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Baked Sweet Potato

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Learn how to bake sweet potatoes with these tips & tricks! Enjoy them with
butter, salt & pepper, or in one of my favorite baked sweet potato recipes. fresh, zesty recipes.

FA L L / H O W -T O — J U M P T O R E C I P E

B R E A K FA S T / MAIN-DISH / DESSERT
VEGAN / GLUTEN FREE

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat

some more! We create & photograph

vegetarian recipes from our home in
Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the
kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.

When the air starts to get crisp in the fall, I start craving two things: a bowl
of soup and a big, puffy baked sweet potato. Both are warming, cozy, and
healthy. But while making butternut squash soup might be one of my
favorite Sunday activities, a baked sweet potato is my weeknight standby.
They’re incredibly easy to make, as your oven does 95% of the work. While
they bake, you’re free to do as you please! Prep the remaining components of
your meal, finish up with the day’s work, or catch up with family or friends.
Then, take them out of the oven, top them to your liking, and dig in to a
yummy baked sweet potato dinner!

How to Bake Sweet Potatoes

For a long time, I thought I didn’t like sweet potatoes. When I was growing
up, I only ever had them in casserole form, smothered in marshmallows and
brown sugar. Turns out, I love sweet potatoes, but I have to prepare them the
right way! I like mine puffy, with caramelized edges and a crispy skin. Here’s
how I make them:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment
paper or aluminum foil.
2. Use a fork to poke holes into the sweet potatoes, and set them on the
baking sheet.
3. Roast for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the skin has puffed up and you can
easily pierce them with a fork.

The most important thing to note here is that I DON’T wrap them in foil. If
you do, the sweet potato flesh will still cook, but the skin will be very moist
and almost slimy. In order to get delectable, puffed up crispy skin and
caramelization on the outside of each baked potato, place them onto the
baking sheet bare!

If you’re in a hurry, you can also roast sweet potato halves for 30 minutes.
Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise, rub them with olive oil, sprinkle with
salt and pepper, and cook cut-side up until lightly browned and tender.

Oven Baked Sweet Potato Recipes

Of course, a perfect baked sweet potato with butter, salt, pepper, and a
sprinkle of chives is great, but your options for baked sweet potato recipes
don’t end there. To make one into a full meal, I like to stuff it with a flavorful
veggie filling and a yummy sauce. Find my 4 favorite fillings for stuffed
sweet potatoes here, or click the picture below.

If you’re serving your oven baked sweet potatoes as a side dish, pair them
with your favorite protein or vegetarian chili. For a topping, stick to butter,
Greek yogurt, or sour cream, or try adding a dollop of cilantro lime
dressing, tzatziki, chipotle sauce, pesto, guacamole, or a drizzle of tahini
sauce.

If you have leftover baked sweet potatoes, save the soft flesh for another
recipe. I blend it into the frosting of my vegan chocolate cake, transform it
into a luscious Alfredo sauce, use it to bind quesadillas, or mix it into
hummus!

Do you have any favorite baked sweet potato recipes? Let me know in the
comments!

If you love this baked sweet potato recipe…

Try these 4 stuffed sweet potato variations (pictured above), baked sweet
potato fries, sweet potato tacos, twice baked sweet potatoes, or this sweet
potato casserole next!

Baked Sweet Potato

rate this recipe:

4.97 from 329 votes

Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 40 mins Total Time: 45 mins

PIN RECIPE PRINT RECIPE

Learn how to bake sweet potatoes with this simple recipe! Serve them as a

side dish or stuff them to make them a meal on their own.

Equipment
Baking Sheets (I use these nonstick ones from USA Pan
Bakeware)

Ingredients
Sweet Potatoes

topping ideas:
butter, or vegan butter
sea salt
chives
dollop of greek yogurt, or tzatziki
a scoop of guacamole
a drizzle of creamy avocado cilantro lime dressing
any of these stuffing ideas!

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Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F and place a piece of foil on a
baking sheet. Use a fork to poke holes into the sweet
potatoes, set them on the baking sheet, and roast for 40
to 50 minutes, or until puffed up and soft inside when
pierced with a fork.

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91 comments
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Ralph Ellenburg Jr
06.11.2023

I always hate it when people rate and comment on a recipe before trying it, but here I
am doing the same thing. This recipe is so much like my mother’s that I know it is the
best I’ve found down to temperature and times. My comment comes immediately
because you also mention that they can be baked as cut halves as Mom always did.
Thank you. Subscription forthcoming.

REPLY ↓

Jeanine Donofrio
06.14.2023

I hope you enjoy the recipes!

REPLY ↓

Travis
05.09.2023

Mine are just in the oven now. They look gorgeous. I’ve just prepared my filling as
follows for anyone struggling for ideas.

1 whole red pepper cubed

4 spring onions
Handful of cherry tomatoes
One can of black beans drained and rinsed well.
Pinch of salt, pepper, garlic granules, chilli flakes for a little zing

Then added low fat mayonnaise until I got the desired consistency.

I couldn’t help but try some of the filling and it’s lovely. I’m on a weight loss diet and
this is a filling meal. I’ve only had once before so had to come back and refresh the
baking stages. ❤

REPLY ↓

Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)

05.12.2023

That filling sounds fantastic! What a great simple dinner idea.

REPLY ↓

Danny
04.06.2023

I followed instructions as is, and came out great ..

I did have to cook for longer though since the potatoe I used was on the larger side.

REPLY ↓

Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)

04.07.2023

So glad you enjoyed the baked sweet potato!

REPLY ↓

Lara M
03.08.2023

The cooking time is perfect absolutely the best baked sweet potato ever!

REPLY ↓

Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)

03.10.2023

Hi Lara, so glad you loved it!

REPLY ↓

Dawn Marnell
02.03.2023

They turned out great, thank you!

REPLY ↓

Judy
01.14.2023

My family has never poked holes in sweet potatoes and has had no problems.

REPLY ↓

Reg Sypher
12.02.2022

You can use the left over mashed sweet potato to make salmon cakes.

REPLY ↓

Sue C
11.20.2022

Good afternoon. Not sure if this comment will stay posted but I did exactly what you
stated. Preheat oven to 425, wash the postatoes scrub if really dirty and within 15
minutes I smelt something burning. Check the oven and there was smoke coming off
the pan but I didn’t see fire. I left them in for another 10 minutes and the burnt smell
was getting so bad, I turned on the fan and opened the storage drawer in fear of a fire
breaking out. The smoke was that strong. Turns out, in just 25 minutes, every potato
was burnt on the bottom. I have now started cooking them one by one in the
microwave. Am I the only person this happened to? Anyone know why it happened?
smoking

REPLY ↓

Gayle Mallinger
11.20.2022

I have done this on a foil lined baking sheet forever and have never had them
burn…that being said, if you do t put them on a baking sheet, they may drip into the
oven and that could have been the issue…just my thoughts.

REPLY ↓

Jeanine Donofrio
11.22.2022

Hi Sue, I would check that your oven is calibrated to the correct temperature that
it’s reading. I check mine from time to time with a separate oven thermometer.

REPLY ↓

Lowell Thompson
11.26.2022

There should be no oil in the bottom of your pan. Also your oven rack should be in
the middle and not close to the top so they won’t broil. I just put 1/2 tsp of oil in the
palm of my hand and rub it on each potato. Then sprinkle as much salt as you like
in your hand and thoroughly rub it on each potato. I wash them thoroughly and eat
the whole potato, skin and all. I do mine at 400° for an even hour. I then turn the
oven off and let them cook in there. Hope this helps.

REPLY ↓

Safaa
12.09.2022

I’m making it now and same thing happened to me. I don’t know why

REPLY ↓

Sue
12.11.2022

Hi Sue, whatever the problem it’s definitely not worth a 1 star on the review. Come
on.

REPLY ↓

CF3
01.13.2023

So, sweet potatoes carry more sugars that other potatoes, even Japanese Sweet
potatoes. When the sugers begin to cook and seep through the holes you have
poked, it will cook and burn into a black, smelly mass producing black smoke as
well, just like burning sugar in any other application.

Here are a few pointers to help you avoid this…1. Poke less holes. You really only
need to poke with a fork at each end and 1 on top. Not much is needed. You only
need enough to allow the potato to release pressure from inside of itself but
honestly poking holes aren’t necessary on sweet potatoes, as the skins usually have
natural ventilation. They are required for white, baking potatoes. 2. Poke holes only
on one side and place that side facing up in the oven. That will help slow the
drippings from reaching foil and burning. 3. Place foil or foil wrapped pan on the
rack below the rack the sweet potatoes are on. I place mine directly on the rack
above the foil. That’s my preferred way.
Outside of that, you can turn the oven down if your potatoes are on the smaller side
as the sugars generally take 30-40 minutes to work their way out and it usually
means the potatoes are done. With that in mind. Pay attention while you cook.
Produce is like meats, following directions to a “T” might not work for your setup or
the cooking objects. Adjust accordingly.

REPLY ↓

Deborah Baron
03.24.2023

Exactly right. I have been baking sweet potatoes for 40 years–directly on the
oven rack with a sheet of foil spread out on the rack below (don’t put foil on the
whole rack, just underneath where the potatoes are. Poke three holes only on
the top, one on each end and in the middle. Bake at 425 degrees for 45-50 min,
but depends on the size of the potatoes. Check smaller ones at 40 minutes. The
drippings will land on the foil. If they start to burn, it means the potatoes are
probably done! Also, if the drippings burn on the foil you can just pull it out of
the oven easily and put a new piece in. I always check the potatoes every 15
minutes. It’s not that hard, and actually, as soon as you see juices bubbling out
of the holes you poked, it won’t be long before the potatoes are done.

REPLY ↓

Jeanine Donofrio
03.12.2023

Hi Sue, I’ve never had this happen, it sounds like your oven might not be evenly
heating.

REPLY ↓

Mark
11.15.2022

Because it’s a baked potato how much you put on it afterwards is up to you

REPLY ↓

Francene
11.14.2022

Directions state 425º for 40 to 50 minutes. Hope this helps.

REPLY ↓

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