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.
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:
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- Use a fork to poke holes into the sweet potatoes, and set them on the baking sheet.
- 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
Equipment
- Baking Sheets (I use these nonstick ones from USA Pan Bakeware)
Ingredients
- Sweet Potatoes
Topping ideas:
- Butter or vegan butter,
- Sea salt
- Chives
- Greek yogurt or tzatziki,
- Guacamole
- Creamy avocado cilantro lime dressing
- Any of these stuffing ideas!
Instructions
- 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.
- Serve with desired toppings.
Is it ok to wash/scrub the potatoes before baking? I always do that with russet potatoes.
Hi Kristine, yep, definitely wash the potatoes first and scrub them if they’re very dirty.
These are definitely my go-to instructions for baking the perfect sweet potatoes. Thank you for sharing!!
great ideas what can you do with cold swat potatoes left overs?
I love making salads, or putting them in pasta or some soba noodles with other veggies (you could even make a sushi bowl or sushi roll with sweet potato and other veggies inside!) – just think of them as pre cooked sweet potatoes you can add to anything, curries, pasta, you name it!
This recipe made sweet potatoes like my mother made. Smelling them cooking brought back find memories of coming home from school to the smell delicious and satisfying sweet potatoes.
How long do they keep in the fridge? I like to meal prep for the week since I lead a busy life so I would love to figure out if i could include sweet potatoes in my meal plan. My Flat is a very small and had thin wall so if anything goes bad my neighbors down the way can smell it and the landlord has promised me if he get one more complaint from the McCartney’s I will be evicted.
Hi Sandra, I’d say 3 to 4 days (although they’re best just out of the oven)
Hello ?? I was wondering can I put cinnamon and butter on my sweet potato?
This looks great and I’m going to try it tonight! Curious.. why do you recommend rubbing olive oil on potato halves but not the whole? I’m going to cook whole potatoes, but thought the olive oil would be good for both.
Thanks!
Hi, for whole you don’t need to – the skin puffs up and has such a nice texture in contrast to the soft steamed sweet potato inside. Olive oil would wreck that. For halves, that steam action won’t really happen because the potato is cut open – I like to rub halves with olive oil so that the cut side gets nicely caramelized and isn’t too dry. Hope that helps!
Please remove my other review. I posted it on the wrong site
I like sweet potatoes, but I’ve never tried to bake them. Good idea, I will definitely try! Thanks for the recipe
I guess I’ll have to try them again since you recommended it!
These came out perfectly! Delicious ?
You recipes look so delicious and refreshingly light/healthy…. 🙂
Going to try to make these for some meal prep. Any idea how long they’ll last in the refrigerator after baking?
Feedback appreciated!
Hi Jillian, I’d say 4 to 5 days.
3 to 5 days
This recipe was amazing! Thank you so much for sharing! I’ve been trying to cut out regular potatoes and this was a nice substitute! I’m from The Happy Health Store a new online health store, if you fancy a browse we do free shipping all across the US! https://thehappyhealthstore.com/
These turned out perfectly! I did them with curried vegetables on top and threw some turkey onto them for the meat-eaters. Thank you so much!
Hi Tammy, I’m so glad you loved them!
I like sweet potatoes, but I’ve never tried to bake them. Good idea, I will definitely try! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
I use baked sweet potatoes for my sweet potato pies.
These sweet potatoes turned out beautifully. I did forget to poke holes, but they came out great. The kids and the adults loved them
I wasn’t the biggest fan of sweet potatoes growing up either. I guess I’ll have to try them again since you recommended it!
Baked sweet potatoes are my favorite this time of the year! I love them drizzled with nut butter but that curry-spiced one has my attention now – yummmmm.
I like them fuffy too, and not much for the casseroled versions, so yes I love sweet potatoes, baked too and thank you for these wonderful tweaks, the burrito version especially!