Baked Sweet Potato

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.

Baked Sweet Potato

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

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.

Baked Sweet Potato

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!

Oven baked sweet potatoes

If you love this baked sweet potato recipe…

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

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Baked Sweet Potato

rate this recipe:
4.97 from 479 votes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
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

Ingredients

  • Sweet Potatoes

Topping 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.

 

134 comments

4.97 from 479 votes (425 ratings without comment)

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Martin from eduase.de
    09.03.2024

    5 stars
    Love this recipe. Makes me miss Asia so much.

    Quick question – my skin wasn’t that crispy. Any insider tips besides no foil?

    Martin // https://eduase.de

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      09.06.2024

      Hi Martin, so glad you love the recipe! Sweet potato skin won’t get as crispy as russet potato skin will, but to crisp it up more, you could rub the sweet potatoes with oil. If your oven has a convection bake setting, you could also try using that for some or all of the bake time. Hope this helps!

  2. l
    08.16.2024

    How come mine are barely cooked after nearly 2 hours, and I slice them in pieces? 🙁

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      08.17.2024

      Hi, it sounds like an issue with your oven temperature not being high enough.

    • 10/2/2024
      10.02.2024

      yeah thats bad i agree with you

  3. Kassie
    07.31.2024

    Shouldn’t the potatoes be washed before baking?

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      08.02.2024

      Hi Kassie, with the exception of a few specific cases, we don’t include washing produce as a step in our recipes. You can assume that you should wash all produce before using!

  4. Diane Bouwman
    07.16.2024

    5 stars
    We bake them, cut them open and put British style baked beans in them to be like a “jacket potato “

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.18.2024

      Sounds delicious!

  5. Ainara
    06.27.2024

    Hey I have a question, do I have to open up the potatoes in some way? The picture you’ve shown shows a potato opened in the centre. Do I have to cut it in some way to make it look like that?

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      06.28.2024

      Hi Ainara, you don’t have to cut the sweet potatoes open before baking them—just pierce them several times with a fork. The way they’re cut open in the picture is how we like to serve them after baking. To do this, just slice the top of the baked sweet potato open lengthwise, fluff up the insides a bit, and top with butter and chives!

      • South Georgia foodie
        08.08.2024

        5 stars
        Once done, open the skin length wise, fluff the innards & add Butter, brown sugar and top with a marshmallow. Put back in the oven for 2-3 more minutes.
        This is a southern variety.

  6. Valentin
    05.27.2024

    A few questions:

    – Where do you place them – mid oven, higher or lower?
    – Do you still fork-poke them even if baking them half cut?
    – What over settings do we need to have – heated top and bottom, or only top?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      05.29.2024

      Hi Valentin, I use the middle rack with just the normal oven setting (heated top and bottom). If you’re baking halves, there’s no need to poke. Hope that helps!

  7. Dee from Love%20and%20Lemons
    04.30.2024

    5 stars
    I’ve been hesitant to make baked sweet potatoes because mine have always been flops. I followed the recipe and I can’t begin to tell you how absolutely delicious they were. Sweet, creamy. We enjoyed them immensely. Thank you for a winning recipe!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      05.02.2024

      Hi Dee, Great to hear! I’m so glad you loved the recipe.

  8. Alex
    03.02.2024

    5 stars
    New recipe unlocked!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      03.08.2024

      Hi Alex, so glad you loved it!

  9. liz
    02.27.2024

    5 stars
    so much tastier to keep them unwrapped – you’re right!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      03.01.2024

      Hi Liz, so glad you enjoyed them!

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Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

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.