Roasted potatoes are the most popular way to eat potatoes in our house – everyone will eat them happily and there are never any leftovers. So I got to thinking: how can I fancy up our roasted potatoes game? The important test here is whether the new recipe is as good or better than the original. These Honey Chipotle Roasted Potatoes and Apples live up to the test – they are as good as simple roasted potatoes, but they feel so much fancier!

Ingredients for Honey Roasted Potatoes and Apples

The ingredients are simple and delicious: tender potatoes and crisp apples are tossed in a sauce made with butter, honey, balsamic vinegar and chipotle powder and then roasted in the oven until they smell and taste like heaven.

Keep reading for all my advice on choosing the best potatoes and apples, as well as adjusting the heat level to your preference.

Making the Honey Chipotle Sauce

After the potatoes and apples are washed, diced and ready to go, heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the butter and once the butter is melted, add your honey, balsamic vinegar and chipotle powder. Stir the sauce and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium and let sauce thicken, about 3-4 minutes. Once sauce is slightly thick, pour in your diced potatoes and apples and stir to coat completely.

To finish the recipe, pour the potatoes onto a baking sheet and then roast them at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender. Serve immediately.

The Best Potatoes to Use

To make these honey chipotle potatoes, I recommend using red potatoes or Yukon gold/yellow potatoes.

These two are the most tender and have that smooth, buttery texture and flavor. You can certainly use Russet potatoes, but they are harder and don’t have that smooth flavor. I also find that Russet potatoes take a bit longer to cook, because they take longer to get tender.

You could also sub sweet potatoes if you want to up the nutrition factor. Sweet potatoes taste great in this recipe, and they have so many nutrients, vitamins and minerals. You could swap all or half of the potatoes with sweet potatoes if you’d like!

The Best Apples to Use

The absolute best apples to use are going to be orchard-fresh apples – I used the first batch of apples we got from our local orchard this year. But, let’s be honest, I want these potatoes and apples all year long, not ust when I can get apples from the orchard.

I used Jonathan apples for these – they’re the perfect blend of tart, crisp, sweet and juicy, so they roast to absolute perfection. Gala apples and Honeycrisp would also work well in this recipe. You can use most apples here; some are just better than others at releasing their sweetness and balancing the sweet and tart flavors.

Adjusting the Heat Level

If you’re like my son, heat is not your thing. If you’re like me, you like just a hint of heat. And if you’re anything like my husband, you can withstand almost any amount of heat, so the more, the better.

If you’re like my family, having a recipe that you can customize the spiciness level in is gold! I even toss half of the potatoes and apples with half of the sauce on half of a baking sheet, then add more spice to the rest of the sauce before tossing the rest of the potatoes and apples for my husband.

To adjust the heat level, you’ve got two options. The first is to increase or decrease the amount of chipotle powder you use in the recipe. Using 1/4 teaspoon gave the recipe a subtle hint of heat but still gave the delicious smoky chipotle flavor. Up the amount to 1/2 teaspoon if you want more heat (and you can always increase it a bit more if you want a lot of heat!).

The other option is to use hot honey. We like Mike’s Hot Honey, and I’ll often replace part of the regular honey in recipes with Mike’s Hot Honey, because it adds heat and great flavor!

Tips and Tricks for Making Honey Chipotle Roasted Potatoes and Apples

Can I make this ahead of time? I don’t recommend it. The potatoes and apples are best when you chop them shortly before cooking, and the cooked and sauced recipe tastes the best when it’s eaten shortly after it’s cooked and assembled. You can certainly reheat your leftovers, but it’s going to taste the best and have the best texture right after it comes out of the oven.