Recipes Side Dishes Vegetable Side Dishes Roasted Vegetables Brown Butter–Miso Brûléed Sweet Potatoes 5.0 (3) 3 Reviews Brown butter, miso, and maple syrup give these sweet potatoes a sweet-salty filling beneath a crackly brûléed crust. By Craig Ruff Craig Ruff Craig Ruff is a food editor and recipe developer at Food & Wine. He joined People Inc. as a fellow before moving into the test kitchen as a full time assistant, where he cross-tested and developed countless recipes for Food & Wine and other People Inc. food brands. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on September 2, 2026 Save Rate PRINT Share Close Credit: Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle Active Time: 15 mins Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins Servings: 4 Jump to recipe Nutty brown butter and salty miso keep the sweetness of the potatoes and maple syrup grounded.Letting the filling stop steaming before torching allows the sugar to harden into a crisp shell rather than dissolving into the potatoes.Moving the torch continuously over the surface melts the sugar evenly and prevents isolated spots from burning. These brûléed sweet potatoes toe the line between a side and dessert. Roasting the potatoes whole concentrates their natural sugars and gives the flesh a soft, creamy texture. Once tender, the sweet potato is scooped from the skins and mashed with nutty brown butter, white miso, and maple syrup, creating a complex, sweet-salty filling with plenty of depth. The mixture is spooned back into the skins, turning a simple baked sweet potato into something a little more polished. A thin layer of granulated sugar on top sets these apart. Torched until caramelized, the sugar cools into a brittle crust that provides a crunchy counterpoint to the silky sweet potato underneath. Brown butter and miso keep the sweetness in check, adding nuttiness, salinity, and umami. The crackly brûléed topping adds texture and a refined finish without pushing the potatoes too far toward dessert. The 7 Best Kitchen Torches for Home Cooks, According to Our Tests What kind of miso should I use? White miso, or shiro miso, is well suited to sweet applications because it’s mild, lightly salty, and subtly sweet. Yellow and red miso are saltier and more assertive; generally, the darker the miso, the more intense its flavor. Either can work, but white miso adds umami without overpowering the sweet potatoes or brown butter. Look for it at Asian grocery stores or well-stocked supermarkets. What type of sugar is best for brûléed sweet potatoes? Granulated sugar is great because it melts quickly and evenly. Brown sugar and powdered sugar are prone to clumping and can melt unevenly, while coarse raw sugars tend to be finicky under a torch and take longer to caramelize. Regular granulated sugar gives the most consistent results — and chances are you already have it on hand. Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen Use a light-colored skillet to brown the butter so you can easily see when the milk solids turn golden.Use sweet potatoes that are similar in size and shape so they roast at the same rate.If the filling seems unusually loose, cook it briefly over low heat to evaporate excess moisture, then cool it before adding the sugar. This recipe was developed by Elizabeth Mervosh; the text was written by Craig Ruff. Keep Screen Awake Ingredients 1/2x 1x 2x Oops! Something went wrong. Our team is working on it. This recipe was developed at its original yield. Ingredient amounts are automatically adjusted, but cooking times and steps remain unchanged. Note that not all recipes scale perfectly. Original recipe (1X) yields 4 servings 2 medium (10 to 11 ounces) sweet potatoes, scrubbed 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or brown sugar–cinnamon-flavored syrup (such as Torani) 4 teaspoons white miso 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided Directions Preheat oven to 425°F. Prick sweet potatoes all over using a fork; rub potatoes evenly with oil, and sprinkle all over with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Arrange sweet potatoes on a wire rack placed in an aluminum foil–lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake until a fork is easily inserted into the center of each sweet potato, about 1 hour. Let cool for 20 minutes. While sweet potatoes cool, heat butter in a medium skillet over medium, stirring often, until melted, about 2 minutes. Once melted, continue to cook, stirring constantly, just until butter turns brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and immediately whisk in maple syrup, miso, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt until smooth and emulsified; set aside. Cut each sweet potato in half lengthwise; scoop flesh from potato halves into skillet with butter mixture. Using a handheld potato masher or fork, mash potato flesh and butter mixture until smooth. Spoon potato mixture evenly into potato shells, and spread into an even layer. (If mixture is still steaming, set aside until steaming subsides, about 5 minutes.) Working with 1 sweet potato half at a time, sprinkle top evenly with 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar. Using a kitchen torch, gently toast sugar by moving the flame in a circular motion a few inches over top of sweet potato until sugar is melted and caramelized, about 40 seconds each. Repeat process with remaining sweet potato halves and remaining sugar. Let stand until sugar hardens, 5 to 10 minutes, before serving. Make ahead Roast and refrigerate the sweet potatoes up to two days in advance. When ready to serve, warm the flesh, mash it with the brown butter-miso mixture, return it to the skins, and brûlée the sugar just before serving. Cook this recipe and more in the MyRecipes app. Get the App Save Rate Print Loading shell for RecipesUgcThreaded1 Vue component in Globe.