The Flavorful Butter Bobby Flay Pairs With Roast Sweet Potatoes

Few dishes can compete with a perfectly-baked serving of roasted sweet potatoes. "Sweet potatoes should be on every holiday table — they're certainly always on mine," chef Bobby Flay told People.

Since the late 1800s, sweet potatoes have been a mainstay of holiday spreads, notes Peddler's Son. Yet with a few extra ingredients, Flay elevates one of the most well-known, traditional menu items with unexpected flavors to deliver a dish that won't easily yield leftovers. As expected, the sweet potatoes Flay prepares to serve at his dining table are anything but average.

While Flay assigns guests tasks like bringing wine and dessert to dinners at his home, as the host, he insists on taking care of the main events like turkey and sides, he told "Today." And what better complement to some Thanksgiving staples like sweet potatoes than creamy, sweet swashes of butter — with a Flay flair, of course.

Flay likes dressing up the butter he serves with sweet potatoes, he admits to "Today," as this extra oomph is an easy way to impress guests. A self-acknowledged "sweet potato fan," Flay first roasts sweet potatoes in the oven for an hour to an hour and a half and makes a compound butter while the dish is baking. Think along the lines of a nut butter with almond or peanuts, butter, and pomegranate molasses. This accoutrement is then added to the fresh-out-of-the-oven sweet potatoes for an unexpected earthy flavor.

To People, Flay provides at-home cooks with another alternative: Make a date-lime butter in advance and slather the creation on top of the cooked potatoes just before serving. If guests aren't crazy about marshmallow toppings, these enhanced butter variations can bring out the natural sweetness of simple sweet potato recipes without overpowering the dish — or offending more discerning palates.