Learn the proper way to bake a sweet potato – so that it caramelizes itself and doesn’t need extra sweetener to taste perfect!
Tonight the guys had fish sticks (I know!), mashed sweet potatoes and corn. I didn’t have any trouble preparing the veggies, but just couldn’t handle the meat! (Note: This is an old post and I was pregnant when I wrote it and couldn’t handle meats well!) Since Hubs gets home late on Tuesdays and couldn’t help with the meal, I had to get out the fish sticks!
I bought these when they were on sale during the Easter week for $.49/lb! I will have a few portions of inexpensive veggies for our meals, yay!
This is my favorite way to prepare them as I find that cooking them this way brings out more “sweetness” and candy flavor than simply roasting or microwaving. We eat them plain too and they are plenty tasty!
If you have a baby or young toddler who still eats softer foods, this is also a great way to prepare sweet potatoes for little mouths!
Favorite Baked Sweet Potato Recipes
- Slow Cooker Maple Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Chicken & Sweet Potato Curry
- Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas
- Slow Cooker Pork Chips with Sweet Potatoes & Apples (part of our 20 Meals from Costco for $150 Meal Plan!)
- Sweet Potato Zucchini Frittata
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes in Slow Cooker
- Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Mango-Black Bean Salsa
How to Bake a Sweet Potato – Photo Instructions
Cut a short slit into the top of each sweet potato.
Place into baking dish and add water until it’s about 1/4-inch deep.
The water will help “steam-bake” the sweet potatoes.
Steam-baking makes for the softest sweet potatoes – great for mashed sweet potatoes, stuffed sweet potatoes and baby food. The steam-baking also helps the sweet potatoes caramelize and sweeten as they bake.
You do NOT NEED added sugar or sweetener with these steam-baked sweet potatoes.
Cover tightly with foil.
Run your fingers along the edge to really seal the foil around the dish.
Wrap the foil edges super tight.
Bake at 400 F for 60 minutes.
See. Perfectly soft and caramelizing themselves!
Pull back the foil and let cool.
They are super hot, so let cool before handling!
Set aside to cool, and serve like this with butter and cinnamon.
Or transfer to bowl to mash and add butter and cinnamon.
Enjoy!
How to Bake a Sweet Potato
Ingredients
- 4 small sweet potatoes
- 1 1/2 cups water
- Foil
- 2 Tbsp butter to taste
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar or other sweetener as needed to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Place the 4 small sweet potatoes in a glass baking dish. Carefully add a 1" to 2" slit lengthwise down the center.
- Pour the water into the glass baking dish around the sweet potatoes. This will create the "steam-bake" effect on the cooking.
- Cover tightly with foil, pressing and pinching around the edges of the baking dish to create as best of a seal as you can.
- Bake in the preheated oven for XX minutes, or until tender in the middle. Cooking time may depend on how thick the sweet potatoes are.
- Let cool for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the sweet potatoes from the tray.
- Option #1: Serve as is with toppings or butter.
- Option #2: remove the skin and mix in butter to make mashed sweet potatoes. Add sweetener to taste.
What to Do When You Find a SWEET Sweet Potato Deal
Krystal says
I love mashed sweet potatoes. But I never involve my oven, I always use the microwave. I have a ‘baked potato’ setting on my microwave, I run that plus another 8 minutes or so because of the potatoes thickness.
Elizabeth says
Thankyou I too prefer to microwave. Liz
Heidi @ Frugal Girls! says
Yum ~ my mouth is watering!! I guess that means it’s time to go make dinner. 🙂 Thanks for the great tip ~ I love sweet potatoes!
Julie says
I always “bake” potatoes (sweet or white) in the crockpot. Just pierce, toss in the crockpot with about 1/4 inch of water at the bottom and you are good to go. They come out more moist than oven baked. As an added summer bonus, I can put my crock pot on my back porch or garage and I don’t heat up the house cooking them.
Amanda t says
How long do you put them in the crockpot?
Becca says
I do the same thing to prep mine, but cook them in the Slow Cooker instead. They are super great!
Karen says
Sweet potatoes are the perfect baby food! My baby can almost eat a whole one by himself. He is a little chubbo! 🙂
Alea says
Julie-
I am going to try your crockpot idea. I first heard about putting the crockpot on the back porch on this blog (the chili cornbread casserole post) and I think it is a brilliant idea!
Bridget says
Sounds very yummy! Thanks for the great idea. We love sweet potatoes and the are incredibly healthy for you. By the way, your story was very inspirational! Please keep up the great work and may you continue to be blessed!
Hindy says
We do this all the time! My family and my daughter love it. Sometimes I will add some fried onions and/or roasted garlic and some thyme to the mix, for a sweet/savory treat. Goes well with roasted chicken!
Lorraine says
Yumm. I like them that way also
Nifty Nique says
Awesome! Thank you for the tip
Samantha says
How long in the crockpot??
Samantha says
oh yeah, and high or low??
Queen of Abstract says
I love sweet potato’s and need an easy way to cook them. (usually I just get them out of a can with all that high frutose corn syrup – yuk).
Unrelated question…I need some cheap N easy recipes for sun dried tomatoes. I found a large glass container of them for $8 at Costco. I’ve been chopping them up and adding it to cream cheese for bagels. Also made a sauce out of it for pasta,…but all the other reciepes I find for it online have these terribly expensive ingredients! And the thing is, you can’t use too much of it because it’s fat filled. Yummy!
Jamison says
I love SPs! We would make Sheppards Pie and use mashed SPs instead of white potatoes when we were low-carbing it.
Another GREAT way to enjoy them is to get a cookie pan, put some olive oil on the pan, slice the SPs thin like thick chips, bake at 400 or something for like 30 or 40 minutes… eat with ketchup!
Katy says
We get “The Ultimate Fish Sticks” from Costco – they’re delicious! I wouldn’t eat any other kind of fish stick or feed them to my family until I found these. Crispy panko breading and real Alaskan cod pieces, not minced fish. Try ’em!
Deidra Floyd says
Thanks for sharing this method. I just put a pan of four sweet potatoes in the oven to cook with my Mexican Manicotti.
Betty says
Fell in love with Outback Restaurant’s sweet potatoes which the waitress said they were steamed.
Just add a little water to the bottom of a pan, add a steamer basket and cook your sweet potatoes.
Thanks for the other options.
Jane says
We love sweet potatoes too and pretty much fix them according to Erin’s recipe, but since there so much nutrition in the skin, we eat the skins too!! (they’re well scrubbed and no babies in the home anymore)
thanks!!
Jennafer says
Wow! Im so hungry now! Try wrapping in foil and grilling! Yummy!
Sarah K says
The crockpot variation sounds like a great idea. From searching online, it looks like 4-5 potatoes need to be cooked on low for 4-6 hours depending on their size.
Paralax says
Awesome! Thank you for the tip!! Im so hungry now
Darlene Kistler-Alvord says
Instead of mashing, I like to let them cool then slice them and fry in a little butter. If they get a little dark brown or black on them, they are even better.
I live alone, but really enjoy your suggestions for inexpensive meals.
Denise says
I never use the oven. I boil the sweet potato in its jacket on top of the range.
Vida says
sweet potatoes are also a healthy treat for dogs. Not only are they sweet, loaded with vitamins and minerals, but are full of fiber ( keeps them “regular”)😏
Jenny says
How long do they keep in the freezer and how do you reheat them? Thanks!!
mo.kamel says
just wash and put them in the oven,no water ,nothing,and bake until soft,that’s it ,you may put a tray to keep oven clean. we love it this way in EGYPT,soft and very sweet.
chuck jackson says
If you wrap the potatoes in wax paper and microwave , they will cook quick. about 4 mins. on high.
Jennifer D says
I boil mine with skins on and the skins fall off the same way. Just pinch the skins and they fall right off.
Jess says
Tried this method of baking sweet potato tonight. It was great!! Turned out so well, thank you!!
Diana says
Sweet potatoes are at their sweetest, most delicious flavor when baked in the oven or crockpot. The longer cooking time allows the sugars in the potatoes to carmelize. After cooking SPs this way, you will never microwave or boil them ever again!!
Mel says
I wrap each sweet potato in foil and bake in the oven until soft.
It’s like eating candy…
Cecelia says
Thank you, will be making tonight
Annie says
Thanks for the tip on baking Yams..
I make them all year..They have Less starch then white potatoes. Plus there are many health benefits etc.
I also put them on tin foil on that little top rack in my gas BBQ.
Just want to say, when you throw out the skin, your throwing out the Healthiest part of the Yam, and the
skin is Yummy.
Thanks again.
Carol says
Yam is a very different vegetable Annie it’s used.In African and Caribbean cooking I was once in NYC around your Thanksgiving holiday, in a Resturant I ordered yam thinking it was- well YAM !! here in Britain we also like the ‘ white ” sweet potato it’ has drier firmer flesh and in my opinion cooks better wedges than the orange flesh ones. I also use it as a topping for shepherds or cottage pie sometimes with squash as well, very healthy !!!
Cheri says
Do they have to be cooked in glass? Can a metal baking pan work?
Sherrie H. says
I believe that when using metal the temperature is changed, like when cooking cakes.
Cyndi says
It 2017 and i just ran across this recipe…On Pinterest. Lady, I don’t know who you are, but I followed your recipe, and ur brilliant!! They came out perfect. I’m new to cooking my own sweet potatoes. Although it was simple, those are the things easily goofed up, like rice!! Lol thanks for this. I will forever prepare my sweet potatoes like this!
Elizabeth says
Is this in Fahrenheit or Celsius you need to think internationally once I know I can convert. Let me know please.
Shirley says
I love eating sweet potatoes with butter and sour cream. I usually cook in microwave but I will try your recipe in oven next time.
Joanne says
Is it 400 or 350? You say both in two different places.
Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says
400!