afraid we’ll eat all of the potatoes and have to go back to the store to get more so we’re playing it safe 🙂
mmmm these can be made all year round. Love it!
do these have to be served warm? i’d like to make them for a baby shower im hosting but would like to make them ahead of time…thanks
Yes, yes, yes. I want these like right now. Yes, it’s 8 a.m.
I hear ya, girl! I feel like the rounds are an any-time-of-day eat…breakfast, snack, appetizer, dinner…for.the.win!
These are NOT appetizers. I mean, how is a girl supposed to have room for dinner after she eats a whole tray of these?!
food porn to the max, Julia. I’d sandwich these for dinner, fo sho!
I’m a little late to the Christmas party, but these look like the perfect appetizer for a NYE party too! I’d totally scarf down about 10 of these in one sitting.
mmmhmmm, that’s what I did. Serving recommendation: eat the whole batch 😉
This sounds like a great easy appetiser! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas Julia!
You too, lady!!
These cheesy fancy taterpants are….everything!!!! Can I be Christian for a day just to have an excuse to serve these as a Christmas dinner appetizer?!
Wow! they look super delicious, pinned!
Thanks for sharing, sweet pea!
MY GOODNESS! Just give me a platter of these and pop in the Christmas DVDs. I will watch all the movies and eat all the appetizers. 🙂 These look amazing! What a treat for the holidays!