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Roasted Sweet Potatoes – oven roasting brings out their naturally sweet, nutty flavor, making them absolutely irresistible! This easy side dish recipe uses just sweet potatoes and a few simple spices for a healthy and delicious side dish.
Serve them alongside your favorite meals, or toss them into tacos, chili, grain bowls, or salads for a pop of flavor and color.
This is my go-to recipe for everything—from weeknight dinners to holiday feasts—because it’s quick, foolproof, and always a hit. The potatoes turn out perfectly caramelized on the outside and tender on the inside every time.
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Benefits of roasting
I really love to roast things! (You may have already noticed that. and, I seem to be on an orange food kick lately.)
I find that roasting gives greater flavor and complexity to the food. The caramelization just brings out the toasty nuttiness and the yumminess.
It may take a little longer to roast something, than say to boil or steam it, but the time is largely just time where the food is in the oven and you don’t have to do anything to it (also called inactive time).
And that means you can be off doing other things!
For this recipe, I suggest roasting then in a cast iron skillet. I find that you get great browning and nicely cooked potatoes from the skillet. But don’t crowd the pan. If you have lots of sweet potatoes to cook, they can also be done in a sheet pan that’s been lined with parchment paper. I don’t think the browning is as nice, but sometimes that ok.
Should sweet potatoes be soaked before roasting?
No, you do not need to do an additional step of soaking the sweet potato before roasting it.
Simply make sure it’s scrubbed nice and clean, and you can cut off any bumps, bruises, or blemishes.
Then, chop it into dice or cubes and pop it in the oven to be cooked perfectly!
You don’t even have to peel it. Of course, you can if you want, but the peel is really good for you, so I encourage you to leave it on.
Is it best to boil sweet potatoes before roasting?
Again, this is one of those steps you can skip. No need to pre-cook the potato to roast it. Just let the oven do all the work for you. You have other things to be doing!
What to do with roasted sweet potatoes
So, here’s another roasted side dish for you.
I love this one simply as a side with some protein and another veggie as dinner.
But, it’s also delish as part of a salad. They’re fantastic as an addition to bowls like these Viral Cottage Cheese Sweet Potato Bowls.
Later this week I’ll give you a recipe for Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas using this roasting technique.
And, these little roasted sweet potatoes rock as a filling in a taco! I’ve been using them in bowls lately too! Add in some Spicy Grilled Shrimp too!
What is the healthiest way to cook sweet potatoes?
Roasting is one of the healthiest ways to cook sweet potatoes. The nutrients will not get leached out as they would in boiling.
And, this has very little added oil in the recipe.
It’s also so much better for you than so many of the sweet potato casseroles with all the added sugar.
“Regular” Potatoes
You can also use the same technique for “regular” potatoes (like Russets, Yukon Golds, or Red Potatoes).
This same recipe works for all kinds of sweet potatoes as well. Yellow, red skinned, orange, white, purple, whatever you’ve got.
Breakfast potatoes
I’ve been doing this for breakfast as well. The day before, I cut up the potato and roast it, but cut the cooking time by about 5 minutes. Let the potatoes cool, and pop the cooled mostly roasted diced potatoes in the fridge, and the next morning heat them up another 5-7 minutes in the oven and they’re perfect.
Reheating can also be done in the microwave if you’d rather.
The potatoes in the picture above were roasted the day before, refrigerated, and reheated that morning, as they reheated in the oven I added some grated white cheddar & served it with a couple of fried eggs.
More sweet potatoes!
Looking for more sweet potato recipes? I love sweet spud, and have lots of ways to prepare them! Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes, Holiday Sweet Potatoes, Chipotle Maple Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Potato Layer Bake, and of course a Sweet Potato Pie.
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Roasted Sweet Potatoes Recipe
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato scrubbed clean
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or light flavored oil of your choice
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Cut sweet potato into bite sized pieces, about ½ to 1-inch in size. You want your sweet potato chunks to be roughly uniform in size so they all cook at about the same rate.
- Place the cubed sweet potatoes in a large cast iron skillet or on a baking sheet, and drizzle with oil, sprinkle with cumin, salt, and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast in 400° F oven, turning occasionally, for 25-30 minutes, or until crisp and browned outside and just tender inside.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Laura Lehrer
I’ve been roasting things this week, too, It’s a great way to combat the gloomy weather and make the house smell good. I like my veggies much better this way. Thanks for the post, it reminds me it’s time for lunch!
narf77
YUM! Brunhilda is primed and I roasted some potatoes for Steve the other day… soon pumpkin and sweet potato heaven! 🙂 Cheers for the reminder 🙂
vegetarianmamma
I am licking my lips! These look great! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂
We have a Gluten Free gift basket giveaway this week! One lucky winner will score an awesome basket, just in time for Mothers Day!
Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
vegetarianmamma
Thanks for linking this up last week! I listed it as one of my favorites this week! Can’t wait to see what you bring to the party this week! 🙂 See you there! Cindy
Cooking Enthusiast
This recipe is one of my favorite as well…
Mary Ann
This recipe was quick, easy, and delicious! My whole family enjoyed these potatoes.
Lori Clapper
This is great! I was going to bake my whole but I will use your recipe instead. Thank you!
Tatyona
Turned out great & so easy! #Roasted #EasySideDish
Hayley
Awesome! can really do it with whatever seasonings you want too. My personal fave is just salt/pepper/garlic powder/onion powder. Most of the flavor comes from the delicious potatoes themselves
Jilly
Husband’s new favorite! Going to be a staple in our house!! #SweetPotatoes #Roasted #EasySideDish
Penny
I used different fresh herbs. My husband even liked it and he’s picky about any vegetables.
Brenda
So good! Broiled for a little bit when done to brown & crisp.
Andie
Made it as directed except added 2 Tbs of olive oil instead of one. Came out delicious!! Will definitely make again.
Marie Grieco
So delicious! I added a little paprika to mine too(:
Angela
Used seasoned salt and lots of black pepper, very good
Mark
I made two pans of potatoes. On one I used the cumin as per instructions. I liked it but my family said it was just ok. The other pan I used onion powder and garlic powder instead. They liked that version much better.
mandee
Forgot to stir half way through.. but they were great! Just like sweet potato fries!
alex
Turned out great. Did them for 40 minutes and were crispy like we like them.