Roasting our Baked Sweet Potato recipe is easier than you might think.
Learn how to bake simple sweet potatoes quickly in the oven using our step by step recipe.
The best Baked Sweet Potato is fluffy on the inside and features a crispy and crunchy exterior skin.
Once you’ve mastered our loaded and stuffed Baked Sweet Potato recipe, get creative in the kitchen by adding toppings from Greece, Mexico, Japan and beyond!
Our versatile Baked Sweet Potato recipe can be enjoyed as a savoury side dish served with butter and chives, or as a sweet dessert, topped with maple fudge, pecans, grated apple and festive spice!
Save This Story To Pinterest!
Baked Sweet Potato
If you’re looking for the perfect side dish to any and every meal, I’d like to nominate the simply sublime Baked Sweet Potato.
Unlike the more common baked potato, sweet potatoes have the awesome ability to please both sweet and savoury palates.
Sweet potatoes are also packed full of healthy and nutritious fibre and vitamins. Parents around the world love sweet potatoes as they can get sneaky serving them to picky kids.
Many Canadians and Americans only encounter baked sweet potato at a Thanksgiving or Christmas feast. We assert that baked sweet potato is the most versatile vegetarian dish to enjoy year round.
Once you’ve read through our simple baked sweet potato recipe, you’ll find a selection of suggestions on how you can doll up your sweet roasted spuds.
Are Baked Sweet Potatoes Healthy?
An excellent source of vitamins A and C, sweet potatoes boost your immune system and help keep your skin healthy. They also have a low glycemic index, providing a steady supply of energy to your body.
Vitamin A helps form and maintain healthy skin, while vitamin C helps your body produce collagen, a protein that is essential to skin health. Sweet potatoes also contain the phytochemical beta-carotene, which helps improve skin colour and tone.
The high quantities of vitamin C in sweet potatoes help protect the cells that make up the immune system, and support white blood cells in fending off bacteria and viruses. Sweet potatoes also contain manganese and potassium.
Combine baked sweet potatoes with a little fat, such as avocado, nuts or olive oil – this helps your body absorb the nutrients.
Choose varieties of sweet potato that have a vibrant orange flesh, as these contain more beta-carotene.
Types of Sweet Potatoes
Native to Central America, sweet potatoes are now wildly cultivated in warm, temperate regions around the world, including the tropics.
The first Europeans to taste sweet potatoes were members of Christopher Columbus’s expedition in 1492. Later explorers found many cultivars under an assortment of local names, but the name which stayed was the indigenous Taino name of batata. The Spanish combined this with the Quechua word for potato, papa, to create the word patata for the common potato.
In spite of their name, they are not related to ordinary potatoes, but are part of the Convolvulaceae family. They come in a range of colours, from white, to orange and purple.
The sweet potato, especially the orange variety, is often called a yam in parts of North America, but is botanically very distinct from true yams.
My Family Loves Baked Sweet Potatoes
My family loves cooking and baking with sweet potatoes. I think a part of the reason it’s our favourite vegetable is that we all have a sweet tooth!
If you love sweet potatoes why not try making our Sweet Potato Rice, Baked Sweet Potato Fries or Roasted Vegetable Couscous.
My mom and dad used to make us traditional roasted potatoes when we were kids. It was their favourite quick & easy side dish to serve with barbecue in the summer.
The popularity of our family favourite baked sweet potato recipe means we’re barely buying russets anymore!
If you’re a traditionalist, dress up our baked sweet potato recipe with a dab of butter, dollop of sour cream and sprinkling of salt, cracked pepper and sliced chives.
If you’re looking to embark on a baked sweet potato recipe world tour, dress our favourite roasted root vegetable in flavours from Japan, Mexico, Greece and beyond!
How To Bake Sweet Potatoes
Once you’ve mastered our easy baked sweet potato recipe we’re certain you’ll be serving them every week!
Baking sweet potatoes is very easy but make sure to review each important step to achieve the best results in your kitchen.
- Wash and Dry. Scrub each sweet potato in your sink to remove dirt or debris. Air dry sweet potatoes or rub them with a dry dish towel. Drying sweet potatoes is very important as it helps the skin to turn crispy when baking in the oven.
- Poke Holes: Using the tines of a fork, poke holes across the sweet potato to help steam escape when roasting in the oven. We suggest doing 4 fork pricks on each side, 8 in total.
- Vegetable Oil: Drizzle the dry sweet potatoes in vegetable oil such as canola or olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Oil that makes contact with sweet potato skin is responsible for the desired crispy texture.
- Sweet Potato Massage: Rub and caress (tee hee!) each sweet potato to ensure its surface is completely covered in oil.
- Baking Sheet: Bake sweet potatoes on a large greased baking sheet. You can also line with parchment paper or foil to make clean up easy. Do not use other oven-save dishes like ceramic casserole or pyrex. The metal in your baking sheet is a better conductor of heat, helping the roasted vegetables brown and get crispy.
How Can You Tell When Sweet Potatoes Are Done?
If it’s your first time attempting to cook a baked sweet potato recipe at home you may be wondering how to tell when they are finished baking in the oven and ready to eat.
They start to bubble and ooze a caramelized juice and the skin takes on a wrinkled appearance.
If you want to check to see if your baked sweet potatoes are finished roasting, gently insert a pairing knife into the thickest side of the vegetable. The knife should slide in easily when fully cooked.
How Long To Bake Sweet Potatoes?
If you’ve visited your local farmers market or grocery store you’ll notice sweet potatoes can vary wildly in size. Some sweet potatoes are the size of a kids shoe, while others can appear as large as a football!
If you’re making our easy healthy baked sweet potato recipe, we suggest purchasing vegetables that are uniform in size. This way you’ll ensure they all finish baking around the same time.
I usually bake sweet potatoes at 400F for approximately 50 minutes.
Baking time will depend on the size of your sweet potatoes so expect a cooking time between 40 minutes to 1 hour.
You can also cook sweet potatoes wrapped in tin foil in the oven, or in a microwave. If you use one of these cooking methods just be aware that the skin will not be crispy.
In order to achieve a crispy sweet potato skin exterior you need the oiled sweet potato skin surface to be exposed to dry air. This allows the moisture from inside the potato to escape.
Baked Sweet Potato Tricks
- Store sweet potatoes at cool room temperature, away from sunlight. Avoid storing them in the fridge, as this causes them to lose flavour.
- Choose sweet potatoes that are the same size so they finish cooking at the same time.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment or foil to make clean up easy.
- Let potatoes cool for up to 10 minutes before serving.
You May Also Enjoy Reading…
- Oat Flour Cookies with Chocolate Chips
- Osaka Okonomayaki: Japanese Cabbage Pancake Recipe
- Best Calgary Ginger Beef Recipe
- Best Gluten Free Pie: Creamy Lemon Angel Pie Recipe
- Roasted Beetroot Salad with Grapefruit, Pistachio and Herbed Cream
- Best Vietnamese Grilled Pork “Bun Thit Nuong” Recipe
- Healthy Bran Muffins with Applesauce Recipe
- Quick & Easy Instant Pot Short Rib Ragu Recipe
- Healthy Breakfast Polenta Bowl Recipe
- Quick & Easy Indian Onion Salad Recipe
- Healthy Vegetarian Roti Canai Curry Recipe
- Best Homemade Healthy Fresh Fig Muffins Recipe
- Best Barbecued Thai Red Prawn Curry Recipe
- Old School Cheese and Onion Pie Recipe
- Best Blueberry Mango Crepes with Coconut Flour
- Best Homemade Banana Oat Flour Pancakes
- Easy Homemade Chicken Fajita Tacos Recipe
- Homemade Shrimp & Pork Vietnamese Egg Rolls
- Best Homemade Pici Cacio e Pepe Pasta Recipe
- Green Onion Cake: Homemade Cong You Bing Recipe
What To Serve with Baked Sweet Potatoes
The best baked sweet potato recipe is typically served with grilled barbecue meat or roast turkey in North American kitchens.
We love serving this healthy baked sweet potato recipe with homemade sourdough, fresh salads, hearty soups, baked jalapeno poppers, gourmet sandwiches, Baked Mediterranean Chicken Thighs, Keto Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Keto Spinach Dip or Baked Korean Gochujang Chicken Wings.
Sweet Potato Toppings
Now that you’ve perfected our fool-proof baked sweet potato recipe, let’s get creative with toppings! The following are a list of creative culinary ideas we’ve dreamed up (and tasted!) for the perfect sweet potato toppings.
The most simple savoury roasted sweet potato recipe features cold butter topped with salt, black pepper and chives.
Transform your favourite baked spud into a sweet dessert, reminiscent of sweet potato pie, slathered in maple fudge, chopped nuts, cinnamon spice and grated apples or pear.
Classic Butter Baked Sweet Potato Recipe
The classic “no fuss” baked sweet potato can be made quick and easy by adding a dab of cold butter and sprinkle of salt, cracked pepper and sliced chives.
Southern Barbecue Baked Sweet Potatoes
We love America’s take on the “loaded baked potato.” Why not take a sensory trip to the famous barbecue smokehouses of New Orleans, Savannah, Florida and Texas?
Top your baked sweet potato recipe with your favourite spicy or smokey barbecue sauce, sliced red onion, sour cream, cheddar cheese and pickled jalapeno pepper.
Japanese Baked Sweet Potato Recipe
Asian countries love baked sweet potato too! We’ve enjoyed roasted sweet potatoes topped with kimchi in Korea, vegetarian curry in Malaysia, fragrant korma in India and roasted sesame dressing in Japan.
We’ve traveled extensively through Japan, eating our way through Yokohama, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Nara. In Japan, traditional baked sweet potato recipes are often served at yakitori grill restaurants.
Top your Japanese Baked Sweet Potato with creamy roasted sesame dressing, sesame seeds, pickled sushi ginger, chopped scallions and kewpie mayo.
Mexican Baked Sweet Potato Recipe
People in Latin America love baked sweet potato as the vegetable started being cultivated in the region over 5000 years ago! We’ve enjoyed a variety of roasted sweet potatoes in Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.
We’ve traveled extensively through Mexico, eating our way through Puerto Vallarta, Mexico City, Los Cabos, Merida, Chichen Itza and Playa del Carmen. In Mexico, sweet potatoes are often cooked on an open fire.
We’ve dressed up the perfect Mexican baked sweet potato with Cochinita pibil, a traditional roast pork from the Yucutan. You could also substitute with minced beef tossed in taco seasoning or chicken fajita filling.
Top your Mexican Baked Sweet Potato with Cochinita pibil, peach & cream corn, guacamole or guasacaca and crumbled queso.
Greek Baked Sweet Potato Recipe
Europeans love a traditional baked sweet potato recipe too! We’ve enjoyed a variety of roasted sweet potato dishes throughout the Mediterranean in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, France, Malta, Croatia, Egypt, Turkey and Israel.
We’ve traveled extensively through Greece, eating our way through Athens, Meteora, Santorini and Mykonos.
Top your Greek Baked Sweet Potato recipe with creamy Tzatziki, crumbled feta, sliced olives, red onion, chopped parsley and oregano and a spritz of lemon juice.
Autumn Dessert Baked Sweet Potato Recipe
Are you a big fan of pumpkin pie at your family’s Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert table? Transform our easy baked sweet potato recipe into individual desserts at your next festive dinner party.
We’ve found inspiration in this baked sweet potato dessert idea thanks to the flavours of Autumn and the holiday season.
Top your Baked Sweet Potato Dessert with maple fudge, shredded apples, chopped pecans and dash of cinnamon sugar.
Best Baked Sweet Potato Recipe
Best Healthy Baked Sweet Potato Recipe
Equipment
- oven
- Fork
- baking sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Pairing knife
Ingredients
- 4 Sweet Potatoes medium sized, long and thin
- 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Wash and dry sweet potatoes.
- Poke several holes into each sweet potato with the tines of a fork.
- Drizzle sweet potatoes with vegetable oil and sprinkle on salt.
- Massage the oil and salt all over the sweet potato skin.
- Place sweet potatoes on prepared baking sheet and roast for approximately 50 minutes or until they easily slice open with an inserted pairing knife.
- Let cool for up up to 10 minutes before splitting open and garnishing with your favourite baked sweet potato toppings.
Nutrition
Some of the links in this story use affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase through our site, Dobbernationloves will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your support helps us to produce comprehensive content.
Save This Story To Pinterest!
