Baked Sweet Potatoes

Updated Dec. 16, 2024

Baked Sweet Potatoes
Nico Schinco for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
1 hour 30 minutes
Rating
5(754)
Comments
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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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Preparation

  1. Step 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
754 user ratings
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Comments

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!

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.

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?

A godsend after a long day especially when you have nothing in the fridge. I toss them in the oven as soon as I get home. A little sour cream on top is a favorite

My mom used to fry sliced sweet potatoes in a bit of oil, and sprinkle them with brown sugar and a bit of salt. Medium to medium-low heat, in butter I believe. Delicious!!!

Once cool and thoroughly carmelized, slice open and drizzle with tahini and maple syrup.

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