How to make crispy oven-baked sweet potato in just 3 simple, fuss-free steps for a wonderfully tender and fluffy texture and naturally sweet, lightly caramelized flavor! Once baked, stuffed sweet potatoes make for a delicious, wholesome, filling side dish or light meal!
Perfectly Baked Sweet Potatoes Every Time
As much as I love creamy mashed potatoes (regular or sweet potato), oven-baked sweet potatoes are one of my favorite ways to enjoy these ‘taters! The roasting process makes for wonderfully crispy skin (which is the best way to encourage eating it, since it’s packed with fiber, minerals, and antioxidants!) with a lightly caramelized and super tender, fluffy sweet potato flesh!
Even better, this method for how to bake sweet potatoes requires just a few minutes of hands-on prep and is a delicious, healthy side dish, light main, or addition to your meal prep year round! With plenty of toppings to choose from, you can also make this baked sweet potato recipe as light or filling as wanted. For example, these chickpea stuffed sweet potatoes will help keep you full until your next meal without weighing you down!
Interested in more simple vegan sweet potato recipes? You might enjoy learning how to cook sweet potatoes for this sweet potato spinach curry, sweet potato pizza crust, sweet potato casserole, or even chocolate chip sweet potato muffins.
The Ingredients
- Sweet Potatoes: Try to use sweet potatoes that are similar in size, so they bake evenly. Use organic when possible.
- Salt & Black pepper: Adjust the amount to taste
My favorite toppings:
- Butter: Use your favorite dairy-free butter or even coconut oil.
- Roasted chickpeas: I love the texture difference between the tender roasted sweet potato and crispy chickpeas.
- Vegan sour cream or creamy tahini sauce work particularly well with this crispy chickpea topping.
You can also add some freshly chopped chives or scallions (green onions) to this simple chickpea stuffed baked sweet potato recipe.
Other Baked Sweet Potato Toppings
Thanks to the delicious sweet and savory flavor of oven-baked sweet potato, there are tons of toppings to choose from, including:
Savory Sweet Potato Toppings:
- Garlic butter, with your choice of herbs or seasonings (I find sweet potato pairs very well with onion powder, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper/chili powder, etc.).
- Creamy guacamole (optionally with some salsa)
- A big scoop of vegan chili and some melty vegan cheese
- Sloppy Joe filling
- Sautéed vegetables like mushrooms, spinach, chickpeas, etc.
- Roasted vegetables (you can roast them at the same time as the sweet potato is baking)
- With baked beans and some nutritional yeast
- Tex Mex style with black beans, salsa or tomatoes, roasted peppers, corn, avocado, sour cream, and optionally nutritional yeast or vegan cheese sauce, etc
- With vegan cream cheese and some fresh herbs
- Add some of your favorite pesto
Dessert Baked Sweet Potato Toppings:
- Cinnamon butter with a sprinkle of brown sugar (or maple syrup, optionally with a sprinkle of crushed nuts, too like walnuts or pecans)
- Add some marshmallows to the above and broil until toasty
- A dollop of yogurt and some fresh fruits, like berries
- A drizzle of seed or nut butter with some banana slices or berries
- Feel free to add vegan dark chocolate chips to any of the above
- Fill with a cinnamon apple filling, like the one I use for these pancakes
You can also skip the toppings entirely and use your baked sweet potatoes to turn into creamy mash or add to other recipes with sweet potatoes (like these sweet potato brownies, muffins, or pizza crust)! You can also serve oven-baked sweet potato as a side to plenty of mains/ your favorite protein!
Please read the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, measurements, complete recipe method, and nutritional information.
How to Bake Sweet Potatoes?
Cooking sweet potatoes in the oven is incredibly simple and requires just three steps.
- First, preheat the oven to 400 °F (205 °C). Then wash and scrub the sweet potatoes to remove any dirt, patting them dry afterward.
If the potatoes are wet, they’re more likely to steam in the oven, and the skin won’t become amazingly crispy.
- Transfer the sweet potatoes to a parchment paper or aluminum foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and prod each potato several times with a fork.
This is important to allow built-up steam to release, so they don’t burst. For crispier skin, you could also use a little oil or butter over the outside of each sweet potato before baking them, and season with a bit of salt and pepper.
- Bake in the oven for between 50-60 minutes, or until they are tender and nicely caramelized. Use a sharp knife to ensure they’re tender (it should slide easily through the flesh).
Once baked, slice the baked potato down the middle and then top with your favorite toppings. I made chickpea stuffed sweet potatoes this time by adding a little vegan butter, salt and pepper, a handful of crispy chickpeas, and a drizzle of vegan sour cream. Enjoy!
How to Store?
Store: Roasted sweet potatoes are best enjoyed immediately for the perfect textures (fluffy inside and crisp outer skin). However, feel free to store any cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Freeze: Allow them to cool, then wrap with some foil or plastic wrap and freeze for 4-5 months. You can also freeze the flesh only by scooping it from the skin and placing it in an airtight container/Ziplock bag.
Reheat: You can reheat the crispy baked sweet potatoes in the oven for 10-20 minutes (until heated through) to bring back some of the crispiness. Alternatively, you could use an Air Fryer for 3-5 minutes. Finally, you could microwave it for 2-3 minutes or until heated through (the skin won’t be crispy).
FAQs
How do you know when baked sweet potatoes are done?
They’re ready when the flesh is knife-tender, easily piercing the skin and flesh within without a lot of resistance.
Are baked sweet potatoes healthy?
In general, sweet potatoes are a healthier choice than regular potatoes. They contain high amounts of several vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, C, and B6, magnesium, and potassium. More so, they contain higher levels of fiber, a large amount of beta-carotene (a powerful antioxidant that gives them their orange color), and are lower GI.
Is it healthier to bake or boil sweet potatoes?
Baking will affect nutrient levels, especially in terms of antioxidants and vitamins (boiling won’t have as much effect). The GI will also be higher than boiling. However, sweet potatoes aren’t unhealthy, no matter how you enjoy them.
Boiled sweet potatoes, especially with the peel included, retain the most nutrients over all the sweet potato cooking methods. However, the texture of baked sweet potatoes (particularly the nutrient-dense skin) is far superior.
How long to bake a sweet potato?
The baking time will depend on the size of the sweet potato. Though, most medium-large potatoes will bake for between 45-65 minutes at 400F/205C.
What are the baked sweet potato calories?
This will depend on the size of your potato, but it’s commonly between 110 and 170 calories (for medium-large baked sweet potatoes).
Can I microwave the sweet potato?
Absolutely, though, the skin won’t become wonderfully crispy as it uses a steaming method. Wash and prod the potatoes several times. Then wrap them in damp paper towels (wet under the tap and squeeze out the excess water).
For one potato: microwave for three minutes, then flip over and repeat. Check with a knife to ensure it’s tender; if not, continue to microwave in 30-second increments until ready.
For 2-3 potatoes: Microwave for 4-5 minutes per side before checking if they’re knife tender. I generally add an extra 2 minutes for every extra sweet potato.
Recipe Notes and Top Tips
- Choose similar-sized potatoes: That way, they’ll cook evenly. Otherwise, you may find they’re all ready at different times.
- When checking, they’re fully cooked: Make sure to pierce the potato that is widest in the middle to ensure it’s tender all the way through.
- Line the baking tray: This will make up a far easier cleanup, as the sweet potatoes tend to sputter/ooze their caramelized sugars quite a bit and can be fairly tricky to clean.
- For faster roasting: You can slice the sweet potatoes in half and rub them with a bit of olive oil or butter. Then bake, cut side up, for around 30 minutes, or until tender and lightly brown.
- Ensure you poke holes in the potato: Otherwise, this team can build up and cause the potato to burst in your oven (which is not fun to clean up!)
More Vegan Potato Recipes
- Creamy vegan mashed potatoes
- Crispy Hasselbeck potatoes
- German potato dumplings
- Simple potato flatbread
- German potato soup
- Easy potato Curry
- German pan-fried potatoes
If you try this simple baked sweet potato recipe, I’d love a comment and ★★★★★ recipe rating below. Also, please don’t forget to tag me in re-creations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan and #elavegan—I love seeing them.
Oven-Baked Sweet Potato
Ingredients
- 5 sweet potatoes
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
Optional toppings:
- Vegan butter or coconut oil
- Roasted chickpeas
- Vegan sour cream
Instructions
- You can watch the video in the post for visual instructions.Preheat the oven to 400 °F (205 °C). Wash and scrub the sweet potatoes to remove any dirt. Pat them dry afterward.
- Place them on a baking sheet (you can line it with parchment paper or foil) and poke several holes in each sweet potato with a fork. Optionally, rub them with a little oil.
- Bake them in the oven for about 50-60 minutes, or until they are soft and nicely caramelized. You can test for doneness with a knife.
- Stuff with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Notes
- Choose similar-sized potatoes: That way, they'll cook evenly. Otherwise, you may find they're all ready at different times.
- I describe numerous options for toppings in the blog post.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
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