Baked Sweet Potatoes Recipe (2024)

By Martha Rose Shulman

Baked Sweet Potatoes Recipe (1)

Total Time
1 hour 30 minutes
Rating
5(645)
Notes
Read community notes

These make a great lunch or snack. If you can wait long enough, they will get sweeter over time in the refrigerator, so bake some extra and cut thick slices to go with cottage cheese, goat cheese, or feta for a quick lunch.

Featured in: Versatile Potatoes of the Sweet Variety

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Ingredients

Yield:: Serves 4

  • 4medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

112 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 72 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Baked Sweet Potatoes Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Scrub sweet potatoes and pierce in several places with a sharp knife. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the potatoes on top. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the potatoes, until thoroughly soft and beginning to ooze. Remove from the heat.

  2. Step

    2

    If not eating right away, place on a plate or in a dish and allow to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (they will continue to ooze and sweeten). Serve cold (cut in thick slices and remove the skin) or room temperature, or reheat for 20 to 30 minutes in a 350ºF oven.

Tips

  • Make the recipe through Step 1. Transfer to a baking dish that will hold the potatoes snugly. Allow to cool completely (they will continue to ooze and sweeten). Slit the potatoes lengthwise and douse with the juice of 1 to 2 limes, to taste. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve at room temperature or reheat for 20 to 30 minutes in a 350ºF oven.
  • Don’t try to save time and use a microwave for this. Your sweet potatoes won’t be nearly as sweet if you cook them this way; they need the time in the hot oven for their enzymes to convert starch into maltose, the sugar (about one third as sweet as table sugar) that makes sweet potatoes sweet.

Ratings

5

out of 5

645

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Bella

Sweet potatoes are even sweeter if you bake them at 350F degrees or lower. It takes longer to cook, but will be well worth the wait!

Eric Rodgers

Doesn't get more foolproof than this. Among my favorite additions to warm sweet potatoes: vanilla yogurt and ground cinnamon. Works equally well as dessert or breakfast.

DMutchler

A baked sweet potato is a delight with (drumroll)...brown sugar, butter, and a good chipotle BBQ sauce. (I'd give the name of my favorite, but I'm not sure that would be permitted.) All are optional, of course, and some BBQ sauces are sweet enough on their own, if not some sweet potatoes. But right out of the oven, slicing the skin from end to end then scooping/scraping the potato out, I slather it with the aforesaid. Who needs anything else?

mimi

In Korea we often eat roasted sweet potatoes with kimchi. Use purple Japanese sweet potatoes (they are whiter inside) to try this!

Jane

This was such an easy dish to prepare ahead of time. I baked the potatoes on one day, let them set with skin still on in the refrigerator overnight. A few hours before serving, I removed the skin, sliced thick and plated on an oven recommended serving platter. Just before serving I put them into the oven for 20 minutes and squeezed lime juice over the slices before serving. Easy and delicious.

Angela

Instead of a knife to pierce sweet potato use a fork pierce 2 times on each side.

Christa

And no need to remove the skin! It's tasty as well as nutritious!

mudyboots

My favorite. I like to eat after baking with cottage cheese. Yummy

Whole Grain

Cooked my potatoes at 350F until easily pierced with a fork or butter knife. Did not bother piercing prior to baking. They usually seem to be done when I can see them oozing juices, which may begin crusting on the pan around them. Very tasty eaten plain right out of the skin or turned into a puree for pie or cheesecake recipes.

mjb

Trader Joe's (at least the one near me) sells bags of sweet potatoes. They tend to be smaller than the ones you can buy individually and you get roughly 8 per bag. I bake all of them at once and store in the fridge. I am on WW purple program and sweet potatoes are considered a zero point food. Having them on hand makes for quick and low point friendly meals and snacks. And I agree with other commenters, keep the skin on. It's delicious.

Stephanie

A warm sweet potato is so good with melted blue cheese on it , can’t get enough lol. Give it a try, you may need to like blue cheese though.

Christa

This is such a simple, healthy, and satisfying lunch and dinner--came home and popped two sweet potatoes in the oven, one for dinner tonight with cottage cheese and one for lunch tomorrow with cottage cheese. Smelled wonderful while it was roasting. Look forward to trying this with goat cheese and feta cheese.

Susan

Ever since I discovered this recipe, this is the only way I make sweet potatoes. I made them again last night and while they cooled, snuggled together in their baking dish, I roasted a couple of pieces of halibut. Delicious, easy, healthy.

Catherine

Melt goat cheese over the potato just before eating. Delicious.

ZGBNM

Use sauce from sweet potato fries

Beth D

This is a wonderful recipe. It is the only way I make my sweet potatoes. Have made various sizes potatoes and adjust the time and temperature accordingly with convection bake. Really appreciate that no oil/fat is used. Wrapping in the plastic wrap once cooled is key. Have 3-4 oz in the morning with eggs as a great starter of the day.

ellen

You can also freeze them after baking, and have a different texture sensation

Victoria

I split mine and sprinkle with rice vinegar, salt and pepper and eat while hot. Yum. Also good: split sweet potatoes topped with hummus and crisp roasted kale.

mjb

Trader Joe's (at least the one near me) sells bags of sweet potatoes. They tend to be smaller than the ones you can buy individually and you get roughly 8 per bag. I bake all of them at once and store in the fridge. I am on WW purple program and sweet potatoes are considered a zero point food. Having them on hand makes for quick and low point friendly meals and snacks. And I agree with other commenters, keep the skin on. It's delicious.

Ron Nemirow

To those who eat this with cottage cheese – do you bake it with the cottage cheese? Or do you add the cottage cheese after it’s baked?

Whole Grain

Cooked my potatoes at 350F until easily pierced with a fork or butter knife. Did not bother piercing prior to baking. They usually seem to be done when I can see them oozing juices, which may begin crusting on the pan around them. Very tasty eaten plain right out of the skin or turned into a puree for pie or cheesecake recipes.

MarciaF

Definitely agree that the skin is fabulous - especially if you’re eating them hot. The skin and the flesh that clings to it are also denser in nutrients than the flesh alone.

aaliyah

We tried this recipe just this morning. It worked really well. Thank you!

Stephanie

A warm sweet potato is so good with melted blue cheese on it , can’t get enough lol. Give it a try, you may need to like blue cheese though.

Christa

And no need to remove the skin! It's tasty as well as nutritious!

Christa

This is such a simple, healthy, and satisfying lunch and dinner--came home and popped two sweet potatoes in the oven, one for dinner tonight with cottage cheese and one for lunch tomorrow with cottage cheese. Smelled wonderful while it was roasting. Look forward to trying this with goat cheese and feta cheese.

Christa

I make these all the time and have become a sweet potato addict! Whole Foods has a gorgeous display of several varieties, and I keep replenishing my stock. Sweet potatoes are interchangeable with winter squash, and I use sweet potato puree in a number of dishes. This is really too easy to make--all you do is stick it in the oven for an hour, and you can roast them ahead of time. Highly recommended--sweet potatoes have so many varied uses and tasty combinations.

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Baked Sweet Potatoes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to bake sweet potatoes in foil or not? ›

The foil: Sweet potatoes tend to get a little juicy while baking—these juices can caramelize and be a pain to deal with afterwards. Lining the baking sheet first with foil or parchment ensures an easy clean up. No need to wrap your potatoes in foil though—you want them to really feel that oven heat, rather than steam.

Should you poke holes in sweet potatoes before baking? ›

Do you have to poke holes in sweet potatoes before baking? Typically holes are poked into a sweet potato to prevent a potato exploding in your oven. However, the chance of that happening is low, and according to Lifehacker, sweet potatoes will retain more flavor if you don't poke them.

What should the temperature of a baked sweet potato be? ›

Bake until the center of the potato reaches between 205 and 212 degrees F. This will be roughly 45 to 55 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. Remove from the oven, and let the potatoes cool a few minutes so that you can handle them. Cut slit along the top, and serve with your favorite toppings.

Why do you need to soak sweet potatoes before cooking? ›

Some recipes for homemade sweet potato fries ask you to soak the fries before cooking. The theory is that soaking draws out starch from inside the potatoes, helping them crisp up.

Is it better to peel sweet potatoes before baking? ›

Whether or not you peel the potato is completely personal preference; we leave ours on as I enjoy the texture. If you are serving children or sensitive eaters, consider peeling the sweet potatoes before roasting. Cut Uniform-ish Pieces.

Do you wash sweet potatoes before baking? ›

Sweet potatoes grow in the ground, and skipping the cleaning step means dirt or grit can end up in your sweet potato casserole. Before cooking or cutting sweet potatoes, wash the skins and give them a scrub with a clean vegetable brush.

Can you eat the skin of sweet potatoes? ›

Sweet potato skins are both edible and highly nutritious.

They are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals that have health-promoting properties. Here are 6 nutrients in sweet potato skins that you may be missing out on by discarding them.

Can I just stick a sweet potato in the ground? ›

If a whole sweet potato is placed in the ground in early spring — when white potatoes are usually planted — the cold weather will inhibit its growth and it might rot. For this reason, the recommended propagation technique for sweet potatoes is to plant “slips” after the last frost date.

Can you overcook sweet potatoes? ›

Unfortunately, yes! If your sweet potatoes cook too long in the oven they can overbake and become dry. The insides will become mushy. Moving your sweet potato cubes around and checking them periodically can help avoid overcooking.

How do you know when a baked sweet potato is ready? ›

A good rule of thumb for whole baked sweet potatoes: 45 minutes to 1 hour at 400 degrees F; 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes at 350 degrees F; 1 and 1/2 hours at 325 degrees F. You'll know the sweet potatoes are done by piercing the center of the sweet potato with the tip of a sharp knife; the flesh should yield easily.

Is it better to microwave or bake a sweet potato? ›

It's really the best way. Microwaving sweet potatoes cuts down cook time by 45 to 55 minutes, and, according to a 2018 study, helps maintain the potato's nutritional value. All cooking methods cause foods to lose some of their nutrients, but the quicker your potato cooks, the more nutrients it will retain.

Why boil sweet potatoes before baking? ›

Parboil the potato chunks with baking soda. This draws the starch out and helps the potatoes get crispy and golden on the outside. After boiling and draining the potatoes, shake and toss them in a bowl so that a mashed potato-like paste builds up on the outside of the pieces.

Should I put sweet potatoes in water before baking? ›

Give them a cold water bath: Once your fries are chopped, toss them into a large bowl. Then cover the fries completely with cold water and let them soak for at least 30 minutes (or up to overnight). This will help to rinse off the excess starch and help the potatoes crisp up beautifully in the oven.

What happens if you don't soak potatoes? ›

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

Is it better to bake potatoes with or without foil? ›

Toups also calls out a common mistake people make when baking potatoes. "I see a lot of people using foil to wrap their potatoes in but this is a big no-no and causes soggy skins!" he says. Foil holds in moisture and steams the potatoes, resulting in a "boiled" taste and texture.

Why not to cook potatoes in aluminum foil? ›

NEVER BAKE POTATOES IN FOIL.

Foil wraps will not decrease baking time, but will result in a soggy potato interior with wet skin. Wrapping a baked potato in foil after it has been baked will allow you to hold up to 45 minutes, but the best method for holding a baked potato is in a bread warming drawer.

Which side of the aluminum foil do I use for baked potatoes? ›

Quite simply, it doesn't matter what side of aluminum folk you use. Either is acceptable. Since the exact same material makes up both sides, they will perform precisely the same way. The only difference is aesthetic.

Is it better to bake a sweet potato in the oven or microwave? ›

Baking a sweet potato in the oven is great, but requires time. When you need a quicker solution, the microwave is your best friend — we're talking 5 minutes flat! We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.

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