5 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato

5 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato

From baked to roasted to sweet potato noodles and pancakes, there are countless ways that you can turn this nutritious veggie into a mouthwatering dish. A crowd favorite, this bright orange food is loaded with nutrients and delicious flavor. Packed with essential vitamins and fiber, sweet potatoes are a great addition to any healthy diet, especially if you're searching for ways to incorporate more vegetables into your meals. Keep reading to discover different ways to cook sweet potatoes and delicious recipes you can try out on your own!

Where to Purchase Sweet Potatoes

First things first, when choosing a sweet potato, it's crucial that you know what to look for. While sweet potatoes are often available year-round at grocery stores, they'll likely be more massive (and fresh) when purchased during their peak season, October through December. Sweet potatoes are sold in various shapes and sizes, and where your potato was harvested will ultimately determine what it looks like. When picking out sweet potatoes, it's hard to go wrong. However, you can use a few simple tips and tricks to choose the ideal potato for your recipe. If you plan on baking or microwaving your potato, we suggest selecting one that is thin in shape and even all around. This will ensure that each part of the potato thoroughly cooks. That being said, if you're following along with a recipe that calls for diced or cut potatoes, any shape and size will do.

Preparing Sweet Potatoes

Now that you know how to choose the perfect sweet potato, let's discuss how to prep it properly! As with any vegetable, before you begin cooking sweet potatoes, you want to thoroughly wash and scrub each one, ensuring that all dirt, bacteria and impurities are removed from the vegetable skin. After your potatoes are washed and dried, it's time to cut them. Depending on what the recipe you chose requires, you may want to cut your potatoes into cubes, coins, noodles or wedges. Ensuring you have a clean space to cut and a sharp knife will ensure that your potatoes are cut to perfection. Now, you may be wondering if you should peel the skin before cutting. In most recipes with sweet potato, peeling it is not required. And in fact, the potato skin offers up some pretty impressive benefits itself, like loads of insoluble fiber. However, if you're making a casserole, pancakes, pie, soup or mashed potatoes, it is necessary to peel the potatoes before cutting and cooking them.

How to Cook Sweet Potatoes

So, we've discussed how to choose and prepare sweet potatoes. Now, it's time to talk about how to cook sweet potatoes! Keep scrolling to discover how you can turn sweet potatoes into your new favorite fall dish!

Baked Sweet Potato

5 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato | Bob's Red Mill Blog A baked sweet potato might be the most popular way to eat this sweet and savory veggie. It is the perfect dish to serve as a meatless main dish or pair as a mouthwatering side to turkey, roasted pork or chicken. To bake your sweet potatoes with ease, you'll want to follow our previous tip and select those that are thin and long. Doing so will help your potatoes cook faster and more evenly. When it comes to temperature, the hotter, the better. Bake your sweet potato at 400F (or slightly hotter) to ensure that it cooks thoroughly. This will leave you with a crispy outer layer perfect for pairing with your favorite toppings. Before placing your potatoes in the oven, we suggest pricking them in several different areas around the potato. These strategically placed pricks will allow steam to escape from the vegetable as it cooks. You'll want to continue baking your potatoes until the inside is tender, and they can be easily poked through with a fork. Depending on the size of your potato, this will likely take 45 minutes to an hour. After the veggie is fully baked, it's time for the good stuff, the tasty toppings! For a more savory side dish, top your sweet potatoes with bacon, sour cream, chives and cheese. Or, for a dessert-like treat, load them with butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar. For a baked sweet potato recipe that's just as tasty as it is great for you, try out this Granola Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Maple Tahini Butter recipe.

Roasted Sweet Potato

5 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato | Bob's Red Mill Blog Looking to try something other than baking your sweet potatoes? Try roasting them instead! Roasted sweet potatoes make for a flavorful and healthy side when paired with tasty main dishes like rosemary chicken or roasted pork. They can also be combined with other veggies to create a delicious and nutritious vegetarian sweet potato dinner. To roast your sweet potatoes to perfection, you'll first want to decide how to cut them. We've found that this tasty veggie cooks best when cut into cubes, medallions and wedges. If the recipe you've chosen calls for cubes or wedged sweet potatoes, we recommend you season them first! Tossing this orange veggie in olive oil and other flavorings like herbs and spices will not only add more flavor to your meal, it will also help your potatoes fully crisp and brown. After your potatoes are thoroughly roasted, they can be added to countless different meals. Toss them into a green veggie-packed salad for a fall flavor boost, or sun them in for meat in your favorite vegetarian tacos. Roasted sweet potatoes also taste great when worked into baked goods like muffins and can also be eaten on their own as a savory side dish. To make a wholesome meal loaded with your favorite roasted veggies including sweet potato, make this Roasted Rainbow Vegetable Buckwheat Grain Bowl.

Mashed Sweet Potato

5 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato | Bob's Red Mill Blog When you think of mashed potatoes, you are likely reminded of thanksgiving, fall weather, and family get-togethers. While mashed potatoes are undoubtedly a thanksgiving staple, mashed sweet potatoes can be a more nutritious replacement. As we stated earlier, when making mashed potatoes, the easiest method is to peel the potatoes and remove the skin before cooking them. However, this is entirely up to your discretion. If you crave a more chunky textured mash, go ahead and leave the skins onthey're great for you! Next, you'll want to decide on the desired consistency of your mashed potatoes. Smooth, creamy and chunky mashed potatoes are all made by boiling the potatoes until they're tender. This will take about fifteen to twenty minutes. Once all of the boiled potatoes are tender and can be easily mashed, it's up to you to decide when they're done. Drain the water and begin mashing until your potatoes have reached a consistency that you're comfortable with, whether that's soft and creamy or slightly chunky. The last step when making mashed potatoes is to decide what flavorings you want to add. For those who opt for a more sweet-flavored mash, butter and sugar are often used to achieve the ideal flavor. Or, if you're craving a more savory side dish, skip the sugar and add in fresh fall herbs like thyme, sage, garlic, chives and cheese. Mash your sweet potatoes into a delicious dessert and whip up a batch of these Sweet Potato Pie Bars!

Grilled Sweet Potato

5 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato | Bob's Red Mill Blog Take roasted potatoes to the next level and try grilling your potatoes for a surprising treat. Grilled potatoes pair perfectly with other grilled food dishes like pork chops, chicken and steak. They can also be combined with other grilled veggies like asparagus and zucchini for a flavorful side. The charred flavor that the grill produces combined with sweet potatoes' sweetness creates a natural balance that you and your guest's tastebuds will love! When starting with raw potatoes, you'll want to grill your sweet potatoes until they char and show grill marks on both sides of the potato. Once your potatoes have properly roasted, be sure to move them to a less hot part of the grill, this will prevent them from burning. For a quicker cook time, you can begin by partially cooking your sweet potatoes beforehand. When on the grill, potatoes can be tossed with zesty flavorings like lemon, salsa and vinaigrette! Add grilled sweet potatoes to a light and savory seasonal salad like this Kale and Quinoa Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing.

Spiralized Sweet Potato

5 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato | Bob's Red Mill Blog One of our favorite ways to cook veggies is by forming them into noodles first. Sweet potato noodles, aka swoodles are not only incredibly nutritious, they're also an excellent gluten free and grain free pasta alternative! By merely using a spiralizer, you can transform sweet potatoes into a tasty noodle ready to pair with any meal. Before spiralizing your potatoes, it's crucial to peel them first. Doing so will ensure that your noodles thoroughly cook to create real pasta-like texture. Once cooked, pair your swoodles with a fresh sauce like pesto sauce, marinara sauce or curry and enjoy! Top your swoodles with a homemade pasta sauce like this mouthwatering Eggplant Sauce. And there you have it! Five of our favorite simple and delicious ways to cook sweet potatoes for a truly scrumptious meal. From sweet potato mash to rich swoodles, the many ways you can work sweet potatoes into your diet are endless. Have a favorite way to cook sweet potatoes that we didn't touch on? Let us know how you cook sweet potatoes in the comments below. We can't wait to hear what you think!  
Bob's Red Mill
December 01 2020

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