Soft, delicious sweet potatoes are a wonderful addition to any meal, but they are especially great during the holiday season. Because sweet potatoes are vegan, gluten free, dairy free, egg free and grain free, they are a perfect food choice for just about everyone!
This recipe has always been at the heart of many of my sweet potato recipes. The flavors that are born while slowly baking the sweet potatoes in the oven are just super yummy. Alyssa and I just love, love, love oven baked sweet potatoes.
Delicious Oven Baked Sweet Potatoes
It is super easy to oven bake sweet potatoes. Seriously! I’m not pulling your leg! Anyone with an oven, aluminum foil and sweet potatoes can make Delicious Oven Baked Sweet Potatoes.
Let me show you how this recipe rolls…
The first thing I do is put the sweet potato under running water and clean it using a scrubbing pad. Be careful not to scrub too long in one place or you will scrub off the skin. I like using a scrubbing pad because it gets all the dirt that is caked into any crevices in the sweet potato.
After the sweet potatoes are thoroughly washed, dry them with a dishcloth or paper towel.
Cut pieces of aluminum foil that are large enough to completely wrap each sweet potato.
Place the sweet potato on a piece of aluminum foil. Taking a sharp knife, poke about five holes on one side of the sweet potato and five holes on the other side.
The holes in the sweet potatoes do not have to be that big or that deep.
After the holes are poked in the sweet potato, pull opposite sides of aluminum up around it and seal the upper edge tightly.
Yeah, I know you can see my red, thermal pajamas reflecting in the aluminum foil.
Then seal the other two edges of aluminum foil tightly making sure that the sealed edges are all on the same side of the sweet potato.
Set the foil covered sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Make sure all the sealed edges are on top. By having all the edges on top, it will help to keep all the juices locked inside the aluminum foil for a better tasting sweet potato. It also prevents the liquid from the sweet potato from spilling into the oven.
This is the perfect food to prepare if you have a bit of hidden anger or hostility. 😉 Yes, those are my red, thermal pajamas.
See? The edge of the knife did not cut that deeply into the sweet potato when I was poking holes in them.
After baking undisturbed for 90 minutes, the sweet potato is soft and finished baking. To check for doneness, poke the fattest sweet potato with a sharp knife. It should go all the way through easily if the potato has finished cooking. If so, carefully remove the aluminum foil from each potato.
One way to prepare them is to cut the sweet potato completely in half.
You can take the meat of the sweet potato out and mash it or use it in another recipe.
The skin will completely separate from the meat of the sweet potato. I like them best with some brown sugar and butter added to the piping hot sweet potato.
The taste….is divine.
I don’t like sharing my sweet potato, but I baked extras so that you can have one too.
Smooshing all the butter and brown sugar into the meat of the sweet potato creates a wonderful, creamy consistency.
Honestly, I eat the whole big, fat sweet potato. They are really that delicious. Baking the sweet potatoes in the oven help to make them so sweet and flavorful.
I think you should give this recipe a try. No cheating by putting them in the microwave! I’m watching you! 😉
Delicious Oven Baked Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:
Large, fresh sweet potatoes (washed, skin remains on)
Equal amounts of aluminum foil sheets to cover each sweet potato.
1 tablespoon butter for each sweet potato (optional)
1/8 cup brown sugar for each sweet potato (optional)
Directions:
Thoroughly wash and then dry sweet potatoes with a dishcloth or paper towel.
Cut pieces of aluminum foil that are large enough to completely wrap each sweet potato. Place the sweet potato on a piece of aluminum foil. Poke about small five holes approximately 1/4 inch deep on one side of the sweet potato and five holes on the other side.
After the holes are poked in the sweet potato, pull opposite sides of aluminum up around it and seal the upper edge tightly. Then seal the other two edges of aluminum foil tightly making sure that the sealed edges are all on the same side of the sweet potato.
Bake foiled covered sweet potatoes on a baking sheet in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 90 minutes. . Make sure all the sealed edges are on top.
When done, carefully remove the aluminum foil from each potato. The skin will completely separate from the meat of the sweet potato. Serve with butter and brown sugar on top halved sweet potato if desired.
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You have a real suppressed diabolical streak in the way you enjoy sticking that knife 5 times (and 5 times only, no more, no less) just sooo deep, not enough to kill, just enough to cause slow pain, in each side of those sweet potatoes, prior to wrapping them firmly in foil just so, so they don’t cook too fast, and you can hear their screams, before placing them in the blast furnace.
Nice photo depicting the wounds inflicted and knife depth of puncture on end of that pig sticker you’re clutching like a maniac from a grade B horror film, too.
All done slowly, taking photos, wearing red jammies. I imagine you humming to yourself as you work them over.
You ever work for the Inquisition in a prior life?
(*teasing*, huggs, winks, kiss)
Ric
p.s. still waiting with increasing frustration on the biscuit recipes
LOL Ric!
Biscuit recipes are forthcoming. Patience is a virtue!
I have only one thing to say about this recipe. DELICIOUS!!! 🙂
Yeah! Yum!
perfect! Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things hop xo
😀 Thanks!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE sweet potatoes!
I have horrible foil wrapping skills though-I’m usually rushed to get them in the oven so I rush through this step and so frequently I have juices burning in my oven. Unfortunately they really don’t smell good over the next week whiel you’re burning the leaked juices every time you’re cooking..
SO YUMMY though!
LOL I imagine that is a terrible stink! 😀