How to bake perfect sweet potatoes
How to bake perfect sweet potatoes! Tips how to bake a sweet potato, or for mashed potatoes, or eaten in their simple, caramelized glory with salt.
How to bake perfect sweet potatoes
Whether you’re coking for Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving, or looking for a healthy recipe to try, I’ve got your covered, Friends!
How to bake perfect sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes have been a staple in my home for years. They’re cheap, versatile, and a great source of healthy, complex carbohydrates. This is my go-to sweet potato meal prep method. You can eat these potatoes all by their lonesome in their rich, caramelized glory, or mash them to make mashed sweet potatoes.
Our family loves sweet potatoes, and we’ll often bake a half bag, allow to cool, and then peel. We store them in the fridge and eat as a healthy carb in place of regular potatoes, bread, etc.
Sweet potatoes are filled with so much natural sweetness and vitamins (B vitamins and vitamin C), and I think of them as miracle food. Sweet potatoes are also a rich source of fiber, with minerals including iron and calcium.
What sweet potatoes should I buy?
What sweet potatoes should I buy? Good question. I love this post, what sweet potatoes should I buy? And also this picture with the names [thank you Treehugger!]
How to bake a sweet potato
Preheat the oven, and line a large baking sheet with foil. This allows for easy clean up!
Wash and dry the potatoes. Poke several holes with a fork and place on the foil.
Bake for over an hour, depending on the size of the potato
How do you know when baked sweet potatoes are done?
Because sweet potatoes are not always uniform in shape and size, the amount of cooking time varies according to your specific potatoes.
You can tell if your sweet potato is cooked through if it pierces easily with a knife.
Or, I will often take a potholder and squeeze it to see if is soft.
How to eat baked sweet potatoes
To eat the potatoes, cut them in half with the skin on or off, and enjoy with a pinch of salt, mash them together with 1/2 cup of whipping cream and a pinch of salt for easy mashed sweet potatoes, or eat them in their simple, caramelized glory!
Here are some of my favorite recipes, made with cooked sweet potatoes:
LIST HERE
I’ll leave with this final thought about the real miracle of food. I’ve always been a big fan of Alton Brown, so these words meant a lot to me.
“The table. It doesn’t matter how good you are at performing great culinary acts of artistry if there isn’t the place for communion to happen. The words “communion” and “communicate” come from the same root word: “common,” meaning “to make common, to disperse commonly.” So to me, that’s the real miracle of food. When you take away the table and the act of service at the table, everything falls apart.” – Alton Brown
Get the Recipe:
How to bake perfect sweet potatoes
Ingredients
- 6 sweet potatoes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F with the rack placed in the center of the oven.
- Line a large baking sheet with foil.
- Wash and dry sweet potatoes, leaving the skin on.
- Using a fork, poke holes all around the potato (a couple pokes per side should do the trick).
- Place potatoes on the lined sheet and place in oven. Bake for 65-80 minutes (depending on the size of your sweet potatoes), or until sweet potatoes are tender and caramelized (the base of the potatoes often start to get sticky and brown with caramelization near the end of baking—delicious!)
- Allow the potatoes to sit for about 15 minutes before serving. During this time, the potato will deflate and detach from the skin, making them very easy to peel. You can also turn off the oven after baking and leave them there overnight.
- To eat the potatoes, cut them in half with the skin on or off, and enjoy with a pinch of salt, mash them together with 1/2 cup of whipping cream and a pinch of salt for easy mashed sweet potatoes, or eat them in their simple, caramelized glory!
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
Wow! They look so yummy! Which kind did you end up using?
Thanks!
Christina