How To Cut Sweet Potatoes For Roasting
To make sure the sweet potato pieces cook evenly, try to cut them all roughly the same size. This can be a little tricky depending upon the shape of your sweet potato. Here are my best tips for cutting.
The cut sweet potatoes wont all be perfectly uniform, which is fine. Just try to get them to all be fairly similar in size so that they roast in the same amount of time.
Baked Sweet Potato Toppings:
Want to load your oven baked sweet potatoes up with some fun toppings? Here are a few of my favorite ingredient combos for loaded baked sweet potatoes
- Classic loaded baked sweet potato: Top with cheddar cheese, bacon, sour cream, and/or green onions.
- Chili baked sweet potato: Top with traditional chili or vegetarian chili, plus cheddar cheese, sour cream, green onions, avocado and/or sliced jalapeños.
- Mediterranean baked sweet potato: Top with diced tomatoes, cucumber, red bell pepper, Kalamata olives, hummus or tzatziki, and fresh herbs .
- Chipotle salad baked sweet potatoes: I also love topping baked sweet potatoes with this chipotle cheddar chopped salad .
- Ranch baked sweet potatoes: We also love roasting up some chickpeas, dicing up some avocado and drizzling my tahini ranch dressing on baked sweet potatoes for easy dinners. The combo is delicious!
Easy Baked Sweet Potato
A perfectly Baked Sweet Potato is easier than you think! Learn how to bake sweet potatoes quickly and easily with my foolproof method! Sweet and fluffy on the inside with a delightfully crispy skin, these baked sweet potatoes make the perfect side dish for every occasion. Go sweet OR savory your choice! Looking for more tasty side dishes? Make sure to try my famous Cranberry Sauce and Twice Baked Potato Casserole!
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Are Sweet Potatoes Healthy
Sweet potatoes are a whole food that pack a powerful nutritional punch. In one medium potato, you get over 400 percent of your daily vitamin A requirement. They are also high in fiber and potassium and are a great source of beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant that gives orange fruits and vegetables their vibrant color.
Dont Stop Until Deeply Caramelized
If you roast the sweet potatoes long enough, their sugars will start to caramelize against the pan. Those caramelized bits are the best parts! Dont worry if you see a few spots that look burnttake it as a sign that your sweet potatoes are done. In all likelihood, the sweet potatoes will still taste great.
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How To Make Roasted Sweet Potatoes
1. Prepare the seasoning. In a small bowl, mix together salt, pepper, brown sugar, chili powder, paprika, and garlic powder.
2. Slice the sweet potatoes. Slice the potato into 1/2 inch thick rounds, then into 1/2 inch equal sized cubes.
3. Season the sweet potatoes. Toss sweet potato cubes in olive oil, then add seasoning and toss to coat.
4. Roast the sweet potatoes. Place the seasoned sweet potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet with about a half-inch in between each one. Sprinkle with a pinch of brown sugar. Roast for 15 minutes, toss and continue roasting for 10-15 mins until golden brown and crispy.
How To Make Baked Sweet Potato Slices
One of the best things about these baked sweet potato slices is how easy they are to make. First check out the step by step video, then Ill walk you through it with my tips and tricks.
- Adjust the oven rack to the top slot, then preheat to 375º since we switch from baking to broiling, its important to adjust the rack to the top
- Prep the sweet potatoes peel the sweet potatoes or leave the skins on, the slice them into quarter inch slices.
- Arrange the sweet potatoes in a single layer on a sheet pan The sweet potatoes should be touching but not overlapping.
- Mix your spice blend combine the ginger, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a small bowl
- Melt the butter melt it just until its liquid and creamy.
- Season the sweet potatoes use a pastry brush to brush the top of each sweet potato with butter, then sprinkle with spice mixture
- Flip the sweet potatoes and season the other side brush on butter, sprinkle on the spice blend.
- Bake the sweet potatoes instead of high temperature oven roasting, these sweet potato slices are baked at a lower temperature to start. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip and bake for 10 more minutes.
- Finish under the broiler broil each side 1 3 minutes to give them a crispy finish.
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How To Bake Sweet Potatoes To Perfection
I could eat a simple, baked sweet potato with brown sugar-cinnamon butter for every meal. But I was always frustrated that I couldn’t replicate the tender, melt-in-your-mouth sweet potatoes you find at steakhouses and other restaurants. What’s the secret to those irresistibly fluffy interiors?
High in nutritional value, and lower in calories than white potatoes, sweet potatoes make an easy side dish for dinner or a light lunch. Read on to learn how to bake sweet potatoes in the oven to bring out their sweetness and achieve that light, fluffy texture we all love.
Whats The Difference Between A Sweet Potato And A Yam
Sweet potatoes and yams are both root vegetables, but theyre actually quite different. To make matters confusing, most yams sold in supermarkets in the United States are actually sweet potatoes, just marketed under the wrong name yikes.
Yams tend to have brown-ish, rougher skin and lighter flesh. Theyre also starchier and dryer when cooked.
Sweet potatoes have more tapered ends, reddish-orange skin and vibrant orange flesh though they can come in a variety of colors from white to orange to purple. Sweet potatoes are also sweeter when theyre cooked.
The take-away: if what youve bought looks like these photos, odds are its a variety of sweet potato even though it may have been called a yam in the store.
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How To Pick A Good Sweet Potato
- Red and orange sweet potatoes are often labeled as yams at the grocery store which is actually inaccurate. True yams are starchier and drier than sweet potatoes with a thick and fibrous skin.
- There are lots of different varieties of sweet potatoes: Heres an article that describes some of the different varieties and characteristics.
- I recommend skipping tan or purple skinned sweet potatoes and sticking with orange or red skinned sweet potatoes. This variety are sweeter and have a creamier texture.
- My favorite sweet potatoes for roasting? Either Red Garnet or Jewel.
- When picking a sweet potato at the grocery store look for firm potatoes without growths or discolorations on their skins. Avoid soft or wet potatoes.
- For questions on freshness/how long a sweet potato lasts, check out this article.
Now that youve got some sweet potatoes, lets talk cutting.
There are a lot of different ways that you can cut sweet potatoes for roasting you can make roasted sweet potatoes wedges or crispy roasted sweet potatoes fries. You can even roast sweet potato halves! Thicker, bigger cuts will need a longer bake time, and thinner cuts will need a shorter amount of time in the oven. For this particular recipe, were making roasted sweet potato cubes, and I recommend cutting the sweet potato into ½ inch chunks.
While there isnt one single way to cut a sweet potato into cubes, Ill share my favorite way to cut them below.
How To Roast Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are one of the most versatile ingredients in the kitchen. They’re amazing boiled, baked, sautéed, and fried. One of the easiest and most useful ways to cook sweet potatoes is to roast them.
For perfect roasted sweet potatoes every time, abide by these simple rules.
1. Roast uncovered at a super high temperature. Low and slow roasting brings out the natural sugars in fruits and veggies. Since sweet potatoes bring plenty of sweetness already, we opt for higher temperature for roasting. This way, they get a nice golden char on the outside, while maintaining a custardy smooth core. Covering the sweet potatoes with foil or a lid will cause them to steam instead of developing that sweet golden char on the outside.
2. Cube ’em up. Unless the goal is to bake your potatoes whole, cutting them into 1″ cubes means a faster cook time and more surface area per bite for delicious caramelization. Aim for equally sized potato pieces so that each piece cooks at the same rate. Be sure to toss with a flexible spatula at least twice during the cooking process. Since this is high-heat roasting, the sweet potatoes will brown quickly tossing them will help everything cook and brown evenly.
3. Ditch the skin or don’t. This is totally up to you. Personally, I like the flavor and texture of sweet potato skin, but there’s no harm in removing it! The only thing you’ll lose is some added nutrients and fiber.
Made these? Let us know how it went in the comment section below!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
A Healthy Alternative! Baked sweet potatoes are widely considered a healthier alternative to a regular baked potato! Theyre packed full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and healthy carbs.
Perfectly Cooked! Use my instructions and tips to make perfectly cooked sweet potatoes every time! Theyll be super soft and fluffy on the inside and crisp outside.
Super Versatile! Sweet potatoes can be topped with nearly anything! Sweet, savory, you name it!
How To Make The Best & Quickest Oven Baked Sweet Potato Recipe
The secret to creating the best and quickest baked sweet potatoes is to first slice each potato in half. Sweet potatoes are an incredibly large and dense vegetable, in their raw state, which means they take forever to fully cook. When the sweet potatoes are halved, the baking time is dramatically reduced.
But something else happens when the potatoes are halved. The halved potatoes, when cooked flesh-side down, caramelize. Caramelization = incredible flavor and texture.
The end result is the best baked sweet potatoes!
I wont ever go back to the slow method for baking a sweet potato ever again. Give this method a try and tell me what you think.
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How To Cut A Sweet Potato For Roasting
Now that weve got the perfect cubes for roasting, lets talk about the rest of the process.
Expert Tips And Tricks
- Scrub a dub, dub. Remove all of the dirt before cooking, use a vegetable brush if needed.
- Poke some holes. This helps to release the juices when baking so the potato doesnt build up pressure and potentially burst.
- Drizzle on oil. If youre going to eat the skin for the tons of fiber add some flavor with oil, salt, and pepper.
- Width is what matters. Select similarly sized potatoes so they all cook up at the same rate.
- Test for doneness. Always check the largest potato to make sure its cooked through.
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Sweet Potato & Black Bean Tacos With Avocado
This is my first time ever leaving a recipe review but I just made these for dinner and they were unbelievably DELICIOUS!!! I agree that the pictures definitely dont do this meal justice. It was the first time my husband has ever called anything I made restaurant quality!!! I cant wait to make these again! Lisa
Choosing And Storing Sweet Potatoes
Picking the right sweet potato can make all the difference when you’re trying to achieve that perfect baked sweet potato. So how do you end up with the right one? Go for thinner, uniform sweet potatoes.
Although you may be tempted to pick the more meatier potato, thinner sweet potatoes will cook evenly all the way through to the center. With fatter sweet potatoes, the outsides will be done before the centers have been fully cooked. If you’ve ever encountered this problem when baking sweet potatoes, it’s probably because you’re cooking with the wrong size.
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How To Make Perfect Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Easy and delicious, seasoned roasted sweet potatoes are a welcome addition to any meal. With a few simple ingredients, these sweet potatoes can be on the table in just under an hour. Follow these step-by-step instructions to get these to turn out perfectly every time.
Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite ingredients. Theyre so versatile perfect in a hearty chili, in the classic sweet potato casserole that we all love at Thanksgiving, or even in a rich, fudgy brownie recipe.
This is my favorite way to enjoy them perfectly seasoned and roasted. This is a simple recipe olive oil and spices make these anything but boring.
Sweet potatoes are a great source of carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamins A and C. Roasting these tasty veggies are a good way to get your kids to try them theyre irresistible!
Seasoned roasted sweet potatoes are easy to make, and liven up any lunch or dinner. You can make them ahead of time and add them to your breakfast burrito or lunchtime salad, too.
Other Seasonings To Try
You can be creative with the seasoning here. I use cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper, but you could use other spices if you like. Try paprika, chili powder, or white pepper
If youd like a sweeter version , you could try a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger. That would be a delicious side dish to serve with roast turkey or the holiday ham. A drizzle of melted vegan buttery spread and a sprinkle of brown sugar on top would be the finishing touch!
Watch the video below to see how easy it is to make these!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
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Picking A Good Sweet Potato
While sweet potatoes are available all year round, their peak season is from fall to early winter. Heres a few things to look out for when choosing the right sweet potato:
- Choose the orange and red skinned potatoes. These are known as the moist varieties and tend to be sweeter, creamier, and less starchy.
- Dont be confused with yams. Sometimes the red and orange skinned potatoes can be labeled as yams. But these tend to be more starchy and dry.
- Look for smooth skins and no soft spots. Take a closer look and make sure there are no discolorations and that the potato is nice and firm.
Simple Roasted Sweet Potatoes
This recipe for Simple Roasted Sweet Potatoes is so easy and creates a sweet and tender side dish that is perfect to pair with any meal. Make-ahead to enjoy all week!
If you are craving more simple and deliciously roasted side dish recipes, then be sure to try making some Easy Roasted Potatoes and Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts.
Do you need a side dish that is sure to compliment any meal? Need to include cooked sweet potato in a particular recipe? Then allow me to step in today and help you with a recipe for roasted sweet potatoes that is easy, simple, and delicious.
Roasted sweet potatoes are easy to make and there are many recipes out there. I have even previously shared a recipe for Easy Roasted Potatoes. Through the years I have boiled sweet potatoes in water, cubed them before roasting in the oven, and even sauteed them in a skillet.
Then one day I decided to cut a sweet potato and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet with no seasoning or oil to see what would happen. When I removed it from the oven it yielded a soft, sweet, and completely no-fuss perfectly roasted sweet potato. Since then, I use this method to prepare my sweet potatoes weekly to add to any meal or eat as a filling snack.
Let’s get started!
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How Can You Tell When A Sweet Potato Is Done
Sweet potatoes cannot keep a secret. When theyre done, the whole world will know it.
They start to ooze out their sweet caramelized juice, wrinkle up a bit, and if you want to for sure make sure, just stab one with a fork or knife. The knife should slide in easily when a sweet potato is fully cooked.
How Should I Store The Leftovers
If you have leftovers from this recipe, I recommend storing them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They should last for about 3-4 days. When you are ready to heat them back up, you can throw them in the air fryer or oven if you want them crispy, or you can microwave them if you dont mind them getting a little mushy.
You can also store them in the freezer. For this method, I recommend storing them in individual plastic bags for each portion. Press the extra air out of the bag and they should last in the freezer for about 3 months. I recommend separating the portions since they will stick together if you store them all together.
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