Roasted Miso Sweet Potato with Pumpkin Seeds

The secret to these potatoes is covering and then roasting them with enough liquid to add some moisture to the flesh of the potato while infusing them with flavor at the same time. They’re a little melty and a little moist. The first time my friend Lily saw them, her reaction was “Yum!” This one’s for the sweet potato lovers.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds Okinawan sweet potatoes (‘uala), scrubbed

• 1 cup water

• 2 tablespoons white miso

  Aloha Veggies: Veg-Forward Recipes Celebrating the Flavors of Hawai'i Alana Kysar

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce (shoyu)

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated

• ¼-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

• ½ cup pumpkin seeds

• 2 tablespoons neutral oil

• 3 green onions, chopped

• Kosher salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Cut the sweet potato into 1½-inch pieces; they need not be uniform. In a large bowl, whisk together the water, miso, soy sauce, butter, sugar, garlic, and ginger. Add the sweet potatoes and toss to evenly coat. Pour everything into your widest Dutch oven and arrange it in an even layer. Cover with the lid or foil if you don’t have a lid.

Transfer to the oven and roast for 30 minutes.

When you take it out, vent the lid slightly and let the sweet potatoes rest in the pan.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, toast the pumpkin seeds over medium heat, shaking the pan to move them around, until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside on a plate.

Add the oil to the pan and heat over medium heat until shiny. Add the green onions and cook for a minute or two, using a spatula to stir a few times, until the green onions are bright and wilted. Remove from the heat, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and return the pumpkin seeds to the pan. Give everything a quick stir.

Plate the sweet potato and top with the pumpkin seeds, serving immediately.

“Reprinted with permission from Aloha Veggies: Veg-Forward Recipes Celebrating the Flavors of Hawai'i by Alana Kysar. Copyright © 2026 by Alana Kysar. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.”

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