If you're trying to make the most out of your sweet potatoes and mitigate a potential spike in blood sugar, Sapola suggests boiling this veggie rather than roasting it. "The preparation technique for a sweet potato can drastically affect the glycemic impact of that sweet potato," Sapola explains.
In other words… do sweet potatoes need parboiling before roasting? Absolutely not. While many might choose to parboil the sweet potatoes before cooking for a shorter cooking time, we advise against it. Roasting sweet potatoes bring out their caramelized flavor yet leave the inside soft and custardy.
The longer and slower you cook a sweet potato, the more maltose is formed and the sweeter it will taste. So if you want a much less sweet potato try steaming it, or cut it into small pieces and roast on a higher heat.
Tips for Crispy Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Use a Large Baking Sheet: crowded pans = steaming vegetables = mushy soggy vegetables. Ensure the sweet potatoes have enough room and are not overlapping to encourage crispy caramelization.
When you bake sweet potatoes, the peel's nutrition value decreases. Also, approximately two-thirds of the antioxidants are lost but microwaving or boiling is gentler. The remainder of the sweet potato is the same way. Baking can also reduce vitamin A levels by 80%, twice as much as boiling.
Bring a saucepan 3/4 of the way full of clean, cold water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt to the water. Add sweet potatoes to the water and boil for 5-7 minutes. Drain and cool.
Yes, you can overcook a sweet potato. If you cook the potato for too long, the exterior will become dry, and the interior will become mushy. To prevent this, be sure to check on the potato regularly and remove it from the oven as soon as it's tender.
She found that there's a very good reason for using the microwave before sliding this delicious root veggie into the oven: It's the fastest route to creamy, deeply sweet baked sweet potatoes, which can take up to three hours to achieve if using the oven alone.
Boiling sweet potatoes is an easy way to get perfectly tender potatoes that can be used in numerous recipes. What is this? While you can Bake Sweet Potatoes in the Oven, or make Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes… Cooking them in a pot of boiling water is definitely a foolproof method for an easy side dish.
Sweet potatoes generally cook faster than russet potatoes. However, the size of the potato and cooking method will affect the cooking time. Is it better to microwave or bake a sweet potato? A microwave is the fastest way to cook a sweet potato, however baking will result in a better texture.
You do not need to peel a sweet potato prior to cooking it in the oven. The skins of sweet potatoes are safe to eat, both raw and cooked, and contain nutrients such as fiber and antioxidants. Whether or not you peel the potato is completely personal preference.
Storing Sweet Potatoes in the Refrigerator
The worst thing you can do with sweet potatoes is put them in the refrigerator. It's too cold in there, which changes the potato's cell structure and makes them hard in the center (even after they're cooked).
Scrub the dirt off of each sweet potato. Use a fork to poke 8 to 10 sets of holes in the skins of each sweet potato for ventilation and wrap each tightly in aluminum foil. Place on a baking sheet to catch the juice that will inevitably leak out. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour, or until soft.
Wrapping the sweet potatoes in foil ensures that they don't dry out too quickly, and allows you to add aromatics if desired.
Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and let the potatoes cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until you can easily pierce several pieces (always test more than one) with a knife. Potatoes cut into small pieces will take less time to cook.
Sweet potatoes are a low-acid food that can be home canned safely using a pressure canner. A pressure canner provides a high amount of heat necessary to kill bacteria that can cause botulism. I use a Presto 16-quart pressure canner. Other trusted pressure canner brands include Mirro and All-American.
Soak in cool water. This step is necessary for sweet potatoes to release some starch making the outside crispy while allowing the inside to stay soft and creamy.
"Yes, it's good to prick them," Smith told Food52. "It pokes holes in the skin, which allows steam to escape. Otherwise, they could explode—it doesn't happen all the time, but it happens every once in a while. The potato is full of water it's trying to turn to steam, or water vapor.
Don't wrap your potatoes in foil
"I see a lot of people using foil to wrap their potatoes in but this is a big no-no and causes soggy skins!" he says. Foil holds in moisture and steams the potatoes, resulting in a "boiled" taste and texture. Plus, without the use of foil, the skin will get extra crispy and flavorful.
Bake sweet potatoes at 400º F.
This temperature is hot enough that they won't take too long, but cooks them slow enough to really soften and sweeten the flesh. High heat, such as baking them at 425º, will result in potatoes that soften but do not get as creamy as my lower temperature method.
If you'd like to get a head start on making them, wash and dice the sweet potatoes up to 3 days in advance. Cover them completely with water to prevent discoloration. Make sure you drain and dry them thoroughly with paper towels or a lint-free cloth before roasting them.
The most important thing to consider is the size as that affects baking time. Larger, thicker sweet potatoes take longer to roast than smaller, thinner ones. Small, thin ones with under 2.5 inches in diameter can take up to 45 minutes. Medium ones with 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter can take up 1 hour.
So if you want a sweet, sweet potato, you have to cook it until it reaches 135–170°F (57–77°C). And you want to keep sweet potatoes in that range for as long as possible. That will maximize how sweet the potatoes taste.